IID
sits on the sidelines of US-Mexico water pact [Imperial Valley Press]
A
historic water pact between the United States and Mexico was signed Tuesday,
and absent from the proceedings was the entity with the largest allotment of
the Colorado River’s water, the Imperial Irrigation District. Minute 319, a
five-year pilot program, would tie Mexico’s water deliveries to environmental
conditions like surpluses and droughts. The agreement gained momentum after a
2010 earthquake damaged Mexico’s Colorado River conveyances, and Mexico asked
the U.S. to store its water while it made repairs to its canals. The Imperial
Irrigation District’s Board of Directors unanimously voted on a resolution last
year seeking the same considerations that Mexico was requesting from the U.S.,
namely the ability to store its own entitlement water behind Lake Mead and
voiced its concerns about increased salinity and loss of hydroelectric
generation, consequences of reduced water flows.
Oakdale
district agrees to consider San Francisco water sale [Modesto Bee]
The
board of the Oakdale Irrigation District agreed Tuesday to look into a one-year
water sale to San Francisco. The length of the sale is less than the city
seeks, but a spokesman there said officials "remain open to any potential
OID transfer scenarios." Other details, including the amount of water and
the price, have yet to be negotiated. They could be discussed at a Dec. 18
public meeting, OID chairman Frank Clark said.
State
to impose citrus quarantine in Tulare County [Fresno Bee]
A
quarantine will take effect in Tulare County next week to thwart a pest
threatening the citrus industry, the California Department of Food and
Agriculture said Tuesday. State officials said they're still determining the
size of the quarantine area, something they should settle by next week. But
Dave Cox of Visalia, chairman of the California Association of Nurseries and
Garden Centers, said he expects the quarantine zone to be a 20-mile radius
around Strathmore, near where the Asian citrus psyllid was found.
Supreme
Court to hear California raisin growers' case [Los Angeles Times]
The
Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to hear an appeal from Fresno raisin growers
Marvin and Laura Horne, who contend that the federal marketing program that can
take nearly half of their crop is unconstitutional. Their case poses a
significant challenge to the New Deal-era farm program that seeks to prop up
prices by keeping part of the crop off the market. It also raises questions
about the limits of the government's power to regulate commerce, an issue that
sharply divided the justices in the major healthcare overhaul case decided in
June
Interior
Secretary Salazar to meet on oyster farm controversy in Marin County [Santa
Rosa Press Democrat]
Interior
Secretary Ken Salazar will meet Wednesday in Marin County with stakeholders in
the controversy over the federal permit that allows Drakes Bay Oyster Company
to operate in the protected waters of Point Reyes National Seashore. Salazar is
scheduled to meet with the family-run oyster company, including owner Kevin
Lunny, at the farm on the edge of Drakes Estero, a 2,500-acre estuary
designated by Congress as potential wilderness. Later, he will meet at Point
Reyes Seashore headquarters with wilderness advocates who want Lunny’s permit
terminated when it expires on Nov. 30.
Editorial: Just what is
'natural' food? [Los Angeles Times]
The
campaign against genetically engineered foods didn't disappear with the defeat
of Proposition 37, which would have required the labeling of most foods
containing bioengineered ingredients. Instead, it morphed into the GMO Inside
campaign, which among other things is behind a Colorado lawsuit that claims
Goldfish crackers shouldn't be labeled as "natural" because they
contain genetically engineered soybean oil….The real issue here isn't whether
GMO Inside believes that different methods of human tinkering make some foods
less natural than others, but that the reassuring word "natural" is
included on many a product's label while meaning almost nothing. A 2009 study
found that shoppers thought "natural" indicated a purer, more
regulated substance than "organic." It's the other way around. But
the whole point of rules for labeling is to allow people to make informed
decisions about their food.…Given how far food science has come in recent
years, and the fact that consumers are so confused about what natural means
that they are being misled by the wording on labels, the FDA should do the
admittedly difficult work of deciding what is and isn't natural — or tell food
companies to eliminate the term altogether.
Ag
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