In an area where water meters were once thought unthinkable, they are now beginning to cause great harm, and one wonders what future affect having the Auburn Dam up and storing water will play in this development.
An excerpt.
Rising water rates threaten Placer farm
By Todd Milbourn - Bee Staff WriterPublished 12:00 am PDT Monday, October 2, 2006
Leaning against his tractor on a recent morning, his eyes shaded from the sun by the rumpled brim of his baseball cap, Tosh Kuratomi recalled the history of his family's nearly century-old farm.
There's the agricultural history -- how, over the years, the farm refined the ancient Japanese art of hoshigaki, winning acclaim for distilling persimmons to their cinnamony essence.
Then there's the family history -- how Kuratomi's daughter loved the farm so much she had her wedding there.
But Kuratomi's reminiscence turns to apprehension as he discusses the future of the farm, a 40-acre operation along Eureka Road, tucked among the vast estates and luxury homes in Granite Bay. He worries he won't be able to pass the farm on to his kids, because rising water rates are making it too costly.
"What's Placer County's agricultural legacy going to be other than the record books?" Kuratomi pondered, while just over his shoulder, sprinklers moistened a patch of peach trees.
Kuratomi's water dilemma is somewhat unique, because the farm relies on water from an urban district, the San Juan Water District, which spans eastern Sacramento County, parts of Granite Bay and a sliver of Roseville. Most California farms get their water from groundwater, state and federal water projects or local irrigation districts.
