On Saturday, October 19, 2019, the WELL team drove to Fresno, California to co-host the Latinos for Water Quality Summit along with State Senator Anna Caballero (SD-12), former WELLos Rodrigo Espinoza (Merced County Supervisor) and Rey León (City of Huron Mayor), City of Fresno Councilmember Esmeralda Soria, and the Sierra Health Foundation.
The summit brought together more than 40 leaders from across the region to discuss water issues affecting the Central Valley. Speakers Dan Munk from the UC Cooperative Extension and Dr. Daniele Zaccaria from UC Davis discussed irrigation and agricultural water demand to give attendees an understanding of how much water is used in the agriculture sector. Veronica Garibay-Gonzalez from the Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability shared with everyone what life is like for Central Valley communities that do not have access to clean, safe drinking water, and how those communities have organized and demanded political action.
Lastly, Armando Quintero, the Chair for the California Water Commission, discussed the rollout of SGMA, the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, and how local leaders can get involved in the groundwater management planning process.
WELL is grateful to these water experts for sharing their knowledge with local leaders, as well as to the event’s moderator, Gary Serrato, from the Fresno Irrigation District. We would also like to thank those who attended for their engagement and for their passion about their community’s water resources. For those who were not able to attend but want to know what was discussed, we live-streamed the entire event to WELL’s Facebook page.