Water allocations bumped up [Marysville Appeal-Democrat]
…Earlier
this year, Sacramento River settlement contractors and refuges on the federal
Central Valley Project were scheduled to receive 40 percent of their contracted
supply, but the late-season rains rescued the state from what could have been
the worst drought in its history and allocations were bumped to 75 percent.
"This is pretty huge for our growers, local communities and our
economy," said Thad Bettner, general manager of the Glenn-Colusa
Irrigation District….With the 40 percent allocation, Bettner said, he had
expected 70,000 acres of crops would be fallowed in the district. With 75
percent of their water, Bettner anticipates closer to 20,000 acres will be
fallowed….But while the settlement contractors had reason to celebrate, water
service contractors on the Central Valley Project are still facing a grim
summer with 0 percent allocations.
Feather River farmers
receive full water supply, and plan water transfers [Chico Enterprise-Record]
After
months of waiting, farmers with strong water rights along the Feather River
received news that 100 percent of their contracted amount of water will be
delivered. Several of these districts will also be selling about 20 percent of
that water to a dry areas south of the delta. The price this year sounds like
it will be $500 an acre-foot. That's a big jump from recent water sales in
2012, when water went for $275 an acre-foot….Transfers have taken place in the
past dozen years, with limits of 20 percent of local land out of production.
Farmers do the math and decide if its worth it to transfer water and forego
harvest. This year the Department of Water Resources has openly encouraged
Sacramento Valley farmers to make water available to other parts of the state.
California's water
wars reach 'new level of crazy' this year [Fresno Bee]
…From
all over California, farmers, environmental lawyers, wildlife groups, cities
and even the Fresno County sheriff have posted thoughts in a siege of protests
to state officials about the use of this year's puny snowpack and half-empty
reservoirs.…Besides fear, exactly what is setting everybody off? Mostly, it's
about river water allowed to reach the Pacific Ocean through the Sacramento-San
Joaquin River Delta -- a perennial California argument filled with suspicion,
lawsuits and politics. San Joaquin Valley farm groups say too much water has
been allowed to escape to the ocean for nature, robbing the multibillion-dollar
agriculture industry. Environmental and fishery groups say agriculture is
manipulating the drought crisis to extract delta water, exposing even
nonthreatened fish and the fishing industry to catastrophic losses.
Beekeepers search for
answers as colonies show up damaged after almond farm pollination [Sacramento
Bee]
As
many as 80,000 bee colonies have died or been damaged this year after
pollinating almond trees in the San Joaquin Valley, and some beekeepers are
pointing to pesticides used on almond orchards as a possible cause….It’s not
clear why the damaged hives are showing up this year, as opposed to prior
years….Damage to the hives this spring was so pronounced that it forced an
impromptu meeting March 24 in Los Banos between beekeepers and the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency….At the meeting of beekeepers, bee brokers and
managers from the EPA’s Office of Pesticide Programs, the practice of almond
growers engaging in “tank mixing” of insecticides was raised as a major issue,
Colopy said.
Air quality board to
consider another relaxation of diesel rules [Los Angeles Times]
California
air quality officials are again moving to relax tough rules to clean up aging
diesel trucks that are among the state's worst remaining sources of air
pollution. The changes being considered this week by the state Air Resources
Board come in response to pressure from small trucking firms and owner-operators,
required to install costly diesel particulate filters or upgrade to cleaner
models for the first time this year, who have pleaded for more time to
comply.…The proposal would push back deadlines by a few years for small fleets,
lightly used trucks and those in rural areas with cleaner air, and offer other
adjustments to assist truck owners….The proposal also has exposed a divide
within the trucking industry. The deadline extensions are fiercely opposed by
truckers who have already paid to replace their vehicles or retrofit them with
soot filters that can cost $20,000 per truck.
High-speed rail
agency issues final environmental report for Fresno-Bakersfield route [Fresno
Bee]
A
final version of an environmental report has been issued for the
Fresno-Bakersfield stretch of California's proposed high-speed rail system. The
20,000-page report, released Friday afternoon by the California High-Speed Rail
Authority, details the anticipated effects that construction of the rail line
and operation of the bullet train would have on homes, businesses, farmland and
wildlife habitat on the 114-mile route from downtown Fresno to downtown
Bakersfield. The report also describes the measures that the authority will
take to minimize or make up for any environmental harm from the train system in
the region.
Ag
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