Water rights may be limited for century-old irrigation districts [Modesto Bee]
…The
State Water Resources Control Board this month is expected to “curtail” river
diversions for those who established their water rights more than 100 years
ago….State officials insist they simply want to protect California’s most
senior water users from shortages caused by others who otherwise might take too
much water….Managers of the Oakdale and South San Joaquin irrigation districts
aren’t convinced that protection is really what the state has in mind, and
they’re threatening to take legal action to protect their water supply….At its
meeting June 18 in Sacramento, the water board will consider a “resolution
regarding drought-related emergency regulations for curtailment of diversions
to protect senior water rights.”
Fuller,
Vidak stand with citrus growers in calling for water policy changes
[Bakersfield Californian]
Two
state senators joined Central Valley citrus growers Friday calling for changes
in federal water policies they said threaten thousands of local jobs and up to
50,000 acres of oranges, lemons and other fruit. At a news conference outside
Maricopa, Sen. Andy Vidak, R-Hanford, and Sen. Jean Fuller, R-Bakersfield,
stood in front of television cameras while an excavator behind them uprooted
one Valencia orange tree after another….Fuller, Vidak and the California Citrus
Mutual trade group blamed the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the National
Marine Fisheries Service, saying federal water allocations to the Central
Valley were cut to zero this year in order to provide environmental protections
in Northern California.
No
mention was made of the state's shortage of rain and snowpack, and the
president of California Citrus Mutual brushed aside a reporter's question about
how much of the situation was due to the drought.
Editorial: Congress' drought
legislation an arid offering Drought and doubt over Congress' dusty solutions
[Los Angeles Times]
Masquerading
as a response to California's drought, a bill to waive environmental
protections and divert more water to Central Valley agriculture passed the
Republican-controlled House in February and is now going to conference to be
reconciled with a competing bill by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) that
the Senate adopted last month..
Californians
overwhelmingly reject loosening environmental regulations to increase water
deliveries to farms and cities, as demonstrated by the results of a USC
Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll released Friday. So you might think that
Feinstein's alternative bill would propose a more palatable way to deal with
the state's water crisis. But there's a catch — three of them, actually….The
state does need federal water legislation — laws that incentivize agricultural
and urban efficiency and assist in groundwater cleanup and recharging. Those are
the areas in which Congress should be focusing its attention.
EPA
reinstates pesticide buffer areas to protect salmon [Associated Press]
A
federal agency has agreed to restore temporary buffer zones for spraying
several common agricultural pesticides along salmon streams in Oregon,
California and Washington while it continues work on a permanent rule. The
settlement agreement between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the
Northwest Center for Alternatives to Pesticides was published Friday in the
Federal Register. It stems from an injunction imposing the buffers that was
issued by a federal judge in Seattle in 2004, but that had expired before EPA
implemented permanent regulations. The buffers apply to all salmon streams in
the three states.
USDA’s
Wildlife Services killed 4 million animals in 2013; seen as an overstep by some
[Washington Post]
For
years, the massive toll of wild animals exterminated by the federal government
as a service to everything from airports to ranches has bounced up and down
like a yo-yo. Last year it was up again….Though there’s a list of animals
killed, there’s little data showing the cause for each killing, the methods
used and the reasons behind mistakes that lead to massive kills of animals that
aren’t targeted. At least two members of Congress have called Wildlife Services
secret and opaque for failing to provide more information, and there are
mounting calls for an investigation into how it operates. Wildlife Services
says that it responds to requests by government agencies nationwide and works
to “resolve human/wildlife conflicts” in a strategic way….But the agency
provided no explanation for why the kill total can be 1.5 million in one year
and 5 million the next.
Organic
agriculture attracts a new generation of farmers [Los Angeles Times]
By
9 a.m., Jack Motter had been planting peas for hours….Motter and his business
partner, Jeff Kramer, are part of a growing crop of farmers — many of them
young — choosing to produce food without pesticides and synthetic fertilizers.
As consumers demand more fresh and local food grown with minimal environmental
effects, a new generation has taken up organic farming….Agriculture officials
are hoping more young people heed the call to till the land, whether
organically or conventionally, as the average age of California farmers
continues to climb….Agriculture trade groups have developed programs, including
training and financial incentives, aimed at attracting young people. The National
Young Farmers Coalition through member surveys has found that the bulk of new
operators are going the organic route.
Ag
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