Immigration back on GOP agenda [Politico]
The
same House Republicans who punted on immigration last year are now privately
crafting an intricate plan to try to pass it in 2014. Most people close to the
planning expect votes on four bills by the end of the summer, including one
that would give undocumented workers legal status. And though none of the bills
is likely to offer a path to full citizenship, the fact Republicans are
preparing to take on immigration at all is a sign the party is coming to grips
with a political reality: if they want to win elections in the long run,
they’ll have to face the issue.
OID reveals proposal
to sell water to Westlands Water District [Modesto Bee]
Stern-faced
farmers, ranchers and environmentalists packed what was supposed to be a
closed-door Oakdale Irrigation District meeting Thursday afternoon. Their
presence convinced the district’s directors to publicly disclose a proposal to
sell Oakdale water to the Fresno-based Westlands Water District. Westlands is
offering $400 per acre-foot for OID’s irrigation water. To free up that water
during this serious drought, OID’s landowners would be paid to voluntarily
fallow their land and forgo their rights to water deliveries this year.
Documents shed more
light on closed-door Salinas River talks [Monterey County Herald]
Monterey
County officials have insisted that no laws were broken when the Board of
Supervisors discussed the potential sale of Salinas River rights during a
closed-door "performance evaluation" session with the county's top
water official. The officials have maintained the river was discussed only in
the context of setting performance goals.…What was originally known about the
Nov. 5 session with water agency manager David Chardavoyne came from a
three-page agenda for the meeting.…Agricultural groups have focused their anger
on the discussions with Chardavoyne—and the secrecy involved. Some agricultural
interests are willing to discuss the possibility of selling Salinas River water
to the Monterey Peninsula and other water-short areas, but a sizable bloc of
farmers has no interest in ever relinquishing water rights….Norm Groot,
executive director of the Monterey County Farm Bureau, said Thursday that while
he understood the discussions with Chardavoyne had been wider-ranging than the
county has let on, he was surprised to learn the county was attaching cost
estimates to a potential urban water project.
USDA director sees
drought effects on Carneros vineyard [Napa Valley Register]
…Thursday
afternoon, a U.S. Department of Agriculture director met with grapegrowers at
the Giovannoni vineyard to see the local effects of the drought ahead of
possible federal and state aid….The USDA delegation’s visit was part of a
fact-finding tour of Marin and Napa counties to observe the severity of
farmers’ water shortages, as well as to review the progress of water
conservation projects at North Bay farms. The agency’s Natural Resources Conservation
Service works with Giovannoni and other vineyards and farms in cost-sharing
plans for conservation projects….Lingering drought conditions will produce a
snowballing of costs beyond the need to purchase more water, said Jim Lincoln,
who chairs the Napa Valley Farm Bureau’s natural resources council….Water
supply worries like those at the Giovannoni vineyard are popping up elsewhere
in the county, according to Lincoln, who likened the situation at vineyards
without groundwater to “triage — which blocks to save and which to cut.”
Summit looks at
forests, water supply [Stockton Record]
Most
of California's water comes from forests, and poorly maintained forests provide
less water, either because they burn down or because they are too dense and
suck most of the water into plants and trees.
Now,
with a drought on and in the months after the Rim Fire devastated 400 square
miles of forest in Tuolumne County, lots of folks who manage forests and water
districts are eager to address the problem and work to take better care of
forests. But it won't be easy, if a meeting held Thursday in San Andreas is any
indication….Initially, that seemed to happen, as one participant after another
said he or she agrees that somehow, there has to be a whole lot more work done
to thin forests, both to reduce fire danger and to increase water yield. That
consensus was interrupted, in contrast, when the ranking person present, Rep.
Tom McClintock, R-Granite Bay, arrived and said he believes water policy is in
the grip of "radical environmentalists" who will not allow the
construction of dams that could dramatically increase water supply.
Citrus gets $20M
boost to fight disease [Visalia Times-Delta]
…The
fight to stop the spread of a disease that could have devastating effects on
citrus crops in California and other states has gotten a $20 million boost.
That money is part of the federal appropriations bill that President Barack
Obama signed on Friday. U.S. Rep. David Valadao, R-Hanford, a member of the
House Appropriations Committee, said in a press conference Thursday at the
Visalia Holiday Inn said that he requested money to help citrus-growing areas
of the U.S.
Ag
Today is distributed by the CFBF Communications/News Division to county Farm
Bureaus, CFBF directors and CFBF staff, for information purposes; stories may
not be republished without permission. Some story links may require site
registration. To be removed from this mailing list, reply to this
message and please provide your name and e-mail address. For more
information about Ag Today, contact 916-561-5550 or news@cfbf.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment