A NATION
THAT CANNOT FEED ITSELF IS
at RISK!
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Former Camp Verde Mayor Brenda Hauser’s
Speech to the Committee on Natural Resources, Agriculture,
Water and Native American Affairs, Arizona House of Representatives.
(Brenda currently serves as a Camp Verde Town Councilor.)
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Honorable committee members, staff and
visitors: Thank you for allowing me to speak with you this morning.
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My
name is Brenda Hauser. I serve as Mayor of Camp Verde, representative of
the Verde Watershed Association, alternate for the Yavapai County Water
Advisory Committee, and that committee’s representative to the Arizona
Watershed Alliance. There are 17 watershed groups represented in that
alliance. My job today is to speak about agriculture, which is really easy
since I belong to a family that has been farming for six generations. My
husband, son, and grandsons farm in the Camp Verde and Paulden areas. My
husband’s two brothers farm in Tolleson and St. Johns and have been doing
so for about 40 years. Their father raised and hauled citrus in North
Phoenix from 1948 until his retirement. Prior to that, they farmed in
Iowa.
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My message to you today is that I would
like the State of Arizona, and especially rural Arizona, to consider
farmland an ASSET rather than a water source for urbanization.
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Every water meeting that I attend (and
there are many) when talks begin about a new subdivision or golf course,
the first place they look for water is to dry up the farms. Yes, farming
does use a lot of water but we’re NOT growing hubcaps—we’re growing food
to feed the rapidly increasing population! Irrigation water also returns
most of the water back to the aquifer which cannot be said for homes or
golf courses.
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When the bulldozers come, we are not
only losing a food source but also open space, Arizona’s history and
character, green belts, wildlife habitat, buffer zones and agriculture
soils. We are also increasing the cost of services to the municipalities.
Additionally, loss of farmland takes away a tourist attraction which
provides economic and educational benefits. People travel for hundreds of
miles for fresh sweet corn, other fruits and vegetables, and farm
activities.
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will we go for water and food when the farms are gone? Will we become as
dependent on foreign coun-tries for food as we are oil? I see commercials
on TV that tout the wonders of growing fruits and vegetables in Chile.
Loss of Arizona agriculture impoverishes our quality of life and economy.
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We in rural Arizona must be given the
legislative tools to make informed decisions on water use and agriculture
must not be looked at as a water bank account for all other land uses. The
Department of Water Resources gives 100 year adequate water supply to
rural subdivisions. What does this mean? Is it planned depletion?
Shouldn’t we instead be assured of a sustainable water supply? The federal
government trades off lands that are valuable to watersheds. Do we not
care if our children’s children have water? We must be allowed to involve
water in every discussion where land use changes are at issue.
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The water use of a new subdivision in
our region dried up the wells and springs in the homes surrounding the
area. Was this impact considered during the planning process for the
subdivision? Probably not. In fact, we do not even have the legal tools to
consider such an impact.
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The Western United States has lost over
555,000 acres of agriculture land to urbanization during the last 20
years. While I commend the founding fathers of Phoenix who had the
foresight to plan and initiate the Central Arizona Project, and the
farmers who envisioned and created the Salt River Project, please know
that YOU must consider rural Arizona in your decision-making.
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There are actually some states,
Kentucky, North and South Dakota, Virginia and Iowa— to name a few— who
actually value agriculture. They provide capital and technical assistance
to farmers who wish to diversify their operations.
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I challenge Arizona’s leadership to
value our agricultural community the way many of its citizens do when we
think of fresh sweet corn in the summer, driving through blooming citrus
groves, the scent of new-mown hay, the excited laughter of our children in
the pumpkin patch in autumn. We care that our children know where their
food comes from.
- A nation that cannot feed
itself is at risk. In these uncertain times, is it wise to become
dependent on foreign nations for one of the basic requirements of life—OUR
FOOD?
March 26, 2003 |
