Tunnel
vision: Who really determines California's water flow [KQED Radio/San
Francisco]
…The
State Water Board is making a controversial determination: is too much water
being taken out of the Delta?...If the State Water Board finds that too little
water is being left in the Delta for endangered salmon and other wildlife, the
agency has the power to get that water by amending what’s long been considered
sacrosanct in the state: water rights. While many say the Governor’s plan,
known as the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP), will address key environmental
factors like the powerful water pumps in the south Delta that harm fish, the
plan won’t address the overall balance of water use….On Wednesday, the State
Water Board is holding a public hearing looking at the flows of the San Joaquin
River, one of two major rivers that meet in the Delta. In December, the agency
released a preliminary draft recommending that at least 35 percent of the river
be allowed to flow from February to June.
Officials
race against the clock to settle QSA lawsuits [Imperial Valley Press]
Officials
have fewer than 90 days to accomplish what a decade of litigation could not:
reach a settlement that satisfies all parties to the coordinated Quantification
Settlement Agreement lawsuits. The clock began to tick March 6, when Sacramento
Superior Court Judge Lloyd Connelly agreed to postpone his decision in the
lawsuits until June 3 while all parties try to reach a global resolution….IID
and county of Imperial officials said they have met twice since Connelly issued
the stay. And while they were tight-lipped about specifics, they said the key
issue was the Salton Sea, whose decline is projected to accelerate in 2017,
when the IID ceases delivery of water into the sea. Many of the county’s
concerns in the lawsuits were related to potential environmental health and air
quality issues as the Salton Sea continues to recede.
Valley,
mountain ranchers hope storm's a soaker [Modesto Bee]
Spring
started at 4:02 a.m. today, according to scientists who track Earth's axis, but
cattle ranchers wouldn't mind if winter stayed around for a little while. They
hope the storm that was expected to arrive overnight will boost grasses that
have had little rain since late December. "It will be great if we can get
a half-inch-plus," said Bill Sanguinetti, who runs cattle near Farmington.
"The grass is trying to hold on."… Early spring rain, mixed with warm
days, would be ideal for rangeland on the east and west flanks of the valley.
That happened last year on the east, making up for a very dry winter. Experts
will measure the grass production next month to see whether to seek federal
drought assistance, said Theresa Becchetti, a livestock and natural resources
adviser at the University of California Cooperative Extension.
G.O.P.
opposition to immigration law is falling away [New York Times]
Republican
opposition to legalizing the status of millions of illegal immigrants is
crumbling in the nation’s capital as leading lawmakers in the party scramble to
halt eroding support among Hispanic voters — a shift that is providing strong
momentum for an overhaul of immigration laws. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, a
Tea Party Republican, on Tuesday became the latest to embrace a more welcoming
approach, declaring to the nation’s 11 million illegal immigrants that if they
want to work in America, “then we will find a place for you.”…The remarks are a
departure for Mr. Paul, who as a Senate candidate in 2010 called for an
electronic fence and helicopter stations to help secure the border with Mexico.
His new message follows the publication on Monday of a blistering report from
the Republican National Committee that urged the party’s members to champion an
immigration overhaul that Hispanics can embrace or risk seeing the party
shrinking “to its core constituencies only.”
Post-census
changes to 'rural' designations jeopardize Coachella funding [Palm Springs
Desert Sun]
Riverside
County supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved a resolution urging the U.S.
Department of Agriculture to modify its policies to allow the city of Coachella
and other small communities to maintain their “rural” designation — or
otherwise lose out on millions in federal funding. The USDA is removing a
number of locations from its list of “Rural Development Eligible Areas” after
an analysis of the 2010 census showed they no longer qualified to be on it.
According to federal law, communities that receive the designation cannot have
a population greater than 20,000.
Grocers
won’t sell altered fish, groups say [New York Times]
Several
supermarket chains have pledged not to sell what could become the first
genetically modified animal to reach the nation’s dinner plates — a salmon
engineered to grow about twice as fast as normal. The supermarkets — including
Whole Foods Market, Trader Joe’s and Aldi —stated their policies in response to
a campaign by consumer and environmental groups opposed to the fish. The groups
are expected to announce the chains’ policies on Wednesday. The supermarket
chains have 2,000 stores in all, with 1,200 of them belonging to Aldi, which
has outlets stretching from Kansas and Texas to the East Coast….The salmon is
now awaiting approval from the Food and Drug Administration, which in December
concluded that the fish would have “no significant impact” on the environment
and would be as safe to eat as conventional salmon. The agency is accepting
public comments on its findings until April 26.
Ag
Today is distributed to county Farm Bureaus, CFBF directors and CFBF staff, for
information purposes, by the CFBF Communications/News Division, 916-561-5550; news@cfbf.com.
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