California requests federal disaster area declaration for drought-hit Fresno County
By SOLOMON MOORE LOS ANGELES — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger made an unusual request Friday, asking President Obama to declare Fresno County a federal disaster area because of a three-year drought that is straining California’s agricultural industry and worsening unemployment in the hard-hit Central Valley. Mr. Schwarzenegger, a Republican, announced his request on a visit to the county, the state’s breadbasket, where unemployment is near 17 percent. Tough new environmental regulations to protect endangered freshwater fish are also hindering California’s huge agricultural industry, which provides about half of the nation’s fresh produce. Government statistics released Friday showed California’s unemployment rate at 11.5 percent in May, the highest since World War II, compared with 11.1 percent in April, representing a loss of 68,900 nonfarm jobs. Requests for a presidential disaster declaration are rarer for droughts than for other natural disasters. In 2007, the governor of Georgia requested a declaration because of a prolonged drought, but President George W. Bush declined to make one. The White House did not respond immediately to Mr. Schwarzenegger’s request. … The governor also signed an executive order to provide about $3 million a month in food assistance and unemployment insurance in the Fresno area. “These are dire circumstances,” Mr. Schwarzenegger said at a stop in Mendota. “Here in the Central Valley, no water means no work. And no work means people cannot feed their families.” About 450,000 acres across California are fallow this year because of water shortages, state officials say. Fewer planted acres means fewer jobs in agriculture and higher prices at supermarkets across the country, said Victoria Bradshaw, the governor’s deputy chief of staff. “Last month, agriculture lost 29,000 jobs” in the state, Ms. Bradshaw said. “That has huge impact not only on California’s economy but on the nation’s food supply,” she said. “If we can’t keep our agricultural communities together, then we’re going to be more dependent on foreign food supplies.” …
