Millerton Lake to be tapped for northern San Joaquin Valley users, officials say [Fresno Bee]
For
the first time ever, federal water managers will tap San Joaquin River water to
meet contractual obligations to west side landowners, officials announced
Tuesday. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation said it will use water from Millerton
Lake and the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to provide 529,000 acre-feet of
water to the landowners from Patterson to Mendota. Many of them are farmers.
For those landowners, that's an improvement over the 350,000 acre-feet -- 40%
of their allotment -- they were previously told they would get. Other Valley
landowners without priority rights -- including farmers on the east side --
were told to expect no federal water this year….The announcement hits eastern
San Joaquin Valley farmers hard. They had held hope of getting some San Joaquin
River water this year.
Brown makes urgent
plea for delta tunnels [Capitol Weekly]
Gov.
Jerry Brown delivered an impassioned defense of his ambitious plan to drill
huge tunnels through the delta east of San Francisco to move more northern
water south, saying California’s economic well-being depended on it. Brown said
during a state budget briefing that the huge public works project – easily, the
largest in the nation’s history — “is an economic necessity that I’ve laid out,
not because I want a legacy but because it appears absolutely imperative for
the economic well-being of the people of California into the future.”…The
proposal has not received final approval. It is opposed by a number of
environmental groups, fishing advocates and delta property owners who say their
land and livelihoods are threatened, and court challenges have been launched.
Governor's water plan
would negatively impact the Delta and Solano ag, county leaders told [Vacaville
Reporter]
It
is uncertain just how much a proposed state water plan will impact Northern
California, but what is known is that Solano County's agricultural lands and
the Suisun Marsh will be negatively effected. During another review of the Bay
Delta Conservation Plan, the Solano County Board of Supervisors received an
update Tuesday on what is known to be impacted if the governor's plan moves
forward….Part of the plan calls for habitat restoration measures that would use
up thousands of agriculture acreage in the county, impacting productivity and
water quality….Russ Lester, chairman of the Solano County Agriculture Advisory
Committee, said the committee has taken a strong stance against the BDCP….Ryan
Mahoney, president of the Solano County Farm Bureau, said salinity in the water
that farmers use out of the Delta for stock water is an issue. County staff
have explained that without proper flows of the fresh water to the ocean, the
ocean's salt water continues to creep up the Delta.
Opinion: If our water system were a bank, we'd be under new
management [Bakersfield Californian]
Water
is like money, and our account is very low…We are in a severe drought, and it's
time to go to the bank. But since the bank was built, new management has
redirected our investment….If we take the last 10-year average of
precipitation, nearly 2 billion-acre feet of water fell on California's
borders, including recent drought years. On average during this 10-year period,
nearly 1.5 billion-acre feet went to environmental uses. We captured and used
for humans -- both for cities and farms -- about a quarter of it. The rest
(three-fourths) was used for trees, plants, fish, birds and animals….Costs
arise when others don't pay for the water they use. Environmental advocates
obtain water from projects that were built by urban and agricultural buyers
during the last century, using three-fourths of this water for organisms that
are endangered. Yet cities and farms are paying for an entire year's water supply
and not getting a single spoonful of water. The bank needs a change in
management. There is currency to fill its vaults; we just need to invest it in
the right places.
Ventura County
schools, farmers bracing for more record-breaking heat [Ventura County Star]
Fire,
agriculture and school officials throughout Ventura County are preparing for
more record-breaking heat this week. Wednesday is expected to be the hottest
day of a heat wave that started Monday. Highs in the mid-90s to low-100s are
expected Wednesday….As hot winds whip through the county, avocados and lemons
are most at risk, said John Krist, CEO of the Farm Bureau of Ventura County.
Heat can ruin the blooms on avocado trees before they set fruit for next year’s
crop, he said. Wind can knock avocados to the ground, making them unsalable.
The winds can blow lemons up against their trees’ sharp thorns, which scars the
fruit and makes it unsalable on the fresh market that most local growers serve.
“We just cross our fingers and hope the wind dies down,” Krist said.
USDA expanding
release of parasitic wasp to combat citrus disease [Los Angeles Times]
The
U.S Department of Agriculture on Tuesday said it would expand efforts to breed
and release a tiny parasitic wasp in an attempt to contain the spread of a
disease that has killed thousands of citrus trees in Florida and now is
threatening California's $2-billion citrus industry. Huanglongbing, or citrus
greening, is an incurable disease carried by the Asian citrus psyllid, a pest
that has spread like wildfire across the U.S. There are full and partial
quarantines in place in at least 14 states and U.S. territories. Researchers
since 2009 have been releasing the wasp, known by its scientific name Tamarixia
radiata, in the U.S. The wasp is a natural enemy of the psyllid. Strains have
been imported from Vietnam and Pakistan, and in California early data have
shown that the parasite is taking hold in urban areas, where citrus growers
hope the wasps will provide a buffer to prime commercial growing regions.
Ag
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