North
Valley farmers may sue for more water [KCRA TV – Sacramento]
Farmers
in the northern Central Valley said Monday they may sue the federal government
for failing to provide the minimum amount of water they said a 50-year-old
contract requires The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced last month it
planned to provide farmers along the Sacramento River with 40 percent of the
water they normally receive. "It came as a surprise," said Larry
Maben, who owns an 800-acre rice farm near Willows. Maben said a contract
signed in 1964 guarantees that farmers in this part of the state will never
receive less than 75 percent of their normal supply….The Glenn-Colusa Irrigation
District provides water to Maben and about 1,300 more growers in a stretch
along Interstate 5 between Williams and Willows.
Water
wars take fearful turn [Hanford Sentinel]
Is
this spigot for agricultural water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River delta
going to be turned off until 2015? That’s what anxious agricultural leaders in Kings
County and up and down the Central Valley are wondering as the state considers
unprecedented measures to conserve what little water is available for health
and safety. At issue is something called a Temporary Urgency Change Petition
issued Jan. 31 by the State Water Resources Control Board to reduce pumping
from the delta down to 1,500 cubic feet per second — a level deemed necessary
to meet the minimum health and safety needs of municipal and industrial users
who rely solely on delta exports….“The board is proposing to re-prioritize
water deliveries throughout the state,” said Diane Friend, Kings County Farm
Bureau executive director.
Judge
to decide in April whether to suspend Paso basin ordinance [San Luis Obispo
Tribune]
On
April 15, San Luis Obispo Superior Court Judge Jac Crawford is expected to
decide whether or not to suspend the county’s two-year emergency ordinance
prohibiting any new groundwater pumping from the Paso Robles groundwater basin.
The stay was requested by the Paso Robles Water Integrity Network (PR-WIN), one
of two groups that have sued the county over its emergency ordinance….In her
filing on behalf of PR-WIN, Sophia Treder, a land-use attorney in Santa
Margarita, argued that the emergency ordinance is illegal and will cause irreparable
harm to residents and property owners in the basin….In her filing for the
county, Whitney McDonald, deputy county counsel, argued that the county was
justified in issuing an emergency ordinance because the situation in the basin
had become dire.
Food
Prices Surge as Drought Exacts a High Toll on Crops [Wall Street Journal]
Surging
prices for food staples from coffee to meat to vegetables are driving up the
cost of groceries in the U.S., pinching consumers and companies that are still
grappling with a sluggish economic recovery. Federal forecasters estimate
retail food prices will rise as much as 3.5% this year, the biggest annual
increase in three years, as drought in parts of the U.S. and other producing
regions drives up prices for many agricultural goods….In the U.S., much of the
rise in the food cost comes from higher meat and dairy prices, due in part to
tight cattle supplies after years of drought in states such as Texas and
California and rising milk demand from fast-growing Asian countries. But prices
also are higher for fruits, vegetables, sugar and beverages, according to
government data.
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Cannella
pushes Salinas River bill [Salinas Californian]
A
bill introduced into the California Legislature on Monday by a state senator
would streamline the regulatory process for Salinas River channel-clearing
projects. Senate Bill 1398, the Salinas River Environmental Stability Act,
introduced by Sen. Anthony Cannella, R-Ceres, would follow a similar legal
logic of bills that have been passed by the Senate to streamline the regulatory
process of major construction projects in California, including the National
Football League’s stadium in Los Angeles in 2009 and a new Sacramento Kings
arena last year. It would, in effect, grease the wheels of the state regulatory
process for a public benefit. Cannella represents much of the Salinas Valley.
Farmers wanting to clear their sections of the river to prevent flooding would
still have to be permitted by state and federal regulators, but once an
environmental impact report for a specific project plan was approved, this bill
would allow growers to get into the river channel and start clearing more
quickly.
Farm
bill includes changes to forestry provisions [Scripps Howard News Service]
Somewhat
overshadowed by the food stamp funding fight and subsidies for row crop
farmers, the forestry provisions of the new farm bill have encouraged owners of
forested land in the West while rankling some environmentalists. The bill bans
the need for permits from the Environmental Protection Agency for discharges
into streams caused by rainwater runoff from rutted forest roads, codifying the
“silviculture rule” in place since 1976….“Ultimately, what we’re interested in
is better delivery to farmers, ranchers and forest owners on the ground,” said
Robert Bonnie, undersecretary for natural resources and environment for the
Agriculture Department.
Ag
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