Drought Watch: Bureau of Reclamation hit over cuts [Marysville Appeal-Democrat]
Until
the federal government fulfills water obligations in the north, don't send it
south. That was the message from Sacramento River settlement contractors,
through an attorney, to the Bureau of Reclamation, which recently forecast the
water deliveries to the districts and water companies along the river would be
cut by 60 percent. The contractors, however, claim their water right only
allows the bureau to reduce deliveries by a maximum of 25 percent….Currently,
about 3,000 acre-feet of water is being sent south of the Delta every day, and
the contractors were likely to protest that delivery with another letter to the
State Water Resources Control Board on Monday, said Thad Bettner, general
manager of the Glenn-Colusa Irrigation District.
Oxnard's
water deal with growers, once rushed, hits the brakes [Ventura County Star]
Nearly
nine months after an urgent deal was crafted for bringing Oxnard’s ultrapure
recycled water to farmers, there has been silence. At water meetings in recent
months, as drought conditions have heightened worries about western Ventura
County’s chronically overpumped groundwater basins, growers have wondered where
that new supply was, saying they needed the water now….Last week, when the
agency board held a standing-room-only meeting to consider possible emergency
pumping restrictions and other responses to the drought, Oxnard officials
submitted a letter signaling a shift.
Tulare
County reservoir plans in the works [Fresno Business Journal]
As
Valley growers ponder the chances of reservoir construction as a part of an
upcoming California water bond measure, some water districts have found ways to
move ahead with water storage projects using other funding options. One such
project is a reservoir proposed at McKay Point, near Lemon Cove and Woodlake,
to provide new water storage, flood control and potential power generation. The
120-acre reservoir site is located north of the separation of the Kaweah and
St. Johns rivers. The McKay Point Project, estimated to cost $10 million, is a
joint venture of property owners Tulare Irrigation District, the Consolidated
Peoples Ditch Company in Visalia and the Visalia & Kaweah Water Company.
Wishing
They All Could Be California Hens [New York Times]
Hens
in California are living the good life. Many can now lay their eggs in oversize
enclosures roomy enough to stand up, lie down — even extend their wings fully
without touching another bird. Hens in most other states don’t have it so
good….So if you’re a hen, you want to live in California. Short of that, you
want California-size leg room. And that’s precisely what lawmakers in
California are demanding of out-of-state farmers who sell eggs in California —
setting off a feud over interstate commerce that has spilled over into the
farmyard at large….Egg producers are warning that Californians, who consumed an
estimated nine billion eggs last year, will almost certainly face higher prices
as a result of the rules’ import restrictions and effect on in-state producers.
“Come Jan. 1, I’m fairly convinced there is going to be a fairly large shortage
of eggs in California,” said David Cisneros, chief operating officer of Dakota
Layers, a large egg production company headquartered in South Dakota.
Salmonella
outbreak linked to Foster Farms may not be over [Los Angeles Times]
Dozens
more people have been sickened by a salmonella outbreak tied to Foster Farms
chicken that was thought to have been over, the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention said Monday. The agency reported 51 new cases of Salmonella
Heidelberg between mid-January and late February. Forty-four of the new cases
were found in California. “It raises concern that this outbreak may not be
over,” said Robert Tauxe, the CDC's deputy director for the division of
food-borne, waterborne and environmental diseases….That's a reversal from Jan.
16, the last time the CDC released an update on the outbreak. Officials then
saw new cases dwindling, suggesting the outbreak was finished.
2015
Budget: Obama Proposal Would Trim Crop Insurance Assistance [Wall Street
Journal]
President
Barack Obama Tuesday in his fiscal year 2015 budget proposed trimming federal
crop insurance assistance, the linchpin of government agricultural support
under the farm bill passed by Congress last month. Under the White House budget
released Tuesday, the government would save $14 billion over 10 years by
pulling back some on assistance helping farmers pay crop insurance premiums and
limiting reimbursements to the private companies that administer the
programs….Last month Congress passed a five-year farm bill ending the
government’s system of direct payments to farmers and bolstering its
crop-insurance offerings….The new law’s shift toward crop insurance was hailed
by lawmakers as a way to nudge farmers to sink more of their own money in
financial safety-net programs.
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