Judge’s Ruling Affects Tulare County Farms Big Time

Tulare County - US District Judge Lawrence Karlton ruled against the US Bureau of Reclamation and Friant Water Users late last week saying that the construction of Friant Dam beginning in the 1940s killed off the chinook salmon run on the San Joaquin River by diverting most of the water for a million acres of farms in the central valley.

Finding the Bureau liable for the loss of the fishery sets in motion the remedy stage of the proceedings that could result in the release of perhaps 500,000 acre feet of water annually to help restore the fishery.

In the most recent year the Friant Water Users delivered about 1 million acre feet of water to cities and farms from Madera along the eastside of the valley past Bakersfield.

Many of the water districts in Tulare County depend on Friant water for their farms. In fact, sixteen of the twenty member water district in the Friant Water Users Authority deliver water to Tulare county farmers and communities. Thirteen of those water districts have no other source of water to deliver to their district farms, districts like Exeter ID and Lindsay Strathmore ID, Terra Bella ID and Delano Earlimart ID.

The potential loss of half of the water “spells economic and social catastrophe,” says Friant general manager Ron Jacobsma.

One of the plaintiffs has asked the State Water Resources Control Board to release the 500,000 acre feet and Karlton may turn to this agency to come up with a number. Or the judge could simply tell Friant to release the water soon, fears Friant president Kole Upton. “Obviously we would appeal this,” he notes. Plaintiff National Resource Defense Council or the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen could seek an injunction to order the release right away, Friant fears.

Friant has argued they release about 100,000 acre feet of water annually to sustain a variety of fish below the dam. But Judge Karlton suggested “there can be no genuine dispute that many miles of the San Joaquin River are entirely dry, except during extremely wet periods, and that the historic fish populations have been destroyed.” Friant has in fact argued that portions of the river were dry prior to the construction of the dam.

Citrus industry rep Ted Batkin says it’s likely going to be several years before appeals on the judge’s ruling sort things out. “If this stands it will have a dramatic effect in the citrus growing areas,” says Batkin, as well as have a ripple effect on water prices in the area like in the Kings River service area.

The case now known as NRDC vs. Rodgers, was initiated by the NRDC coalition when the original 40-year Friant water service contracts were starting to expire and become due for renegotiation in 1988. In 1997-98, various case elements were decided first by Judge Karlton and then the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Those included invalidation, on technical grounds, of 14 long-term Friant-CVP renewal contracts that by then had been enacted. After the US Supreme Court declined to hear the case, certain issues relating to San Joaquin River flows below Friant Dam and related state laws were sent back to Judge Karlton. A settlement effort then led to four years of talks and river enhancement studies involving the FWUA and NRDC, as well as other federal and state agencies. But in April 2003, NRDC announced unilaterally the settlement process had failed and reactivated its case.

Friant’s Kole Upton says a diversion of 25 to 40% of the annual water supply that averages 1.7 million acre feet would have dramatic “downsizing” effect on farms, jobs and communities in the central valley and on the water supply for every city up and down the eastside of the valley.

The cities of Tulare and Visalia depend on Friant surface water to help backfill aquifers and groundwater east of both communities. A major battle was fought over the value of the percolation effect the water has had coming through the Kaweah delta area a few years ago when the irrigation district, Tulare Irrigation District, sought to line the canal off the Friant Kern with concrete causing a major hubbub that was settled only a few years ago. Now the water that is fed into the canal would be in jeopardy.

The Friant Kern canal brings water from the San Joaquin River north of Fresno mostly south by gravity over 151 miles resulting in a huge water supply for Tulare County farms and water districts from Orange Cove to Earlimart at each end of the county.

Six dry years in the central valley make the loss of this surface water even more dire as everyone is having to dig deeper for water even as cities boosts growth and more subdivision activity. In recent days rural subdivisions near Clovis ran out of water as have the towns of Springville and Alpaugh struggling with wells.

Kings County too, will be affected, says Supervisor Tony Oliveira. “This is the largest water crisis in our history,” says Oliveira who is also a farmer.

“Cities are going to have to rethink growth.” Oliveira fears that management of the ground water will be taken over by the state and before a new subdivision can be built a proven supply of water will have to be secured. He fears that will only happen if farms go out of business. Kings County water wells and those around Tulare County have been sinking in recent years and well drillers are reporting a several month back log of job orders in the area.

Withdrawal of a large percentage of surface water will kill recharge programs in place now up and down the eastside of the valley after setting up a system to take water in wet years and store it underground to be withdrawn in dry years.

Instead, the flow down the San Joaquin will end up in the San Francisco Bay and not in underground aquifers in Tulare County. Clearly Tulare County may be the largest recipient of the federal effort to build this dam back in the 1940s when in the heart of the Depression the state could not sell the bonds needed to fund Central Valley Project.

That federal project now provides water to make the central valley the richest ag region in the world and helps provide power to much of the state. Without a firm supply of water for the eastside a repeat of the crisis that developed prior to the construction of Friant Kern canal could result. The upshot of such a dramatic cutoff might be that the orange belt region along eastern foothills could simply dry up and blow away.

To quote from some documents on the formation of the Central Valley Project:

“In the prosperous 1920s, multi-hued fruit and vegetable crate labels trumpeted California’s agricultural bounty to the rest of the country. Behind those billboards to a happier life, a crisis was developing. The head of the Orange Cove Water District southeast of Fresno, B.J. Foster, remembered the mid-20s and early-30s when the bottom fell out both above and below ground: ‘Our pumps were producing 150 to 175 gallons per minute. In 1931 they were producing 50 gallons a minute. The people were just pumping all the water right out of the ground.’ He explained: ‘We can’t go any deeper even if it would be economical to operate deeper wells - we’ve hit granite.’ The disappearing aquifer caused the abandonment of forty thousand acres in the late 1920s. One grower saw his orange grove producing ‘only a crop of firewood’ once his wells dried up. The arrival of the national economic Depression in California, caused planters to worry an additional 160,000 acres, worth more than $50 million, would also return to desert.”

Significantly the dam has other benefits that everyone enjoys - it keeps Fresno from floods for one thing - a fact people forget about.

Back at Friant, Upton says they will probably appeal the liability ruling to the 9th Circuit Court in San Francisco - like Karlton considered to be liberal in their views. From there the only appeal is to the US Supreme Court.

Meanwhile a study of just how much water a restoration project on the San Joaquin will need requires more study, says Jacobsma and the timing of water release for spring and fall salmon runs need analysis along with the temperature of water released that will complicate a simple notion that all you have to do is release water and the fish will return.

Friant and NRDC are still in joint study of the issue even though they face each other across the courtroom over whether the Bureau and Friant have to release more water.

Meanwhile the hope at Friant is legislation favorable to build a new large dam above Millerton at Temperance Flat is passed this month in Congress helping to deliver more water in the future for fish and farms without decimating the central valley farms that have come to depend on that water.

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Going Up?
Visalia’s Skyline Heads Higher
Buckman Mitchell Eyes 5 Level Medical Building

Visalia - Stan Simpson, board chair of Buckman Mitchell insurance company, says the Visalia firm expects to hire a consultant in coming weeks to study the feasibility of constructing a 5 level, 80,000 sq. ft. medical building in Downtown Visalia.

“We’ve been looking at this for the past few years,” says Simpson.

The multi story building would be built right over the top of the existing street level building on Main St. that is the office for the insurance company. The site would take advantage of the fact that a new almost 2 block long, 5 level, 700 car parking garage will be built next year behind the Buckman Mitchell building. “We think there will be an opportunity to tie our new building to the parking garage with direct access between the two,” says Simpson, similar to a medical building on Willow and Court St.

The insurance firm has made no secret of the fact they have been interested in building a medical office building and in a public meeting a few weeks ago attended by city officials, the medical community and private developers, Buckman Mitchell principal Cliff Dunbar announced their interest in the development if physicians would commit to leasing space.

Kaweah Delta hospital and the Tulare County Medical Society have stated that nearby medical office space would help the hospital recruit physicians to the expanded medical complex being built by Kaweah Delta in the downtown.

Simpson says as long as two years ago the company hired several professionals to offer expert advice on whether a multi story office building built over the top of the Buckman Mitchell building was possible. Simpson says the answer was positive.

Simpson says if the consultant finds enough interest the company would probably work with a developer to construct the office over the top of the brick building. The building dates from 1948 when it was constructed for Sears Roebuck. It is 22,000 sq. ft.

Simpson says it’s possible the insurance company may have to relocate as the new medical building goes up and could even relocate permanently elsewhere in Downtown if it is more practical to do so.

The Buckman Mitchell insurance firm is a corporation with its primary shareholder being Simpson, Cliff Dunbar, Alan Jacobus, Jeff Boyle and Judy Fussel.

The new parking garage will be owned by the city. The garage will be key to the new Kaweah Delta 6 story tower that should begin construction in April. It will open in Fall 2007. The district hospital is plowing over $117 million in the next few years on their new campus matched by a huge city commitment to upgrade streets and parking nearby. Building more private development actually helps pay for those improvements.

CEO Lindsay Mann has let it be known that it’s critical for the success of the hospital that private medical space be available for physicians - particularly specialists who need close access to the hospital.

This would be the third parking garage in the downtown area. Each one has helped promote more intense development nearby that often takes the city’s skyscape upward including developments at the hospital, Signature Theater, Comfort Suites and Convention Center.

Buckman Mitchell extends about a third of the way down the length of the parking garage with several other Main St. multi story buildings already in place that could take advantage of the proximity of the parking garage and could boost chances some upper story downtown buildings could be renovated for residential use as well - a long time city goal.

Building more medical office space in downtown is bound to set up a ripple effect that could result in a wave of new development in the eastern part of Downtown, just as the new Civic Center project is doing - providing prospective tenants for the development of East Visalia.

The hospital uses the same development model of relocating smaller single story users scattered in the downtown area and combining them in the new 5 story Support Services building going up this summer on Mineral King. All those departments are in buildings that will be leveled to make room for the new $106 million 6 story hospital “North Expansion” tower at Floral and Acequia - just one of several such towers Kaweah Delta has planned as it expands its medical campus to some 30 acres in coming years.

The result for downtown will be more people every day in the city core area, visitors, service providers and employees filling Main St. at all hours.

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Tulare County
Dairy Industry’s Big Growth Years May Be Behind Us

Tulare County - Just 175 miles from Los Angeles, Tulare County has long been the top choice of dairymen looking to relocate out of the Chino Valley near L.A. as the value of their land grew year by year to astronomical levels. For the past few decades the first place the dairymen looked was just over the Grapevine. Even today there are several hundred thousand cows in the Southland in the path of subdivisions that won’t be there in the not too distant future.

Here in the valley the dairymen would find kin from back home, the same churches and schools they were used to along with wide open spaces, plenty of water, a temperate climate and industry infrastructure available to continue their family dairy tradition. Above all - they could work with the same cooperatives, vendors and serve the same market they were used to in the Southland.

The dairymen listened and invested millions of dollars here helping to make this the fastest growing dairy county in the US. The number of milk cows in the county has gone from 45,000 in 1950 to 400,000 today. That has helped draw a massive food processing industry to the Tulare Lake Basin that includes the 130,000 cows of Kings County and some 12 huge milk products plants within the two county region.

Adding Kings to Tulare County we produce about one third of the milk in the state.

Big Numbers

A recent study suggests the dairy industry produced 22,000 jobs and almost $3 billion in economic activity in Tulare County alone. Milk itself is a $1 billion crop to Tulare County. If Hollywood has the movies and Kern County has oil, dairy products have become our numero uno in the past few decades.

But all this has come at a cost and those costs just like the land in L.A. are rising here too. Now one broker who helped bring many of those Dutch dairies from the Southland to Tulare County says he believes “those big growth years are behind us” now.

Visalian John Grimmius, who co-founded The Ranch Co. in town, has helped bring well over 100 dairies to the county over the years. But today he thinks dairymen see greener pastures elsewhere.

While hundreds of dairy permits have been issued in Tulare County over the years, the process has gone on largely under the radar screen. While some people complained about the smell a dairy might cause, is was part of living the rural lifestyle in a farm county - Tulare County.

Bulls Eye

Today a new dairy has a big bulls eye painted all over it - on the other hand. The number of people and number of dairy cows have fairly well kept up with each other. Now the two populations are seeing a lot more of each other. Dairies are very much on the radar screen and the net result of environmental litigation in the late 1990s in Tulare there has been a moratorium on new dairy permits in place since 1999 when a back log of new permits that today has reached about 70 began to build up. Meanwhile air board, state and federal oversite on dairy emissions and now dairy manure have complicated what had been largely a local matter. This all adds waiting time and cost as well as the application of technology to meet higher standards.

In Kern County recently where scores of big dairies have been looking to locate recently, this issue is a hot one.

Just this past week in Kern County by a 3 to 2 vote the Board of Supervisors decided not to put a moratorium on new dairies but promised applications would be processed in groups including nine applications near Wasco where dairies will file environmental impact sub reports.

Dairies have been implicated in concerns over poor air quality in the valley that have risen to the top as a topic of daily media attention.

The issue showed up here in Tulare County with the plan to build a large dairy north of Visalia now populated by new residents of the big subdivision of Shannon Ranch on the city’s extreme north end concerned about the smell and nuisance a dairy might bring to their new homes. The permit issued for Mineral King Dairy will be heard in coming weeks by the Tulare County Planning Commission.

Land Costs Up

Grimmius says although new regulatory pressures in the central valley are affecting the pace of any continued dairy expansion here it is the price of land that may change the economics of Tulare County dairying. After all, rising prices for real estate all over California is affecting Tulare County land too and low borrowing costs have driven prices up.

“You could make the land purchase pencil out at about $3000 an acre, but at $5000 an acre it gets pretty difficult to come out considering how much land you have to buy.” New dairies in Tulare County - require 1 acre of land for every 6 cows so a 12,000 cow dairy requires 2000 acres of land on which to spread the manure to be taken up by crops so it does not become a water pollution problem.

With the increase cost of doing business in California, higher land prices and tough regulatory climate Grimmius says more dairymen are looking elsewhere these days for their expansion plans. “We’re seeing Chino dairymen looking to Texas, New Mexico, Washington and Oregon,” he notes, although there is still interest in Kern and western Fresno County he says, there is even a Tulare County dairyman talking of moving to Texas where they expect the regulatory environment is less stringent.

One new rival to Tulare County has emerged in recent months with the proposal for a $1 billion energy park that would use waste manure from 90,000 dairy cattle north of Barstow. Dairy waste would be fed into anaerobic digesters. Unlike Tulare County, the site has neither the feed supply growing right outside the barn, nor milk and cheese plants nearby to convert the product. But it doesn’t have a growing population of new homes or neighbors wondering what that smell is as they walk out their back door.

Tulare County does have over 70 permits waiting for approval once the county finalizes its Programmatic EIR process perhaps next year. In recent years Tulare County dairymen that could afford the consultants have had to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for their own environmental impact report. Still to come are tougher air rules on methane, waste handling and their cumulative impact of the dairies here in the valley as Kern, Kings, Tulare and Fresno counties continue to grow to 1.5 million cows and that when you consider all the replacement animals raised here as well.

Not to be left out is the growing scarcity of the water supply in the valley even as the price per acre foot rises. Falling well water is a bad sign of things to come as dairymen ponder the future here complicated by 6 years of drought.

Now add the cost of an anaerobic digester to the cost of a new dairy here - a cost that has been estimated to be another $1 million, and likely required in coming years to site a new dairy here.

Out of Room

Grimmius says a major factor in Tulare County is that by in large we are out of room in many parts of the county to site big new dairies. The average size of dairies has increased from several hundred in the 1970s to several thousand with strict rules to space dairies apart and not intrude into some other crop’s regions.

The last large open spaces are around the old lakebed area has perched water table with hardpan not suitable for some operations.

Grimmius says many dairies that will expand here will end up buying out the smaller dairies that tend to be less economic every year. To their credit the larger modern dairies often have less environmental impacts offsite due to how they handle their manure, their construction and waste flow design than the older “grandfathered” dairies typically the ones surrounding Tulare. Some parts of the county are saturated with about as many dairies as they are going to get like the 30 or so north of Visalia. While southwest Tulare County had been envisioned as the expansion region for the new dairies that notion was hurt by this area’s water supply - witness the poor folks in Alpaugh who are having trouble getting drinking water.

While Tulare County will continue to have those happy cows you see on TV for many years to come, big boom years like those in the late sixties and seventies when almost 100 new dairies were built here, are not likely.

Now with the potential approval of a blanket EIR process the 70 or so back logged permits might get processed. Planner Roberto Brady says one third are new dairies and two thirds are expansions. Many of these later cases are smaller dairies who can’t afford the freight to do their own EIR. Brady says he expects over the next few years these permits will be processed and the dairies expanded.

Roberto Brady notes that while Tulare County has not issued many new permits in the past five years, it’s not like the dairy industry has stopped growing. “Many dairies already were permitted to add animals and some people had already approved dairy permits,” says Brady. Indeed the cow numbers since 1998 in Tulare County have grown by almost 30% during this time when the industry seemed stalled. Between Tulare and Kings County in one year they added about 35,000 cows prompted by increased demand for milk from the two big Leprino cheese plants.

Technology and best practice could change just how dairies are perceived by an increasingly urban central valley. If the dairy down the road doesn’t stink, there will be fewer neighbors clamoring at local boards to shut off any expansion plans. On the other hand, this land may be approaching a carrying capacity for dairy animals that would still make it the equivalent of Wisconsin in the middle of California for years to come.

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$150 Million Fix For Success Dam

Porterville - The US Corps of Engineers is about to release their preferred alternative plan to build a $150 million seismic retrofit of Success Dam above Porterville. Project manage Norbert Suter says the plan will be shared with local officials September 10. One of three alternatives picked for a massive 5 year project will essentially build a new dam to ensure a big earthquake doesn’t inundate the city and lands downstream.

The three alternatives being considered seek to stabilize the dam that was built over some potentially unstable materials at its base. Two of the alternatives require the purchase of significant amounts of land to offset riverside land they would need to use to build the new dam on both sides of the current earthen facility.

During the two years of design and three years of construction, Suter says the Corps would allow the dam to fill by only one third the water volume it could, meaning some water in a normal or wet year could not be stored behind the dam for irrigation purposes.

Tule Watermaster R.L. Schafer is skeptical of the need for the seismic retrofit suggesting it would take an 8.3 quake on the San Andreas fault to trigger an event here. But Suter says the project is “absolutely needed” citing some recent scientific analysis of the dam’s construction.

Ironically the Tule River ran just 22% of April to July normal run this year so the lake is at just 14,000 acre feet this summer.

Despite concern over the dam’s safety, the huge public works project could be a shot in the arm to the Porterville economy. One alternative, for example, would require 700 tons of cement to be brought in to do the construction work.

Suter says the Corps will need “to go to Congress for some money” since their primary analysis they got just $30 million to do the job - about one fifth they will need. The $150 million repair job is big being done on a dam that originally cost just $14.6 million to build back in 1961.

Suter says a key provision of the project was to keep the dam in place while doing the new construction either upstream or downstream on the dam 6 miles east of Porterville.

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US Cold Storage Will Expand In Tulare

Tulare - Tulare’s US Cold Storage will expand its Tulare-North 60 acre campus adding another 80,000 sq. ft. of mostly refrigerated space to its first building constructed 2 years ago in the area near Blackstone and Levin.

“We’ll add on going west,” says vice president area manager for the California Region Rod Noll. “We should start construction in about 45 days.”

The development will add about 20 new jobs to the 65 workers who already are employed by the company at its big Tulare operations which serves the food processing industry.

Noll says “our expansion is related to increased need to house dairy products,” as well as the area’s central location and stable workforce, he says.

US Cold Storage bought the 60 acre north area a few years ago and put in a rail spur that connects to the newest facility off Walnut at Blackstone.

The company has about 18 acres left of the original 60 it does need for future expansion says Noll and they have had some interest from several food processors. He says “we’ll probably sell that land to one company who might want to use our services.”

The cold storage company is part of an English firm The Squire Group. This expansion marks perhaps the 8th expansion the company has made since it built its US Cold Storage-South facility on Continental - part of the Tulare industrial park. The general manager of the Tulare facility is Brian Ford.

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Many Veterans Memorial Buildings Faced with Repairs, Closure Throughout County

by Aaron Collins

Tulare County - You have been hearing about fund raising efforts locally and nationally to honor our veterans. They are all to the good. But in many Tulare County towns there stand monuments to their service that may not be getting the attention they deserve. Witness the numerous WWII Veteran’s Memorial Buildings around the region which are crumbling and threatened with closure.

From Dinuba to Three Rivers, Orosi to communities southward, these buildings created to honor our country’s WWII veterans are now, in many cases, 50 years old. Many facilities badly need new roofing, air conditioning repairs, and other costly upgrades.

According to Robert Bridge, who serves on the board of Dinuba’s Veteran’s Memorial District, “Nearly every Memorial District in the area is in the same boat we’re in. Most of the rural ones are in really bad shape.” According to Bridge, memorial buildings around the state are not much better off.

In such patriotic times, why are these buildings falling into disrepair when their very purpose was to honor military service veterans? Individual Veteran Memorial Districts were created to pay for ongoing maintenance of the buildings. Since their inception, they have been funded by state property taxes. However, since Proposition 13 was passed by California voters back in the late 70s, veteran’s memorial building maintenance funds have dwindled.

The results of this funding mechanism have taken years to become apparent.

Built in 1957, Dinuba’s large-scale Memorial Building was first class, but its roof now needs replacement, its parking lot resurfaced, its wiring upgraded. It also needs air conditioning. The estimated bill for all that and more? Nearly $700,000. And that is just one of the county’s 10 or so buildings in various states of disrepair.

But post-9/11 patriotic largess has not been forthcoming. Voters in Humboldt County rejected a 2002 measure that would have bailed out its numerous memorial buildings. And Dinuba voters demonstrated similar reluctance even before a measure even hit the ballot: A local poll revealed that Dinubans were so unsupportive that the proposed initiative plug was pulled before it saw the light of day on any ballot. The measure would have brought $3 per parcel for 10 years, compared to the failed $10 per parcel sought in the Humboldt measure.

Furthermore, placing the measure on the local ballot would have cost supporters around $20,000 --- funds which were simply too hard to come by.

Why the niggardly gesture in a predominantly conservative like ours --- an area which one might expect to exude patriotic fervor on matters from supporting our troops to honoring those who have served? According to Bridge, “Most people living here now are not from here and the majority come from another country. And they don’t understand these issues.”

But Three Rivers is also struggling to support its Veteran’s Memorial Building. And its residents are mostly US-born, according to US Census Bureau data.

Says Bridge of Dinuba’s situation, “Within the next five years, if we don’t get some help, there’s a very good chance we may have to lock our doors. We can only do it so long before health department or other agencies find that we aren in compliance.” Further complicating matters, says Bridge, are “the Feds, who have strings tied about who can manage,” and from the county, which acts as the Memorial District’s fiscal agent. But if we’re going to save our Memorial Building, the community is going to have to do it.”

Despite the widespread funding problems, Bridge does not yet see any broader regional effort to address what most consider to be a statewide problem.

“Veterans must get out of the back row and speak out. If we’re going to save it, we’re going to have to make some noise,” says Bridge.

Among the considerations are to work with the City of Dinuba to recast the building’s function and identity. A proposed name? The Veteran Memorial Building and Convention Center. This may be the most viable solution for a number of communities whose main community centers and gathering spots have long been their Veteran’s Memorial Buildings.

Mangano Group Buys 100 Acres On So. Mooney

Centex Plans To Double Home Building

What's New

Tulare's Residential Boom

City of Visalia Bites On Bullet Train

By Aaron Collins

Visalia - High speed rail service from LA to points north in the Bay Area--- a so-called Bullet Train --- could speed Tulare County residents at 200mph to those cities in just over an hour within the coming decade, if local leaders succeed. And the push is on.

Last week's town hall style meeting in Visalia was the first local stop in taking the fast train from dream to reality. The event attracted over 70 community members from around Tulare County, and was part of a required public comment process.

Carrie Pourvahidi, Deputy Director of the California High Speed Rail Authority (HSRA), answered questions and collected comments at the meeting at Visalia Airport Holiday Inn.

The forum resulted from a successful joint effort by officials from the City of Visalia, Visalia Chamber of Commerce, and Visalia Economic Development Corporation to attract representatives from the HSRA to pitch the rail service to locals---as well as for local civic leaders to campaign for a Visalia station to officials with the Sacramento-based HSRA.

A Visalia node on the rail network would mean that if ultimately funded by a state bond measure in 2006 --- the county seat would be connected to San Diego at the far south end of the route, to points north in the Bay Area and Sacramento.

The rail service could whittle a nearly 8-hour car trip from LA to the Bay Area down to a mere three-hour train ride.

The economic, environmental, and tourism benefits are not lost on Visalia Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Mike Cully, City Manager Steve Solomon, and Visalia Mayor Bob Link, who are among the local officials actively courting the State High Speed Rail Authority (HSRA) to include Visalia in its plans.

In addition to the passenger stop, the City is lobbying to be chosen as a site for the rail service maintenance facility. Officials say this would add much-needed jobs to the local economy. Tulare County chronic double-digit unemployment rate is often the worst in the state, which could improve Visalia standing in the HSRA decision to site the maintenance facility.

Mayor Link believes that Visalia has a leg up in site selection for the maintenance facility, saying that the City already owns the land near the airport.

But funding for the overall high speed rail system is still the major hurdle. Following the state recent budgetary woes and passage of Governor Schwarzenegger $15 billion bond-debt measure, the project $35 billion estimated cost could leave car-loving California voters reluctant to fund a mass transit measure with further bond debt, despite the numerous economic and environmental benefits touted by the HSRA.

Current plans call for a bond measure to be placed on the November 2006 ballot. The measure was to appear this November, but Gov. Schwarzenegger and the State Legislature agreed to the postponement in light of their fiscal difficulties.

According to project supporter Jim Thompson, manager of the Visalia Convention Center, auto dependency and the resulting pollution is a major reason why high-speed rail is needed. ewer cars on the road would improve our air, and our central location between LA and the Bay Area would make high speed rail service a huge boon to our area, both in terms of tourism and improved air quality, Thompson said. Cutting travel time from major cities to Visalia would improve its standing in the convention industry, as well, Thompson added.

Additionally, Thompson believes high speed rail would be readily adopted by foreign visitors to Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Parks, whose visitor base is largely from Europe, where passenger rail has long been a primary mode of long distance travel.

In contrast, American passenger rail service came under attack in the early and mid-20th Century, when US auto industry executives lobbied for the removal of many widely-used municipal rail and street car services in order to limit transportation options and thereby improve its business.

With much of California developing in the suburban era, Valley residents have had no speedy transit alternatives to the auto. And the area current rapid growth features mainly suburban-type residential-only developments, whose single use designs virtually assure reliance on carbon-dioxide emitting autos over more pedestrian-friendly urban plans (referred to as sprawl by smart growth advocates).

The result: already-bad Valley air quality continues to worsen. The US Environmental Protection Agency recently gave The Valley ratings in every category in which it rates.

High-speed rail advocates are quick to note that truck and auto emissions account for 60% of Valley air pollutants, according to the California Air Resources Board. So, mass transit may be necessary to solving this chronic problem, according to recently appointed President and CEO Mike Cully of the Visalia Chamber of Commerce.

According to Cully, Visalia is an ideal midway point for a rail service that would bring economic growth opportunities region-wide. High speed rail would help Visalia be viewed as more of a regional hub, give it more credibility, bring more visitors and more beneficial residential, commercial, and industrial development, adds Cully.

High speed rail is the only viable alternative to keep California moving, said Visalia City Manager Steve Salomon in a recent press release. Voters have been reluctant to fund more highway construction and even if more roadways are built, studies show the state can construct enough roadways fast enough to meet anticipated demand.

Salomon added, high speed rail will provide a safe, efficient, environmentally friendly means to travel throughout the state. Located at the junction between Highways 198 & 99, Visalia is ideally suited for a Central Valley hub. It would link well with the east-west passenger rail service that is currently being explored, and could be a catalyst for light rail service in Visalia in the future.

In addition to the funding obstacles, the route alignment selection process must break in Visalia favor. To achieve this, local officials must persuade the HSRA to by-pass Burlington Northern tracks through Hanford---currently served by Amtrak---in favor of an alignment along existing Union Pacific tracks that skirt Visalia western edge near the junction of major freeways 198 and 99.

Fortunately for local rail advocates, the passenger service alignment will be determined within a matter of months.

When asked to rate the likelihood of the project coming to fruition in Visalia, Cully said, "I think there are a lot of other factors: Other cities must concur" he said, Selma, Kingsburg, etc. And Fresno is interested, too. Clearly there are variables and other motivated Valley cities which make a Visalia stop less than a slam-dunk.

However, as might be considered customary for a Chamber of Commerce official, Cully is upbeat about Visalia prospects. "I see no negatives in terms either economically or environmentally. Perhaps best for the Valley---with its child asthma rate at five times the national average---the train electromagnetic impulsion makes it a non-polluter."

For those who wish to comment on the rail service draft environmental impact report (EIR) for high speed rail through Visalia, input will be taken until the August 31 deadline. The local committee is asking the public to send letters of support addressed to the HSRA.

The nearly 800-page EIR contains detailed analysis---along with over 600 pages of appendices---and details potential effects on wetlands, wildlife, and other factors like noise, traffic, and air quality along the proposed 700-mile route.

More information about the High Speed Rail Authority and the proposed alignment is available at www.cahighspeedrail.ca.gov.

Aaron Collins is a member of the Arts Council of Tulare County, and smart growth development advocate.

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