The State - News from June 17, 1986

Claims seeking $90 million in damages were filed by western Fresno County farmers, who charge that plugging of agriculture waste-water drains is ruining their land. Directors of Westlands Water District promptly denied the claims, a routine step that is required before a lawsuit can be filed against a public agency in California. The claims by 31 Mendota-area farmers contend that they have or will face production declines, decreasing yields, lower land values and, in two cases, emotional distress. The water district has been plugging collector drains in the area to comply with an agreement with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to stop sending irrigation runoff through San Luis drain to Kesterson National Wildlife Refuge in western Merced County. Selenium has been leached from the ground and carried to Kesterson, where it has been blamed for bird deaths and deformities. Farmers contend that without the drains, the water table will rise to the surface on much of their irrigated land, ruining it for crops.