Assembly leaders draft proposed $5-billion water bond [Los Angeles Times]
Assembly
leaders on Thursday annnounced a retooled water bond proposal to address the
state’s long-term water supply needs as well as protecting critical habitat,
including the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The $5-billion bond proposal is a
leaner version of the $11-billion bond measure that lawmakers pulled from
consideration in 2012 after it was criticized for being weighed down with pork
barrel projects.…The state Senate already has held hearings on the water bond
and is expected to consider its version in the near future. The $5-million bond
measure crafted by Assembly leaders would authorize the state to pay for
expanding underground and surface water storage, restoring the Sacramento Delta
ecosystem and efforts to clean up existing groundwater, among other things.
Commentary: Water bond needs
select pruning [Fresno Bee]
As
we head into the end of session, the retooling of the water bond package from
2009 will be one of the largest issues facing the Legislature….As an engineer,
I have been astounded by the actions that have led to the problems with the Bay
Bridge. If we ask voters for billions more, we have to make sure that the
projects provide defined benefits with minimal cost. As a result, we must
reduce the cost of the package to make it easier for voters to understand and
support. One of the best ways to do so is to ensure that the bond package
includes significant increases in surface storage….If we are going to reduce
the amount of the bond, let's first take a look at the programs that do not
provide our state with more water.
'Every
acre matters' [Stockton Record]
The
state revamped its twin tunnels plan Thursday, making changes that will spare
Delta residents some of the effects of construction but will also route the
tunnels directly beneath sensitive sandhill crane wintering grounds.…The
changes announced Thursday primarily reduce the footprint of the project. A
reservoir at the north end of the tunnels would be downsized dramatically and
moved; the tunnels themselves would be shortened to 30 miles, rather than 35
miles, and would bend farther east to avoid Sacramento River communities….The
tunnels themselves remain the same size and capable of delivering the same
large volumes of water, making it unlikely that the changes announced Thursday
would significantly soften the position of opponents who fear the Delta will be
drained.
Evidence
pointing toward water [Salinas Californian]
Taylor
Farms and federal health officials have grown silent over the past 72 hours on
an investigation of an outbreak of parasite-contaminated bagged produce linked
to a Taylor Farms de Mexico facility – deepening the mystery and raising the
specter that it might be larger than just Taylor Farms….Salads delivered to
Olive Garden and Red Lobster restaurants in Iowa and Nebraska have been the
only confirmed instances where cyclospora has been positively traced back to
the Taylor Farms subsidiary in Guanajuato, Mexico, according to the
FDA….Isolating a source is important to the Salinas Valley, since it is
increasingly common for growers here to have farms in Mexico. If the cause is
isolated to the Taylor Farms de Mexico facility, growers here with operations
in Mexico could breathe a sigh of relief. But if the source is, say,
contaminated irrigation water covering a much broader area, it could be cause
for concern for local growers with operations in the same region.
HONEY
BEES: EPA limits some pesticides to protect pollinators [Riverside Press-Enterprise]
The
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has developed new pesticide labels that
prohibit use of some pesticide products where bees are present, it was
announced today, Aug. 15. The new labels will have a bee advisory box and an
icon with information on routes of exposure and spray drift precautions. The
new rule applies to products containing the neonicotinoids imidacloprid,
dinotefuran, clothianidin and thiamethoxam. The EPA will work with pesticide
manufacturers to change labels so that they will meet safety standards.
Opinion: Enforce laws that
target animal-rights terrorists [Riverside Press-Enterprise]
The
burglary last week at a Riverside pheasant farm by the Animal Liberation Front
is a reminder that animal-rights terrorism, described a decade ago by the FBI
as a top domestic terror threat, is still in our midst. From burglaries to
bombs, businesses, their employees, and even family members have been targets
of animal-rights terror campaigns.…The New York City Bar Association is
encouraging the American Bar Association to push for a repeal of recent
terrorism laws that help fight self-anointed vigilantes. The NYC Bar is
targeting the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, passed in 2006 to stiffen the
1992 Animal Enterprise Protection Act, and wants the American Bar Association to
pressure the Justice Department to cease enforcing the law.…The Animal
Enterprise Terrorism Act was a needed upgrade that made moderate changes to the
law by giving federal law enforcement authorities more power to go after
terrorists.
Ag
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