Groundwater overdraft issue looms large [Hanford Sentinel]
800-pound
gorilla in the Kings County water debate is back — what to do about the
groundwater overdraft problem that is depleting underground aquifers with no
end in sight. That unanswered question was front-and-center at the Kings County
Water Commission meeting Monday night in Hanford….This time, state action to control
how much farmers can pump is much closer to reality. The reason? Gov. Jerry
Brown’s declaration of a statewide drought emergency in January combined with
the realization that this is the worst dry spell in California’s recorded
history….Much of the discussion centered around the idea that if local water
agencies or the county don’t do something, the state will lower the boom.
In
California, Demand for Groundwater Causing Huge Swaths of Land to Sink
[National Geographic]
Extensive
groundwater pumping is causing a huge swath of central California to sink, in
some spots at an alarming rate, the U.S. Geological Survey reports….The worst
subsidence has already increased the risk of flooding in the sparsely populated
region, including to the low-lying town of Dos Palos, population 5,400, said
Christopher White, manager of the Central California Irrigation District….Other
canals and dams that deliver water to irrigate the fields of hundreds of
growers are also losing capacity as parts of them sink….One permanent impact to
the region may be lost groundwater storage. As groundwater levels drop, clay
deposits move closer together and space for groundwater is lost.
California
drought: Silicon Valley cities and farms hit with new water cutbacks [San Jose
Mercury News]
In
the latest sign that California's historic drought is having a worsening impact
on Silicon Valley, the region's largest water provider is putting in place
unprecedented cutbacks this spring on cities, farmers and its own efforts to
recharge groundwater supplies….In the change that has caused the largest
political stir, the district on Friday sent letters to property owners who
receive untreated water from creeks and pipelines announcing that they will be
cut off entirely from those sources on May 1….Now, some, farmers in particular,
are unhappy. "I already have drip tape out there, I have rows planted, I
have thousands and thousands of dollars invested," said Tim Chiala,
co-owner of George Chiala Farms in Morgan Hill. "I don't see cities cut to
zero. Why is everything falling on agriculture?"
Overgrown
Sierra forests gulping water that could flow to Valley [Modesto Bee]
Cutting
down trees may not sound environmentally friendly, but researchers from UC
Merced and elsewhere think that may be just what’s needed to restore forest
health and increase water runoff. “It’s one of the lower-cost options (to
increase California’s water supply) … and it also would reduce the probability
of big destructive fires,” said Roger Bales, a UC Merced engineering professor
who specializes in mountain hydrology….Bales and his fellow researchers may get
a chance to prove their theory in the Stanislaus National Forest, where talks
have begun with the U.S. Forest Service to launch a 10,000-acre thinning
demonstration project. If all goes as suggested, that project could increase
water flows, decrease destructive fires, create jobs and improve the health of
the remaining trees.
The
$9.99 watermelon [Manteca Bulletin]
Sticker
shock, courtesy of the drought, is coming to a supermarket near you. Seedless
watermelon was selling Monday at SaveMart stores in Manteca for $9.99. It is a
full $2 over prices from the same time period in 2013. And while the price
reflects the scarcity of watermelon that are now coming out of a specific
region in Mexico, it is an indicator of higher food prices that are in store
for California and American consumers as a whole thanks to the drought. The
assumption by some that fruit and vegetables from elsewhere will replace
California crops with minimum impact on prices fails to take into account
production issues in other regions of the globe plus worldwide consumer demand.
Early
bloom creates trouble for beekeepers [Visalia Times – Delta]
The
start of the blooming period for oranges, lemons, tangerines and other citrus
in Tulare County is usually welcome news for beekeepers….But the weather this
year is creating problems for beekeepers during the citrus bloom, and it’s not
just that California is entering its third straight drought year…But this year,
citrus trees in the South Valley are blooming two to three weeks earlier than
usual. That may not seem like a lot of time, but Mike Wells, Sr., a Frazier
Valley resident who operates about 1,000 bee colonies, said it could hurt honey
production for his business and others. That’s because his colonies are about
one brood cycle — when eggs develop to larva and eventually become mature bees
— behind where they would be if the bloom had started at its normal time.
Ag
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