Editorial: Wait to debate
water bond, and improve it [Sacramento Bee]
With
dry conditions igniting fires statewide and reservoirs dropping ever lower, state
lawmakers should be thinking about water. The good thing – they are. They are
thinking about a 2014 water bond. Both chambers have produced legislation to
rescind and scale back the bloated $11.14 billion water bond that, if left
unchanged, would head to the ballot in 2014 and face certain defeat….Both of
these bills are solid frameworks for discussion on a new water bond. But, as is
nearly always the case, the two chambers differ on how to march forward….Given
the divides, the Legislature would be wise to hold off until next year….Extra
time will also allow both chambers to improve the two proposals.
Water
panel to study projects [Salinas Californian]
Water
is the lifeblood of the Salinas Valley — its quantity and its quality. Ensuring
that the $4 billion agricultural base has enough quality water to carry it into
the future is now in the hands of an advisory panel working with county water
officials to define the next big water project. The Monterey County Water
Resources Agency originally assembled the Regional Advisory Committee to devise
defenses against a state regulator’s plan to revoke an important water right on
the Salinas River….But the east side of the valley still has groundwater issues.
Norm Groot, executive director of the Monterey County Farm Bureau, said it is
important to address eastside water issues. He said there is a dip in the water
table, called a depression, that is the result of water percolating out of the
Salinas River not reaching that area. “It’s just not getting as much recharge
as other areas in the valley,” Groot said.
IID
discusses conservation with farmers [Imperial Valley Press]
The
Imperial Irrigation District held a public meeting Wednesday to discuss water
conservation measures with the people they impact the most — Imperial Valley
farmers. Although the IID holds senior water rights to Colorado River water, it
is under heavy scrutiny by regulators and other water agencies as it repays
past water overruns and fulfills its water transfer obligations….While the
district currently conserves most of its water by paying farmers to take some
of their fields out of production in exchange for water that would otherwise
irrigate them, it is in the process of implementing system-wide conservation
measures and on-farm irrigation efficiency incentives. Most of the questions centered
on the Equitable Distribution Plan, the district’s newest and perhaps most
controversial water conservation plan.
Environmental,
agricultural interests collide over Gaviota Coast Plan [Santa Maria Times]
…Representatives
of agricultural and environmental interests clashed again Wednesday when the
Santa Barbara County Planning Commission considered the land use, and natural
and cultural resources stewardship chapters of the initiation draft of the
Gaviota Coast Plan, a document that will guide development on the coastline
from Goleta to Vandenberg Air Force Base for the next several decades.
Agricultural interests think their stewardship for the past 100-plus years has
made the Gaviota Coast the ecological beauty it is today. Many farmers and
ranchers feel that placing a community plan on farms and range land will
further restrict their businesses and kill off the family operations it is
supposed to protect….Environmental Defense Center lawyer Nathan Alley and Ana
Citron, an attorney representing the Gaviota Coast Conservancy and Naples
Coalition, proposed a series of changes to the plan….Alley also criticized the
plan, saying exempting agricultural operations from the plan in the coastal
zone weakened regulations regarding development in the plan area….Citron
focused her portion of the presentation on limiting house sizes and property
uses on the large farms and ranches in the plan area.
Oyster
farm to appeal ruling on its closure [Associated Press]
A
popular oyster farm in the Point Reyes National Seashore is appealing a federal
court decision that bolstered the government's effort to close the facility.
Drakes Bay Oyster Co. owner Kevin Lunny said Wednesday that he will appeal the
9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling issued by a three-judge panel a day
earlier. The panel ruled that the federal government had legal authority to
deny the farm a new lease so the waters of the Drakes Estero could be returned
to wilderness.
USDA:
Many Americans struggling to find enough to eat [USA Today]
Americans
are having a hard time getting enough food as the economic downturn continues
to weigh on households throughout the country, according to a report released
by the Agriculture Department Wednesday. The report said 14.5% of households,
or about 49 million people in 17.6 million households, were food insecure
during 2012. While the figure was down slightly from 14.9% reported in 2011,
the highest level since the USDA began collecting data in 1995, the government
said the decline could be the result of the sampling pool used to complete the
study….Nationally, food insecurity has been essentially unchanged since 2008, a
figure that partly reflects a failure to create jobs at a fast enough rate to
replace the 8.8 million lost during the recession.
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