West Side water cuts get even worse [Modesto Bee]
The
federal government plans sharp water cutbacks for four West Side irrigation
districts that until now had not suffered major effects from the drought. The
districts, which stretch across about 225,000 acres from Crows Landing to
Mendota, are projected to get just 40 percent of their contracted amounts from
the federal Central Valley Project this year. The allocation is better than the
zero water some federal contractors on the West Side face, but it nonetheless
is a blow to farmers who have enjoyed some of the most secure water supplies in
the region. The four districts – the Central California Irrigation District,
the San Luis Canal Co., the Firebaugh Canal Water District and the Columbia
Canal Co. – all have rights to the San Joaquin River that date to the 19th
century. When the federal government diverted most of the river to the south in
the mid-20th century, it promised replacement water from the Sacramento River,
pumped from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
Two irrigation
districts sparring over wastewater in Turlock [Modesto Bee]
Two
irrigation districts sparred Tuesday over which should get the treated
wastewater from Turlock’s kitchens and bathrooms. The Del Puerto Water
District, based in Patterson, had been closing in on a deal with the city to
provide some of the water to its farmers. The Turlock Irrigation District got
the City Council to postpone the deal last month so it could make its case for
using the supply….The dispute does not involve water that could be used in this
extremely dry year, because the sale is not expected to be approved in time by
the State Water Resources Control Board. But it does underscore long-term
concerns about how to stretch the Northern San Joaquin Valley’s water supplies.
Editorial: Obama not much help on drought [Chico
Enterprise-Record]
…California
is the country's bread, meat and vegetable basket, and money for climate
research is not going to help California right now. He would have done better
to pay for a desalination plant to be built. Right now, California needs help —
help for farmers, as well as the related discussions about the delta, water
tunnels and ideas that are laughable under drought conditions….During his
visit, Obama stressed cooperation, mentioning the north versus south, ag versus
urban battles. We hope that litigious environmentalists take that as a nudge to
put their agendas on hold, and make Californians and the economy the priority.
That's the cooperation California needs to see.
Editorial: The drought and
Imperial County [Imperial Valley Press]
It’s
been said about constitutional rights that once they are gone, or have been
chipped away even at the most minimal of levels, restoring them is impossible.
It could be argued whether that would be the restoration of the spirit of those
rights or the true right that has been dismantled. To the aggrieved, though,
that is irrelevant. For the people of the Imperial Valley, a hard, parched
piece of earth reclaimed from nature more than 100 years ago and brought to
bounty through the waters of the Colorado River, water rights are thought of
much the same way, both in spirit and in truth.
USDA closes troubled
Central Valley slaughterhouse over cleanliness [Los Angeles Times]
A
troubled Central California slaughterhouse that supplies beef to the National
School Lunch Program was closed by federal inspectors Monday for failing to
meet cleanliness standards. Operations at Central Valley Meat Co. in Hanford,
Calif., about 30 miles south of Fresno, will be suspended indefinitely until
the company produces a corrective plan, inspectors said….The USDA’s Food Safety
and Inspection Service said little about what triggered the latest closure. A
recall was not issued, which suggests the problem was not an immediate public
threat to safety.
Trade bills divide
Obama, fellow Dems [Associated Press]
The
White House says it will continue to press Congress for "fast track"
authority to speed approval of trade deals even as election-year politics makes
the task harder. The Obama administration is engaged in two difficult trade
negotiations, one with Japan and 10 other Pacific nations, and the other a
proposed trans-Atlantic deal with European Union nations. The trans-Pacific
talks are closer to completion.…The fast track process, more formally known as
"trade promotion authority," empowers presidents to negotiate trade
deals and then present them to Congress for up-or-down votes, with no amendments
allowed. Such trade deals have always been more popular with Republicans than
Democrats.
Ag
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