Experts: Many flaws in tunnels proposal [Stockton Record]
The
scientific foundation for Gov. Jerry Brown's twin tunnels plan "falls
short of what the project requires," a panel of experts said Monday. The
latest in a series of strongly worded critiques by outside experts finds that
the Bay Delta Conservation Plan - as the tunnels plan is formally known -
overstates the project's benefits for fish, fails to recognize uncertainties
and fails to identify contingency plans in case the results are less than what
supporters expect. The new review by the Delta Independent Science Board,
required by law, avoids passing judgment on the project itself…. But the review
does closely question lengthy reports that describe and rationalize the
project.
Merced
supervisors consider sale of groundwater [Merced Sun-Star]
The
Merced County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday will consider an emergency item
dealing with the potential sale of 23,000 acre-feet of groundwater from Merced
County to two water districts in Stanislaus County. The contract calls for the
same amount each year for four years….The four-year contract being proposed
through the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation would allow two private landowners
within Merced County to sell the water to the Del Puerto Water District and
Patterson Irrigation District….Merced County Farm Bureau Executive Director
Amanda Carvajal said the deal would devastate local farmers already hit hard by
a drought year….“When you’re pulling water from this higher aquifer, especially
in those large quantities, you’re pulling from other areas of Merced County,”
she said. “…Merced County does not have an ordinance that prohibits sending
groundwater out of the county, often referred to as groundwater mining.
California’s
agricultural community must adapt or face climate consequences, scientists say
[Sacramento Bee]
Dire
consequences face the state’s powerhouse agricultural industry if it does not
take steps to adapt to climate change, said a panel of 14 scientists, as well
as Gov. Jerry Brown, at a conference on climate change Monday in
Sacramento….The conference sought to underscore that a troubling brew of warmer
nighttime temperatures, drying soils, shrinking snowpack and drought must be
addressed by farmers and society at large...Experts who spoke accepted climate
change as inevitable, but focused on the need to adapt. Farmers might have to
change the type of crops they plant and when they are planted, they said. Some
might go out of business.
Stanislaus
County could crack down on walnut thieves [Modesto Bee]
Thieves
strike in the dark of night, when newly harvested walnuts lie in tidy rows on
the orchard floor. Officials and growers in Stanislaus County, a major producer
of the crop, are crafting an ordinance that would crack down on the theft. It
would require sellers of small amounts of walnuts to provide documentation,
which already is the rule for larger operations.
The
goal is to keep stolen walnuts from being sold at roadside stands or to
unwitting processors….The ordinance would apply to sellers of up to 2,000
pounds of walnuts per year, shells included, which is what 25 to 30 trees can
produce, O’Haire said. They would need certificates with their name and
address, the source and weight of the nuts, and other information.
UC
Davis eyes downtown Sacramento railyard for new food center [Sacramento Bee]
UC
Davis is considering Sacramento’s downtown railyard for a satellite campus
devoted to food and agriculture programs, a center that could attract food
processors and other companies to set up shop nearby. University spokeswoman
Luanne Lawrence said Monday the project would become part of UC Davis’ World
Food Center, a year-old program focused on food safety, agricultural policy,
nutrition and related matters….Lawrence said the center’s headquarters would
remain on the Davis campus, but Katehi wants to put an education and research
facility somewhere in the vicinity of the Capitol to be “closer to the heart of
where the agricultural policy is made.” A central location would also provide
greater access to entities such as the California Department of Food and
Agriculture, commodity industry groups and the California Farm Bureau
Federation, she said.
California
drought will cost thousands of farm jobs, study says [Reuters]
California's
drought will cause thousands of workers to lose their jobs and cost farmers in
the state's Central Valley breadbasket $1.7 billion, researchers said in the
first economic study of what may be the state's driest year on record….As many
as 14,500 full time and seasonal jobs could be lost as a result of the drought,
as farmers fallow land and there are fewer crops to plant and pick, according
to the preliminary study. Altogether, 410,000 acres may be left unplanted in
the San Joaquin Valley alone, the analysis showed, as farmers enter the growing
season with about two-thirds of the water that they need….California Governor
Jerry Brown, who blames the drought in part on climate change, said Monday the
state would do everything possible to help farmers weather the drought.
Ag
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