Water bond leads agenda as California lawmakers return for final month [Sacramento Bee]
Looking
ahead to the crush of down-to-the-wire bills that will consume their August,
California lawmakers have a unified message: It’s all about the water bond.
Legislators return from summer recess today to a mountain of unfinished
business. They have until the end of the month to decide whether to pass bills
and send them to Gov. Jerry Brown. But to a person, every California lawmaker
asked about the frenzied final stretch pointed to the agenda-crowning need to
place a new water bond before voters this year. A widely reviled $11.1 billion
measure passed in 2009 has been forsaken by most Democrats. With a vicious
drought still withering the state, members of both parties feel the pressure to
find a viable alternative.
California lawmakers
struggle to reach drought relief deal [Associated Press]
Prospects
for a drought relief bill to help California farmers appear as likely as the
state being deluged by three straight days of rain. Key lawmakers and staff are
working to resolve differences in two bills that separately passed the House
and Senate this year. The lawmakers won’t say where progress has occurred or
what roadblocks remain, but time is running out for the current congressional
session….Paul Wenger, president of the California Farm Bureau Federation, said
lawmakers need to get something done before next year’s planting season. “We
have told both sides to work together, realizing neither is going to get
exactly what they want, but California will suffer if they don’t get something
done,” Wenger said.
Public comment period
for Delta tunnels ends [Stockton Record]
…Officials
on Friday said they are beginning the process of wading through 10,000 to
11,000 public comments on the governor's twin tunnels plan for the Delta.…The
letters have not been immediately made public, but some have been posted by an
environmental group, and The Record requested copies of other letters this week
from more than two dozen interested parties. While a comprehensive review isn't
yet possible, the letters range from short and passionate entreaties from Delta
residents who consider the water diversion a threat to their way of life, to
long and technical missives about the benefits and shortcomings of the $25
billion plan. About 8,000 of the comments are from letters of various kinds,
said Brian "BG" Heiland, a supervising engineer with the state
Department of Water Resources. A team of consultants is processing the comments
now, and then various experts who helped write the plan will begin the enormous
task of responding.
Study: Program harms
area farmers [Marysville Appeal-Democrat]
Building
restrictions from the National Flood Insurance Program have stymied the ability
of Sutter County farmers to expand or improve their operations, according to a
recent government study. The Government Accountability Office study found the
flood insurance program managed by FEMA requires farmers to either elevate new
or significantly improved structures as high as 15 feet or create large
openings in the structure that would expose agricultural products to pests and
pathogens…."It's clear right off the bat that those rules don't work for
agriculture structures. It's cost-prohibitive," said James Gallagher,
Sutter County supervisor.…Now, county supervisors, particularly Gallagher and
Stan Cleveland, who have been leading the charge for NFIP reform, hope the
report can be a springboard to change before the problem gets worse.
Sierra Club: Marin
coastal plan paves way for housing [Marin Independent Journal]
Contending
that Marin County's coastal policies pave the way for development by allowing
farmers to build homes for their children, the Sierra Club has sued the
California Coastal Commission, saying new regulations covering West Marin
weaken protection of the state's entire coast. A top state coastal lawyer
rejected the Sierra Club's allegations, saying the state coastal panel has done
nothing amiss….Coastal commission staffers who help give the agency a tough
watchdog reputation rebutted criticism by environmental activists earlier this
year. State coastal planners defended farm family housing, saying allowing a
tightly limited program would preserve agricultural use of large ranches by
accommodating a new generation, and curb pressure to sell off 60-acre lots.
Cow theft bill brings
stronger penalties [Eureka Times-Standard]
Despite
the recent passage of stiffer punishments for cattle rustlers statewide,
livestock theft is still alive and kicking in Humboldt County, according to
officials. John Suther, a special investigator with the state's Bureau of
Livestock Identification said there have been around three or four cases of
stolen cattle in Humboldt County in the last three years….With cases like this
and others across the state, Gov. Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 1772 into
law on July 16, and now those convicted of livestock theft will be barred from
holding a registered brand in California for five years, according to
Suther….Suther said he hopes the bill will keep thieves from taking the cattle,
He added that about 20 percent of reported stolen cattle are ever found and returned.
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