Calif. water plentiful for some 'senior rights holders' [Associated Press]
Call
them the fortunate ones: Nearly 4,000 California companies, farms and others
are allowed to use free water with little oversight when the state is so bone
dry that deliveries to nearly everyone else have been severely slashed. Their
special status dates back to claims made more than a century ago when water was
plentiful. But in the third year of a drought that has ravaged California,
these "senior rights holders" dominated by corporations and
agricultural concerns are not obliged to conserve water. Nobody knows how much
water they actually use, though it amounts to trillions of gallons each year,
according to a review of their own reports by The Associated Press. Together,
they hold more than half the rights to rivers and streams in California. But
the AP found the state's system is based on self-reported, incomplete records
riddled with errors and years out of date.
Water
pumping creates groundswell for regulation [Stockton Record]
The
drought has created new momentum to accomplish something that has been discussed,
off and on, for 40 years: Regulate groundwater…."We've seen groundwater
overdraft recently like we've never seen it before," said Lester Snow, a
former head of the state Department of Water Resources, now with the nonprofit
California Water Foundation. "We're seeing groundwater level declines that
are actually greater than they were in the late '70s." With the drought as
a catalyst, legislators are working on groundwater reform. Two interest groups,
Snow's foundation and the Association of California Water Agencies, have issued
recommendations that call for some level of state involvement….Some water
managers and landowners are nervous at the notion of state interference.
"They've failed miserably at managing surface water. I don't know why we
would want to turn over groundwater, too," said Andy Christensen, manager
of the Woodbridge Irrigation District in north San Joaquin County.
Opinion: The Conversation: A
controversial water transfer worth millions [Sacramento Bee]
If
you want to put a human face on California’s epic drought, Ken Tucker’s will
do. The Central Valley farmer has 400 acres of thirsty almond trees that are in
real danger of dying….Farmers in Merced County are sympathetic but not inclined
to help. They’ve got their own worries:…Now this: Two of their fellow county
landowners are about to get very rich by selling the water right out from under
them to the Del Puerto Water District, which serves 45,000 acres of farmland –
including Tucker’s 400 – mostly in Stanislaus County….Unlike every other dry
Western state, California doesn’t have rules for groundwater – the unseen pools
and rivers and aquifers deep under the ground. If you own the property above
it, it’s pretty much yours to use. If that sounds a lot like the Wild West,
then Merced would be Dodge City.
State
water authorities fine farmers over permit [Fresno Bee]
The
state is fining five landowners who didn't get water permits for their cropland
-- fines ranging from $2,240 to $8,600 in Merced, Madera or Stanislaus
counties. +It's a reminder that state authorities are serious about permits to
control farm water discharges into the underground. A reliable source told me
another 150 more growers in the same region face similar enforcement….The five
properties, ranging in size from 24 to 668 acres, are within the boundaries of
the East San Joaquin Water Coalition, which already represents more than 1,000
farmers in the area. The landowners can join the coalition to achieve
compliance.
National
Park Service seeks to ease tensions with Point Reyes farmers [Los Angeles
Times]
Point
Reyes National Seashore is unusual among U.S. parks. Its shimmering coastline
and velvety hillsides make for a majestic Marin County landscape — and its two
dozen commercial dairy farms and ranches make for one of the nastiest
disagreements in the national park system. Farmers and ranchers here have a
list of grievances against a federal government they say burdens their
operations with needless red tape. Worse, they believe park officials secretly
want to force them to shut down, and they complain that little has been done to
rein in tule elk that graze on land meant for livestock….Fed in part by a
vitriolic dispute between the federal government and a rancher who also runs an
oyster farm, the ill will here directed at the park is the worst anyone can
remember….
Insurance
plan for farmworkers falls short of Obamacare rules [Los Angeles Times]
Two
landmark liberal healthcare achievements are on a collision course in
California, and the result could be higher costs for taxpayers..Years ago,
legendary activist Cesar Chavez helped create the first health insurance plan
for farmworkers who toiled for meager wages in California's fields. The plan,
funded by the workers and their employers, is named after Democratic icon
Robert F. Kennedy, who allied himself with Chavez. But like many other
insurance plans around the country, it doesn't fully meet requirements set by
President Obama's healthcare law. Unless supplemental insurance is purchased,
the farmworkers say, 10,700 people could lose coverage. Some Democrats want
taxpayers to pick up the $3.2 million tab for the extra insurance so the
healthcare plan can keep operating.
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