Gov. Gregoire Visits Yakima
Gregoire Speaks At Yakima Arboretum.
Farmer Art Denhoed spoke with Governor Chris Gregoire this morning about his crops that were damaged by hail a few weeks ago.
"With hail the size of golf balls, of course it's a catastrophic disaster. What's gonna happen next year, and the following year, what's the disease pressure gonna be?" says Denhoed.
Governor Gregoire kicked off a two day tour of central Washington, stopping by the Yakima Arboretum to meet with the Yakima River Basin Water Enhancement Group.
The group, that she is part of, has been working on a plan since 2009 to meet water demands for fish and wildlife, agriculture, and the municipal water supply.
Gregoire says with so much time and money invested in the project she hopes it will come together even after she leaves office.
"We are one family now with a common plan. Now is not the time to change course. This is the first positive development we've had in history," says Gregoire.
After Gregoire left the Yakima Arboretum, she made her way to Sunnyside so she see Denhoed's crops in person.
"I came out here to share in the pain, to be honest with you; to express to the people here my great sorrow with what's happened to them and their workers, and to take the message back firsthand," says Gregoire.
Denhoed says he hopes Gregoire takes what she has seen at his orchard, and pushes for programs that will provide support to farmers with devastated crops.
"Really, she could talk a whole lot better of the damage, of what happened to the tree, and the fruit itself, and what impact it has on individual growers," says Denhoed.
Governor Gregoire will wrap up her tour tomorrow at 1:30 for the groundbreaking of a new Railex storage warehouse in Burbank.