Drought concerns create momentum to regulate California's groundwater [Ventura County Star]
Lester
Snow has for decades been one of California’s premier “water buffaloes” —
people who are expert in the arcane policies of water supply and delivery….This
year, he senses a shift in public attitude toward taking steps to preserve
groundwater, one of California most precious, but unregulated, sources of
water….Snow, who now heads a nonprofit group called the California Water
Foundation, testified in support of a bill by Sen. Fran Pavley, D-Agoura Hills,
to establish regional groundwater management plans and to authorize the State
Water Resources Control Board to step in when local agencies are unwilling to take
steps to stop the over-pumping of groundwater basins.
Fresno
County supervisors won't change rules for farmland subsidy [Fresno Bee]
A
commercial farming operation is not defined by the amount of agricultural
product it sells, the Fresno County Board of Supervisors determined on Tuesday.
Supervisor Henry R. Perea asked supervisors to consider a recommendation by
county Assessor Paul Dictos to place a retail value on crops to qualify
farmland for Williamson Act tax reductions…. But the board decided not to make
the change sought by Dictos. The Williamson Act, a statewide program
administered locally, gives counties the option of reducing property tax bills
for farmers to encourage farmland preservation. Under the program, property
owners agree contractually to farm their land for at least 10 years in exchange
for having their property assessed at its agricultural value, not its higher
market value.
Future
of MID farm water transfers is uncertain [Modesto Bee]
Plans
to combat drought by allowing water transfers among farmers could be in
jeopardy, growers and Modesto Irrigation District leaders learned Tuesday at a
meeting tinged with uncertainty and accusations of unfairness. The Lyons family
and its Mapes Ranch could cancel their transfers if the MID doesn’t remove
last-minute requirements slapped on participating farmers, Bill Lyons said. His
operations, he said, account for most of the water involved in one of two
programs created by the MID to address the drought. Several other growers and
their attorneys also protested recently drafted participation rules, calling
them punitive to those who choose to help the district, other farmers and
themselves.
http://www.modbee.com/2014/04/22/3304818/future-of-water-transfers-uncertain.html?sp=/99/1571/&ihp=1
Calif.
strawberry production stays brisk despite drought [Capital Press]
As
strawberry growers in California enter their peak season, production is again
on a brisk pace. Nearly 39.5 million flats of strawberries had been picked and
packaged as of last week, compared to about 36.7 million trays at this point
last year, according to the California Strawberry Commission. Last week alone,
growers had shipped 6.2 million trays, up from a little more than 5 million
trays sent out in the middle week of April last year, said Carolyn O’Donnell,
the commission spokeswoman here.
Opinion: Science behind air
regs more sketchy all the time [Bakersfield Californian]
The
more I learn about how certain air regulations were concocted, the more
ludicrous it all seems. Tomorrow the California Air Resources Board will debate
whether to extend the deadline for small trucking firms to comply with rules on
PM2.5. (That's tiny bits of fine particulate matter contained in soot, dust and
diesel exhaust.) Truckers will be fighting truckers over table scraps. What
should happen is the whole silly rule should be chucked. And CARB should pay
the poor saps who already retrofitted their rigs with filters that, by numerous
reports, are a constant source of engine trouble. And I'm not even talking
about the CARB-approved brand that caused a huge fire in Washington state a
couple years ago and had to be recalled.
Editorial: Label this bill a
scare tactic [Orange County Register]
California
voters in 2012 wisely rejected Proposition 37, a ballot measure that would have
mandated that grocery manufacturers affix de facto warning labels on
genetically modified foods. It would have applied to roughly 70 percent of food
found on supermarket shelves in California, primarily processed foods
containing harmless ingredients derived from GM corn and soybeans. Two years
later, a bill is wending its way through the Legislature that proposes to
institute the mandatory GMO labeling Californians said they don’t want. It was
set to be considered today by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Ag
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