Agencies Bottleneck New Water Policy

A plan for water policy and management of the Santa Clara River is caught among four or five lollygagging agencies that only have one interest in mind: procrastinate and pass the buck because that assures them of jobs at our expense.

The approach of the rainy season reminds us that we need a concrete, long-term solution that will benefit all landowners and not exclude wildlife and waterfowl. Environmentalists and fishery experts have had more to say than agriculture or urban business interests that are dependent on the maximum yield from the properties they own and on which they are taxed.

All the issues that must be addressed concerning the Santa Clara River have for the past three rainy seasons been defined in newspaper reports, Board of Supervisors meetings, (and by) state officials and Rep. Elton Gallegly. And still, no solutions or implementation are in sight.

FRED H. MALZACHER

Santa Paula