UC details drought's fiscal impact on state [Stockton Record]
University
of California researchers now expect California's drought to cost the state's
agricultural industry $2.2 billion in crop losses and higher costs and wipe out
17,000 seasonal and part-time farm-related jobs. An updated study released
Tuesday estimates the drought will reduce surface water supplies by 6.6 million
acre-feet, with an acre-foot being the amount of water needed to cover an acre
of land in one foot of water. But that has been largely offset by new wells and
increased pumping of underground aquifers, producing 5 million acre-feet of
additional groundwater….Even more should be done, said Paul Wenger, California
Farm Bureau Federation president, who advocated development of additional water
storage facilities. "We have not planned for the people we have in
California today, let alone planned for the people we're going to have in 2030,
let alone planned for any climate change that may be coming," he said
Tuesday while on a trip to Washington, D.C. Wenger, who grows almonds and
walnuts near Modesto, said he fears the UC Davis study underestimates the toll
the drought may take through the rest of this summer and fall.
California
approves forceful steps amid drought [New York Times]
With
rainfall this year at historically low levels and reservoirs quickly dwindling,
California officials on Tuesday approved the most drastic measures yet to
reduce water consumption during the state’s increasingly serious drought,
including fines of up to $500 per day under some circumstances for watering a
garden, washing a car or hosing down a sidewalk. The new measures come in
response to an apathetic public that has ignored repeated pleas to save water
since Gov. Jerry Brown declared a statewide drought emergency in January.
Though the governor asked all Californians to reduce their water consumption by
20 percent, water use actually increased by 1 percent statewide in May,
according to a state survey released Tuesday. “People really don’t understand the
gravity of the drought, particularly in urban California, where people are
hundreds of miles from their water source,” said Felicia Marcus, chairwoman of
the State Water Resources Control Board, which voted on Tuesday to impose the
new regulations. They are expected to take effect around Aug. 1….The drought
has already pummeled farmers in California, which is home to the nation’s
largest agricultural sector….Ms. Marcus said that California could not count on
the drought’s letting up, and that it was important to increase conservation
measures right away.
Board
expands water curtailment powers; New regulations exempt pre-1914 rights
holders but make orders immediately enforceable [Colusa Sun-Herald]
New
emergency drought regulations adopted on July 2 will give the State Water
Resources Control Board's executive director the authority to issue immediately
enforceable curtailment orders against post-1914 water rights holders. Before
the new regulations, water diverters were entitled to an evidentiary hearing
before any curtailment order could be enforced. Now, the curtailment order can
be legally enforced without a prior hearing — and diverters who refuse to
comply could face substantial penalties — an issue the California Farm Bureau
found troubling. "We have some due process concerns with that," said
Chris Scheuring, a representative of the legal services division of the
California Farm Bureau….The regulations went into effect on Monday and will be
in place for 270 days….While large and potentially historical cutbacks are
looming in the near future, the far-sighted solution is simple: more storage,
said Scheuring.
OID
suggests selling water to outsiders to subsidize district costs [Modesto Bee]
The
Oakdale Irrigation District hasn’t raised its water rates in 30 years, and it
was obvious Tuesday that OID’s directors resent a state law requiring them to
charge farmers more to irrigate….Virtually every other California irrigation
district has complied with the Water Conservation Act of 2009, which requires
farmers to pay for water based on how much they use. But instead of complying
with the statewide effort to save water, OID is suing the state government. It
doesn’t think it is fair for lawmakers to require OID and its farmers to pay for
the equipment needed to meter how much water each farmer receives….Rather than
charging farmers to install the necessary metering equipment, the district
proposes covering much of the expense by selling OID water to out-of-county
buyers.
Fresno
County falls behind Tulare County as state's king of agriculture [Fresno Bee]
Fresno
County was dethroned as California's leading agricultural producer in 2013
despite the rise of almonds as the county's second billion-dollar crop. The
ongoing drought contributed to declines in crop values. Last year, Fresno County's
overall gross value fell 2.2% to $6.4 billion. In 2012, it dropped 3% to $6.5
billion. The county slips to No. 2 behind dairy rich Tulare County, whose
agriculture value jumped to a record $7.8 billion on robust dairy prices.
Fresno County Agricultural Commissioner Les Wright said the drought -- one of
the worst in state history -- has pinched the production of several westside
field crops including cotton, corn silage and barley….Wright warned supervisors
that next year's report may be even more sobering. In the past, west Fresno
County farmers have been hit hardest by shortages of water. But this year, the
drought is punishing growers on both the west and east sides.
Editorial: Growing the local
economy [Santa Maria Times]
Despite
being mired in a drought, last year turned out to be a pretty good one for
local agriculture, whose total value for 2013 topped $1 billion for the eighth
consecutive year. That accomplishment takes on new meaning when you consider
that, in 2013, Mother Nature was already fully flexing her no-rain
muscle….Despite the relatively good year in terms of overall value, there are
warning signs for local agriculture, the most worrisome sign being the lack of
water, and how long that situation may exist. Water planning will take on
exponentially greater significance, as long as Mother Nature insists on holding
back on the rain.
Ag
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