Western Growers Applauds Historic Passage of Water Legislation

IRVINE, Calif., Nov. 4 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In response to the early morning passage in the California state legislature today of a package of water bond and policy bills, Western Growers' President and CEO Tom Nassif, said the following:

"A golden opportunity was seized today and tremendous courage demonstrated by legislators and stakeholders alike with the passage of this unprecedented set of bills. I applaud the Legislature for this bold action and thank Governor Schwarzenegger for his steadfast leadership and optimism, as well as Senate President pro tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento), Senate Republican Leader Dennis Hollingsworth (R-Murrieta), Assembly Speaker Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles), and Assembly Republican Leader Sam Blakeslee (R-San Luis Obispo). In particular, Western Growers is grateful to Senator Dave Cogdill (R-Modesto), for leading the bond effort over the last three years, and Assemblywoman Anna Caballero (D-Salinas) for helping this legislation move through the assembly. This legislation will help remedy the water supply crisis in our state and secure a domestic food supply for the nation, while supporting California's co-equal goals of restoring the Delta ecosystem and improving water supply reliability. This is a great day in the history of the Golden State."

Western Growers is an 85-year-old agricultural trade association whose members from Arizona and California grow, pack and ship about half of the nation's fresh produce.