Water Action Plan created to help avoid statewide crisis [Sacramento Bee]
California
officials on Thursday released a five-year “Water Action Plan” intended to
avoid a statewide water supply crisis stemming from drought, population growth
and climate change.…The plan is considered a draft, and is expected to be
finalized in December following public comment….Solutions target 10 key
actions, from making conservation a “way of life” for California residents to
boosting surface and groundwater storage. It also emphasizes methods of making
communities less reliant on imported water, as well as improving wildlife
habitats to collect and store more stormwater runoff….Officials said the plan
could lead to the state’s first water conservation requirements for agriculture.
Farms consume far more water than urban areas in California, but politicians
have been unwilling to consider agriculture conservation mandates. This and
many other aspects of the plan will require action by the Legislature.
Editorial: No new water via
twin tunnels? Plan has other idea [Redding Record Searchlight]
…Several
state agencies on Thursday released a “Water Action Plan” to offer a map
through California’s chronic shortages as the population grows and a warming
climate makes the mountain snowpack less reliable. Most of its ideas are
sensible — making water conservation “a way of life,” encouraging more reliance
on local water sources, better managing groundwater, improving flood control,
streamlining permits so work gets done. It also says the state needs to build
more big reservoirs to store water — but notes a major hurdle: “finding
committed financial partners who will benefit from the projects to share in
their cost.” The irrigation districts and cities that would use the water, in
other words, don’t want to pay for them. Why not? A major reason for their
hesitance, the Water Action Plan says, is “the uncertainty involved in moving
water across the Delta.”…So first they’ll build the tunnels to reroute the
Sacramento River’s water. Then they’ll build the new reservoirs to claim the
North State’s “surplus” water.
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Altered
route recommended for high-speed rail leg [Associated Press]
Officials
with California's high-speed rail project are recommending a new route for the
second leg of the bullet train south of Fresno, in what officials say is an
effort to address local concerns and do the least damage to the environment.
Rail authority officials said Thursday that the board will consider a staff
proposal next week for a route that includes the so-called "Hanford
East" alignment for a 114-mile stretch from Fresno to Bakersfield.
Engineering work already has started on the first section, a 30-mile stretch
from Madera to Fresno, and the authority is buying land there.…Hanford, a city
of 55,000 that is 30 miles south of Fresno, is home to some of the most vocal
critics of the $68 billion high-speed rail project. Kings County and several
residents are suing the state and will appear in court against the authority
next week, seeking to block further work.
Central
Valley farmers increasingly look to overseas markets for sales [Fresno Bee]
Expanding
into foreign markets will be increasingly important to the continued growth of
the U.S. farm economy, said several experts at Thursday's agribusiness
management conference in Fresno….Exports remain an important part of the farm
economy, especially for California. In 2011, California's exports rose 14% from
the previous year to $16.7 billion….Two proposed trade agreements involving
numerous countries could particularly benefit California farmers, said Mechel
Paggi, director of the Center for Agriculture Business. The Trans Pacific
Partnership includes Japan, Australia and Vietnam, while the Transatlantic
Trade and Investment Partnership includes, among others, the European
Union….Although the trade agreements could benefit both partners, Paggi said there
are obstacles to finalizing the pacts. Food safety concerns, the use of
genetically altered crops and even political disagreements can doom the trade
agreements, Paggi said.
Beachy
named director of new World Food Center at UC Davis [Sacramento Bee]
In
choosing noted plant biologist Roger Beachy to head UC Davis’ new World Food
Center, Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi picked a leader with close ties to
agribusiness, science and Washington, D.C. Beachy’s selection, announced
Thursday, underscores how seriously UC Davis is taking its World Food Center
plans, which include the anticipated development of a $100 million endowment to
unite more than 30 centers or institutes on campus that engage in research
related to food, nutrition and health….Beachy is well-known in the agricultural
community for his support of the use of genetic modification to produce
disease-resistant crops….It was in the 1970s, as a scientist at Washington
University, that Beachy made a first successful foray into genetic engineering.
An effort with food giant Monsanto and other universities to protect the tomato
plant from the tomato mosaic virus led to the creation of the world’s first
genetically modified food crop.
Commentary: Citrus disease
funding veto was a mistake [Fresno Bee]
…AB
571 by Assembly Member Mike Gatto, a Los Angeles Democrat, would have
appropriated $5 million on a one-time basis from the state's general fund to
supplement research and necessary programs to stop the spread of the Asian
citrus psyllid, a small bug that poses a huge problem for the entire citrus
industry in California.…Because California has more citrus trees in backyards
than in commercial production, the funds from AB 571 would have been put to use
fighting the psyllid in the Los Angeles Basin, where household citrus growers
need to be educated about the dangers of this bug….We need to act quickly in
California, and AB 571 would have provided a nice shot in the arm for the
defense of our citrus industry. It's unfortunate that Gov. Brown didn't think so.
I hope he will reconsider and act as quickly as possible when the Legislature
returns in January.
Ag
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