Water rights is hot issue with IID candidates
Copies of document filed with Imperial County Registrar show IID candidate Juanita Salas being endorsed by the political action group IVFIRST, a group looking to take water rights away from IID. Salas said it was fake news.
“There’s three fake pages on social media. There are a number of whisper campaign out there by my opponent talking about how I’m endorsed by all these dark money organizations that I have not accepted one dime from,” Salas said.
The documents show thousands of dollars being spent on her campaign. Just how serious is it if IVFIRST gets their way?
El Centro teacher Haydee Rodriguez said, “If they get the water rights, they can also get the power rights which they’ll probably sell to San Diego Gas and Electric or Edison.”
IID Division 1 Candidate Alex Cardenas said, “These special interest groups that are out there are trying to cause chaos when it comes to managing and controlling the distribution of water in our county.”
Cardenas said labor unions that helped put Salas in the IID have walked away from her.
“They have now taken a position where they will remain neutral in this particular race and the public can draw their own conclusions and maybe ask, why the labor union had decided to stay neutral in such a critical and important race to our community?” Cardenas said.
Salas explains why the unions left her.
“They decided that they were not going to take a stand this year on my race, even though last year they were a major force,” Salas said.
Protecting water rights from special interest groups is vital.
Brawley community advocate Eric Reyes said, “So now we’re having everyone kind of positioning themselves to take water from Imperial Irrigation District because they see us as a poor under served and politically weak region where Los Angeles and San Diego, who have already taken water from us, can encroach on our water rights.”
Cardenas and Salas both said that protecting water rights is at the forefront of their campaigns, they’re just looking at it from different perspectives. They urged voters to go out and maker their voices count.
