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The Politics of Farming: Alex Hildebrand

When Alex Hildebrand began his second career as a farmer almost forty years ago, he never figured it would lead him into the murky depths of Delta water politics. Today, as a director of the South Delta Water Agency, his is one of the region's leading voices for agriculture.

"He doesn't say very much, but it's important for people to listen to what he does say," says the Delta Protection Commission's Margit Aramburu, who met Hildebrand when he spoke about agricultural issues at the commission's first meeting.

Hildebrand, the son of a U.C. Berkeley chemistry professor, fell in love with farming when he worked on a cattle ranch as a youth. But when he graduated from college during the Depression he couldn't afford to buy property, and instead went to work as an engineer for Standard Oil. Finally after returning from World War II, he bought 150 acres on the east bank of the San Joaquin River, halfway between Vernalis and Mossdale, although he did not begin farming until 1962. In the meantime, construction began on the Central Valley Project, and he says "things started to go downhill," as the replumbing of the Delta left farmers with reduced supplies and severe water quality problems, including high salinity.

Local property owners, concerned about the effect of the degradation of their water supply, formed the Delta Water Users Association, which eventually led to the formation of the South Delta Water Agency. Hildebrand was one of the original members appointed to the Agency's board when it was formed in the 1970s. Although members are up for re-election every four years, unopposed members are reappointed; Hildebrand has never been opposed.

Hildebrand credits his multifaceted background to his effectiveness in water politics. "Part of the trouble with the water business is that it is technically very complicated. The fact that I'm an engineer with a degree in physics, with a minor in chemistry, is one reason why my fellow farmers like me to speak for them. When I'm talking to bureaucrats, most of whom don't know a thing about farming, I can explain to them why things work the way they work and why things that they propose won't work."

People who have worked with him concur. "He's sort of a legend because of his technical ability and knowledge," says Aramburu, "because he's a farmer, he has also got a great grip on what's going on with agriculture today. He spends lots of time thinking about the issues and trying to come up with creative and innovative solutions to problems." His daughter Mary, who left a Bay Area career to become her father's partner on the farm four years ago, adds that he is incredibly persistent. "He does get discouraged, but he doesn't let it affect him. If plan A doesn't work he just says lets try plan B."

Although he serves on its Bay-Delta Advisory Council, Hildebrand feels that CALFED - the state and federal partnership developing a comprehensive solution for improving the Bay-Delta ecosystem - is failing to address major issues, such as groundwater depletion and the Valley's salt problems. "We're slowly but surely putting a million acres of the most fertile land in the world out of production," he says.

Hildebrand suspects that CALFED's refusal to address the salt issue is part of a deliberate effort to put westside farmers out of business, in order to free up water for cities and the environment without building new dams and reservoirs. "It's true and unfortunate that new facilities will have some negative environmental impacts, but if we don't create new supplies soon, agriculture won't be able to feed the growing population. And when society begins to realize that, people are going to want to use the water for food, not to protect the environment. In the long run the environment will lose if we don't create enough of a water supply to meet all the needs."

While Hildebrand continues to work energetically on behalf of local farmers, he's also grooming Mary, the youngest of his three daughters, as his successor. She insists that since she does not have his unique background, she will never be able to fill his shoes. "When he finally retires from all this - although retires is a rather fuzzy concept in our family - there won't be anyone with the overall understanding of the issues that he has.

He's irreplaceable."

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