Unusual Allies Oppose Riverbank Development
Environmentalists and farm groups asked Madera County supervisors to reconsider approval of a housing development on the San Joaquin River’s northern bank.
The groups oppose the 4,332-home River Ranch Estates in the Rio Mesa area for reasons ranging from concerns about the river’s water supply to encroachment on riparian habitat.
A letter asking supervisors to change their mind was made public Tuesday. It was signed by such groups as the local Sierra Club chapter, the Madera County Farm Bureau, the Fresno Audubon Society and the Madera Irrigation District. The development’s population would eventually reach almost 14,000 people, which the area couldn’t absorb without serious consequences, the groups argued.
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