States
dependent on Colorado River consider conservation effort [Los Angeles Times]
Officials
in the seven states that depend on the drought-beset Colorado River expressed a
cautious willingness Tuesday to join the federal government in a complex,
possibly contentious effort to step up conservation. At a meeting in San Diego,
officials of the Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Reclamation
announced the establishment of three inter-state committees to devise plans for
conservation, possibly including water reuse, desalination, water banking and
the sale of water from farms to cities….When talk turns to the need for water
conservation in the western U.S., the focus often shifts to the Imperial
Irrigation District in the remote southeastern corner of California. For
reasons of history and water law, the district is the largest user of Colorado
River water in the seven states. An official from the Imperial Irrigation
District has agreed to serve as co-chair of the agriculture committee, along
with a professor and a Bureau of Reclamation official. But that does not signal
that the Imperial district is eager to sell more water or see more acreage left
fallow.
Water
prices threaten to further shrink region's ag land [San Diego Union-Tribune]
In
years past, it was shopping malls and subdivisions. Today, it’s the rising cost
of water that threatens to further shrink San Diego County’s active farm and
ranch land, agricultural officials said. The region’s land for major crops
declined in all but one year from 2006 through 2011, contracting by more than
14,000 acres to the most recent total of about 300,000 acres. Figures for 2012
have not been released, but Eric Larson, executive director of the San Diego
County Farm Bureau, doesn’t foresee a reversal of the pattern.
Final
chapters of BDCP to be released [Capital Public Radio]
A
controversial proposal that would build two tunnels to pump water from the Sacramento-San
Joaquin Delta to Central and Southern California moves another step forward
Wednesday as the final chapters of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan are
released. California Governor Jerry Brown’s administration will release the
final chapters of the plan- including estimated costs and funding for the
project. The goal is to restore habitat in the Delta while providing a reliable
water supply to 25 million Californians.
Bill
adds teeth to Coastal Act: Fake 'No Parking' signs could draw fines [Santa Cruz
Sentinel]
Forty
years after the Coastal Act was born, it may finally be growing some teeth. The
state Legislature is set to vote on two bills that would toughen the
enforcement arm of the state's Coastal Commission, which oversees California's
1,100 miles of coastline….Proposed by Assembly Majority Leader Toni Atkins, AB
976 would allow the Coastal Commission to levy administrative fines for Coastal
Act violations, something 21 other state agencies can do….Stone's bill, AB 203,
is also set for a vote on the Assembly floor this week. It would allow the
commission to require landowners to fix existing Coastal Act violations as a
condition of approving new projects….The bills have drawn strong opposition
from business and farm groups, and even the Western States Petroleum
Association. Among them, the California Farm Bureau Federation and California
Chamber of Commerce wield much influence in Sacramento. "Allowing an
administrative agency the power to act as the cop, the prosecutor and the judge
is dangerous and irresponsible and creates a built-in conflict of
interest," Farm Bureau lobbyist John Gamper wrote in a letter opposing the
bill.
Ag
leaders oppose bill to fine employers with part-time workers on Medi-Cal
[Fresno Bee]
Agriculture
leaders from the central San Joaquin Valley gathered in Clovis Tuesday to
oppose a state Assembly bill that would fine large businesses that employ
part-time and seasonal workers who are on Medi-Cal. The proposed law --
Assembly Bill 880 -- would encourage businesses with more than 500 employees to
offer medical coverage or risk being fined thousands of dollars for anyone who
works eight hours or more a week and is on Medi-Cal, the state-federal health
insurance for the poor….Details on how much farmers could face in fees are not
known yet, but opponents say that employers could pay between $6,000 and
$15,000 for each employee on Medi-Cal instead of a company health insurance
plan….But Valley farmers say the agricultural industry will suffer if the bill
becomes law. "We have a legislation that is premature," said the farm
bureau's Jacobsen.
Workers'
dispute with UFW headed to court [Salinas Californian]
A
dispute between Salinas-based field workers and the UFW union that represents
them will advance to a hearing next week if the two parties can’t reach a
resolution before then, leaders for the workers said Tuesday. Jose Aguilar and
Doroteo Lopez are two of four listed in a May 20 temporary restraining order
prohibiting a coalition of farmworkers from protesting the firing of Francisco
Cerritos outside the United Farm Workers building on East Alisal Street.
Replacing Cerritos, their former liaison to the union, is Armand Pinal, who the
group claims has provided inadequate representation. Workers originally began
protesting outside the UFW building May 16, but have since moved their protest
to the Agricultural Labor Relations Board on Pajaro Street.
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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