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It was a warm October night, and the hall on 13th Street in Firebaugh was packed with people. They had come to voice frustration about the "man-made drought," fallowed land and lost jobs.

That was five years ago. Little has changed.

Once-fertile land in the Westlands Water District is ruined by salty irrigation water trapped between the soil surface and layers of clay. Farmers scramble for water. Their deliveries are cut because of below- average rainfall and attempts to protect the delta smelt and salmon.

People, again, are mad as hell about lost jobs, food lines and government indifference to poverty on the west side. And agriculture -- along with its political allies -- again is writing an angry narrative of fish vs. people.

It's a sturdy tale, I admit. I've fallen for it a time or two. This script reduces a complex situation to black hats and white hats. And it inspires good people to take action on behalf of the hungry and unemployed.

The problem is, life isn't simple. Anger alone isn't a solution. And idle delta pumps are only partly responsible for 41% unemployment in a town such as Mendota.

Largely unspoken is the fact that foreign competition, retired land and a move to mechanically harvested crops are reducing the need for seasonal farmworkers. Also unspoken is the paradox of the Valley's reliance on agriculture: the world's most bountiful farm belt always has had some of America's highest unemployment. Nine years ago, 30% of Mendota was jobless. Six years ago, it was 36%.

Now, two questions: What will it take for agriculture -- Westlands, in particular -- to shed its reactive, panic- driven skin? And when will our political leadership join with agriculture to focus on sustainable economic solutions?

Westlands, as constituted, isn't sustainable. Not with the state continuing to grow in population, and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta turned into an environmental nightmare. The district never again will get all the water it wants.

But, Steve Geil, president of Economic Development Corp. serving Fresno County, says that the west side is poised for an economic turnaround. He envisions energy "farms" -- solar, wind, thermal, biomass -- and, eventually, a nuclear energy plant -- complementing traditional agriculture. "Fresno is the only place in the world with these six elements -- land, air, water, sun, a metropolitan city and a reliable, convenient transportation system," Geil says. "We can be a center for clean energy jobs."

Geil says the revolution already is taking shape on the west side, with scores of well-paying jobs added to the Firebaugh/Mendota area. He points out that farm jobs are increasing in Fresno County and that the county economy "outperformed" the state economy in March and April.

Granted, Geil is a salesman. But I'd rather buy into his upbeat assessment of the future than to listen to more of the doom-and-gloom-holding-on-to-yesterday mantra of the Westlands crowd. For once, let's get ahead of the game. Let's think more, vent less. Let's behave like adults instead of railing against ourselves and the world.

"We have been a fragmented county for too long," Geil says. "It's almost like we create our own problems. We have to move to a higher level of thinking, where we debate our differences and then come together to support solutions."

The columnist can be reached at bmcewen@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6632. Check out his blog at fresnobeehive.com/news. Listen to his talk show at noon daily on KYNO (AM 1300).

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar came to California on Sunday to hear firsthand about California's drought. Unfortunately, some of what he heard was misleading or false. Certainly farms and farmers are suffering, so are fish and ecosystems. But so is the truth. Here are three oft-repeated falsehoods.

Myth 1: Farmers on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley are receiving "just 10 percent of their allocation this year."

Myth 2: Water shortages are causing massive new farm unemployment.

Myth 3: Farmers are bearing disproportional impacts of water shortfalls because of court rulings in favor of fish.

All three of these statements are false, and they've been shown to be false so many times that continuing to repeat them verges on intentional deception on the part of those who repeat them to gullible politicians or lazy reporters.

.1. Farmers in the Central Valley get water from many places, and when one source dries up, another temporarily takes its place. In a remarkable letter sent by DWR Director Lester Snow to Senator Dianne Feinstein on May 15th, official data show that the major Central Valley districts will use at least 75% of their average water use by mixing sources, using stored groundwater, participating in water transfers, and so on. Not 10%. And the biggest moaner is the Westlands Water District. Yet Snow points out that they will apply at least 86% of their normal water. On the other hand, the San Joaquin Valley wildlife refuges will get 75% of its promised water, less than many of the agricultural districts. Some farmers get less than others in dry years because of their junior water rights - - and they always have. Are they arguing to revamp the water rights system? That would be a worthy discussion to have.

2. The overall job problem is not a water problem -- it is a result of a global and national economic crisis. Increases in unemployment are worse, by far, in non- farm industries. In Fresno County, unemployment today is substantially lower than it was just five and ten years ago (see Figure 1) and farm employment grew; non-farm employment shrunk. Indeed, the only sector showing increases in employment in May 2009 (see http://www.calmis.ca.gov/file/lfmonth/frsn.pdf) was the farm sector. In some of the hardest hit areas, unemployment is much higher -- but it is always much higher. Unemployment rates in Mendota are above 30% now. But you know what? Nine years ago, unemployment in Mendota was 30%. Six years ago, it was 36%. The problem in Mendota isn't just the current drought. The Central Valley of California has been plagued by poverty and lack of access to reliable jobs and basic services, like clean drinking water, for decades. Turning the pumps back on will do little, if anything, to address the systemic injustice that farm worker communities endure in both wet years and dry.

3. It's not the fish. Two months ago, DWR director Lester Snow testified before Congress that if there had been no court order to protect fish, CVP deliveries to the San Joaquin Valley would only be 5% higher. The problems farmers are facing aren't due to the tiny portions of water offered up for ecosystems; they are due to a drought and a dysfunctional water management system that has been slowly collapsing for decades.

The longer misleading arguments and facts are put forth to politicians and the media, the longer it will be before a serious and effective solution can be found to our water challenges.

About Restore the Delta

Restore the Delta is a grassroots campaign committed to making the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta fishable, swimmable, drinkable, and farmable to benefit all of California. Restore the Delta - a coalition of Delta residents, business leaders, civic organizations, community groups, faith-based communities, union locals, farmers, fishermen, and environmentalists - seeks to strengthen the health of the estuary and the well-being of Delta communities. Restore the Delta works to improve water quality so that fisheries and farming can thrive together again in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.