Two key groups drop their support for Paso Robles groundwater district bill [San Luis Obispo Tribune]
Two
North County water groups that proposed forming a management district for the
Paso Robles groundwater basin announced Monday they are withdrawing their
support for a bill in the state Legislature that would help create the
district. The Paso Robles Agricultural Alliance for Groundwater Solutions
(PRAAGS) and PRO Water Equity each sent letters Monday to Assemblyman Katcho
Achadjian, the bill’s author, and Bruce Gibson, chairman of the county Board of
Supervisors, announcing they no longer support AB 2453 because of extensive
amendments made to it in the state Senate….On June 17, as the bill made its way
through the first of two Senate committees, the county supervisors voted 3-2 to
ask Achadjian to amend the bill so that approval for forming a district would
be made by an equal vote by all landowners — rather than a weighted vote based
on the amount of acreage owned. The vote was a major change of position by
Mecham who had supported the original bill but opted to amend it due to
opposition by the Farm Bureau and other large groups.
S.J.
paints grim picture of twin tunnels' impact [Stockton Record]
Gov.
Jerry Brown's proposed twin tunnels "will effectively destroy the Delta as
it exists today," and will forever alter San Joaquin County's economy,
county officials warn in a new report. The staff report sums up the county's
highly critical comments on the $25 billion tunnels plan. Supervisors will
consider approving those formal comments this morning at their meeting in
downtown Stockton. With the help of outside consultants and attorneys, the
county attacks the so-called Bay Delta Conservation Plan on multiple fronts,
arguing that the tunnels are deceptively portrayed as a "conservation
plan," that the tunnels represent "a triumph of project advocacy over
sound science," and that the complex 34,000-plus page analysis is
"among the least user-friendly environmental reviews in history."…The
public comment period closes July 29.
A
California oil field yields another prized commodity [New York Times]
The
115-year-old Kern River oil field unfolds into the horizon, thousands of
bobbing pumpjacks seemingly occupying every corner of a desert landscape here
in California’s Central Valley….But the Kern River field also produces 10 times
more of something that, at least during California’s continuing drought, has
become more valuable to many locals and has experienced the kind of price spike
more familiar to oil: water. The field’s owner, Chevron, sells millions of
gallons every day to a local water district that distributes it to farmers
growing almonds, pistachios, citrus fruits and other crops….The water is pumped
out of the same underground rock that contains oil; after the two are
separated, the water flows through an eight-mile pipeline to Bakersfield’s Cawelo
Water District, which this year will rely on Chevron’s water for half of its
supply, up from an average of a quarter. The district sells it exclusively to
farmers for irrigation and reduces its salinity by blending it with water from
other sources.
Editorial: End secrecy in
California’s groundwater logs [Sacramento Bee]
…All
other western states make well logs open to the public, many on the Internet.
California should do the same….That should include public reporting on actual
pumping from individual groundwater wells, which is needed to manage any
groundwater basin….Opponents fear, rightly, that transparency would raise
questions about who’s pumping how much and where. That would be the point.
Public disclosure is key to real groundwater management.
Commentary: Almond grower weary
of farmers being called water-wasters [Modesto Bee]
…While
the operation of nearby agricultural wells doubtlessly have had some impact, is
it fair to blame just the farmers? The drought seems to be the most relevant
cause for shallow wells going dry. Also, the Stanislaus County population has
nearly doubled from what it was 34 years ago. That certainly has an impact on
the aquifer we all share….Over the past 30 to 50 years, we have spent millions
on research projects that help almond growers use water more efficiently, along
with other natural resources. Today’s almond grower produces three times as
many almonds with a gallon of water as our fathers did a generation ago….But
almond growers are a small group. What are the other 99 percent of Californians
doing to help with the increasing demands of a growing state population with declining
water sources? Have you supported the planning, funding and building of
additional water-storage projects for our future residents?
End
may be near for Point Reyes oyster farm [San Francisco Chronicle]
It
looks as if the last oyster may finally be shucked at the Drakes Bay Oyster Co.
by the end of December, judging by what both sides in the long legal fight over
the future of the farm said in federal court Monday. Then again, maybe not.
Lawyers for the oyster company said that as part of settlement talks with the
federal government, which has sought for two years to shut down the operation
in Point Reyes National Seashore, they may agree to tear out canning and retail
operations by the end of July and remove all the oysters from the water by the
end of the year. However, while those talks go on, the Drakes Bay attorneys are
still scraping for ways to adjust their lawsuit seeking to keep the farm open.
Ag
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