Family Water Alliance guarding farmers' rights for 20 years

Sue Sutton can remember the very day the Family Water Alliance was born.

"It seems like yesterday," said Sutton, who for more than 15 years was the face of one of the most successful grassroots organizations in the North State and beyong.

The organization celebrates its 20th anniversary tonight at its annual dinner in Maxwell.

"It was a court hearing in front of Judge Levi. It was Dec. 13 — it was a Friday — and he ordered the shutdown of all water to GCID. We couldn't believe it," Sutton said.

At the time, the Glenn-Colusa Irrigation District served more than 150,000 acres of farm and refuge land, providing water to 12,000 family farmers in Colusa and Glenn counties.

It represented $85 million in crop value and an estimated $255 million in total economy.

But Levi said the district was illegally killing the salmon in the river.

"We went home and were stunned," Sutton said. "But I told my husband, 'I can't sit by idly and let this happen.'"

On the following Monday, Sutton called the GCID office, only to find a number of other people also had called that morning. She got those people's names and phone numbers and organized a meeting.

"I think there was 10 people there for the first meeting," said Sutton, who, along with Marion Mathis, organized that first gathering of the yet unnamed organization that would lead the fight that resulted in the development of fish screens; aligned fishermen, farmers and timber interests; and became an informational resource on topics as diverse and complicated as the Endangered Species Act, origin rights and on what powers resource agencies have and do not have.

The two women are also largely responsible for writing the book of policies the organization used.

Mathis said her lingering memory of those early days was the trepidation.

"What I remember most is the panic that set in with the possibility of cutting off water to GCID and the feeling of doom in Colusa and Glenn counties," Mathis said.

From that original meeting, the group met each week until the numbers grew to about 50. They were divided into different work areas, such as public relations, community education and financing.

"Joe Carrancho was fabulous with that," said Sutton about the need to raise money and in-kind donations.

"He came to me and asked how much money will we need. I said, 'Joe we will be all done with this in about six months; we won't need that much money.'"

Mathis remembers staring at Sutton and they would wonder if this year would be the last.

Instead, the fight would last for years; and while the topics have changed somewhat, the group is still very active.

"I think there is a huge pressure on farmers about increasing fees for water rights and reporting," said Ashley Indrieri, the chief operations officer of Family Water Alliance.

She said the group is still involved with efforts to soften the impact of the Endangered Species Act, and the focus remains on the direct impacts on local farmers.

"We are still fighting for Endangered Species Act reform, on-the-ground, things that are erroneous and make it hard on the farmers," Indrieri said.

She said another big topic is federal, state and private conservation land acquisitions and the potential impact that could have on farming and water rights.

On the front burner is the Berryessa National Conservation Area, which would encompass all or parts of at least five counties, including parts of Colusa and Glenn counties.

Mathis said while it may seem different, it is the same old issues with different wrapping, particularly with the need to reform the Endangered Species Act.

"And you have to be diligent, because the other side never sleeps," Mathis said.

Sutton said keeping the focus on the local issues was critical, then and now, even when there was talk about making it a state or even a national organization.

"We wanted to keep it local," Sutton said.

While Sutton was certainly the point person for the group, she is quick to point out there were many individuals such as Mathis, who could arguably be called the voice of the group with all the radio shows she did.

But the truth is, it was a community effort, Sutton said, and those communities seemed to grow as the Family Water Alliance found new partners with which to work.

"It was amazing how much support we got," Sutton said.

No more was that on display than when the fledgling group, which had incorporated about a month or so earlier, held a rally in Sacramento.

Sutton admits that the group had lost a little steam; families were in dire economic straits and growing more and more depressed, and the strain was showing.

When the group got to Sacramento, it was greeted by busloads of other farmers who came up from the San Joaquin Valley eager to join the fight.

Sutton said it rejuvenated the volunteers and carried them on to what has been a 20-year adventure.

Still, there would be some missteps, some tough times such as the recall of GCID directors and the loss of a critical ally, Gil Murray, the director of a state timber association, who was killed by a Unibomber bomb.

The package was intended for the past association president, Bill Dennison, but it was Murray, who had replaced Dennison a few months earlier, who opened it. That was April, 1995.

Sutton remembers getting a phone call right after that.

"It was a deep, gravely voice," she said.

A day later, the FBI was in the Family Water Alliance office getting a copy of the phone call, and instructing the group about what to do with strange packages.

"It was scary," Sutton said.

Mathis said she remembers going to Chico to do a radio show the day after Murray was killed, and did so with a very heavy heart.

She said the timber industry was the first to align with the Family Water Alliance and taught the group a lot about organization and other basics about getting the message out.

And in the end, it was about the work.

"It was a lot of hard work, but it was exhilarating," said Sutton, who is no longer part of the group and has focused her attention on global warming.

Mathis is retired, but still helps from time to time. She also has taken up other fights in the area.

Indrieri said the Family Water Alliance will be honoring all of its directors over the past 20 years at the dinner, though Sutton has a schedule conflict and will not attend.

And the menu provides a true irony for the occasion.

"We are serving salmon this year," Indrieri said.