Valley Leaders Headed to D.C. To Find Drought Relief

Fresno County leaders are headed on a five day trip to Washington D.C. that could have an impact on the Valley for decades.

The Fresno Council of Governments organizes the trip and calls it One Voice. Two dozen public officials and business owners from Fresno County will meet with Congressmen and Representatives from the White House.

Their number one issue is finding federal funding for drought relief.

"To open up the release of more water to come down to our Valley farmers so they can continue to grow their crops and the other is to lobby for resources to accelerate the building of Temperance Flat Dam," Fresno County Supervisor Henry Perea said.

This will be his third trip to the Capitol with One Voice.

Getting the attention of federal lawmakers is tough but this trip allows Valley voices to be heard in person.

"There’s 50 states competing for the same dollar. We will make our case for water and other infrastructure projects in the central valley to get them to the top of the list," Perea said.

The delegation will also push for funding economic development, public safety and transportation projects.

"To get people trained to work on high speed rail. Also, it’s well known and well documented that our highways and bridges and road transportation needs an infusion of funding because that’s a fund that’s been running out for many years," Rachel Eslick with the Fresno Area Chamber of Commerce said.

Mayors of Mendota, Orange Cove, Parlier and Fowler will also attend. Along with representatives from Fresno and Clovis.

With the California drought gaining national attention the trip comes at a perfect time.

"Obviously the ones that represent the Valley know what we are going through. It takes a lot of people working together to get legislation passed and get aid to the Central Valley," Eslick said.