With many California aquifers declining, calls grow for more oversight of groundwater [Gannett Newspapers]
Water
tables have been dropping sharply in places across California as farms and
expanding suburbs pump vast quantities of water during successive dry years,
taking a heavy toll on many of the state’s aquifers….State and local officials
have known about California’s chronic problem of groundwater depletion for
decades, and in some areas have taken steps to combat the declines. The state’s
history has been defined by more than a century of moving water to dry regions
to defy the arid climate. But the continued downward trends in some aquifers
reveal how California’s approach to managing groundwater has serious flaws and
how, in many cases, officials charged with watching water supplies haven’t been
able to get a grip on the problem.
Colorado River
drought forces a painful reckoning for states [New York Times]
The
sinuous Colorado River and its slew of man-made reservoirs from the Rockies to
southern Arizona are being sapped by 14 years of drought nearly unrivaled in
1,250 years….These new realities are forcing a profound reassessment of how the
1,450-mile Colorado, the Southwest’s only major river, can continue to slake
the thirst of one of the nation’s fastest-growing regions. Agriculture, from
California’s Imperial Valley to Wyoming’s cattle herds, soaks up about
three-quarters of its water, and produces 15 percent of the nation’s food. But
40 million people also depend on the river and its tributaries, and their
numbers are rising rapidly. The labyrinthine rules by which the seven Colorado
states share the river’s water are rife with potential points of conflict. And
while some states have made huge strides in conserving water — and even
reducing the amount they consume — they have yet to chart a united path through
shortages that could last years or even decades.
Sites Reservoir
project not close [Marysville Appeal-Democrat]
Those
who have been waiting for the construction of Sites Reservoir to solve the
state's burgeoning water woes still have a while to wait. The federal Bureau of
Reclamation released a progress report on north-of-the-Delta storage projects
that sums up the work that has been conducted to date. But the report does not
advance the project along, it only provides information previously unavailable
to the public, said Michelle Denning, regional planning officer for the Bureau
of Reclamation….Sites Reservoir is seen by many as a solution to a highly
engineered state water system that has been stretched to the limit by growing
population, increased demand and a shift in water-use priorities that now
includes considerations for endangered aquatic life and habitat, according the
report.
Commentary: Drought reveals real threat to ag community [Fresno
Bee]
…With
many Valley farmers having already been advised to expect water supplies of 0
to just 10% (even if it does start raining), we should expect that well over
500,000 acres of valley farmland, an area as large as the state of Rhode
Island, will be fallow in 2014….Having dealt with two of them before, I can
attest that little good normally comes from droughts. Farmers always bear the
brunt of the impacts, while city folks are usually blissfully oblivious. But if
2014 remains dry, as all data indicates it will, urbanites all up and down the
state are going to get a huge dose of the harsh reality that California now
faces a perpetual water supply crisis that can only be solved by building new
storage facilities and updating our water-delivery systems. So maybe this is
one instance where a 2014 drought will have one beneficial aspect to it.
House G.O.P. trims
agenda, looking to avert election-year trouble [New York Times]
The
“do nothing” Congress is preparing to do even less. Representative Eric Cantor
of Virginia, the House majority leader, is quietly playing down expectations
for any major legislative achievements in the final year of the 113th Congress,
which passed fewer laws in its first year — 65 — than any single session on
record….Expectations for the session are so low that lawmakers say early action
on White House priorities like raising the minimum wage, restoring unemployment
benefits that expired and overhauling immigration laws are likely to go
nowhere. Instead, Congress is likely to focus on more prosaic tasks: finishing
negotiations on a farm bill that has languished for two years, agreeing on a
law authorizing water projects, passing a spending bill for the current fiscal
year and raising the debt ceiling by March. Only then might lawmakers move on
to modest, piecemeal immigration measures.
Congressmen question
costs, mission of Wildlife Services agency [Los Angeles Times]
The
U.S. Department of Agriculture's inspector general will investigate a federal
agency whose mission is to exterminate birds, coyotes, mountain lions and other
animals that threaten the livelihoods of farmers and ranchers. The
investigation of U.S. Wildlife Services is to determine, among other things,
"whether wildlife damage management activities were justified and
effective." Biologists have questioned the agency's effectiveness, arguing
that indiscriminately killing more than 3 million birds and other wild animals
every year is often counterproductive. Reps. Peter A. DeFazio (D-Ore.) and John
Campbell (R-Irvine) requested the review, calling for a complete audit of the
culture within Wildlife Services. The agency has been accused of abuses,
including animal cruelty and occasional accidental killing of endangered
species, family pets and other animals that weren't targeted.
Ag
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