As
California suffers through an historic drought, with penalties for wasting
water going into effect this week, something unusual is going on: the state and
the farmers seem to be agreeing on how to manage groundwater. Or how not to
manage it….The odd thing is that while surface water is regulated and allocated
and channeled and paid for, groundwater in California is hardly regulated at
all….So you would think a solution is for the state to regulate groundwater…But
the big question is who should make the rules and enforce them. The state
legislature is trying to come up with regulations. But there is widespread
skepticism about regulating groundwater from Sacramento. Farmers react
viscerally to the concept of regulating their well water.…They are pressuring
the state to go easy; if regulations are to be made, better they should come
from small irrigation districts that know the farmers and their needs. And
oddly enough state government seems to be listening. Without saying so, the
administration of Gov. Jerry Brown is soft pedaling the idea of regulating
groundwater.
Feds say no to
fish-kill preventive water releases [Eureka Times-Standard]
Federal
officials today told local tribes and North Coast officials that extra water
releases from Trinity Lake used to cool the Klamath and Trinity rivers for fish
may only occur in an emergency — when enough fish begin to sicken. Public
Affairs Officer Mat Maucieri of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation said that due to
the ongoing statewide drought, the bureau will instead send the limited water
to the Central Valley, where it will be used to cool the Sacramento River to
protect endangered fish like chinook salmon….The decision was made to protect
endangered winter-run and spring-run salmon listed under the federal Endangered
Species Act in the Sacramento River and its tributary, Clear Creek. The
spring-run and fall-run chinook salmon in the lower Klamath and Trinity rivers
are not listed as endangered under the federal act.…While the bureau will not
be making its preventive releases, Maucieri said it will make an emergency
release to double the flow the of the river for seven days if its monitoring
programs at the mouth of the lower Klamath River finds signs of decaying fish
health — such as dead fish.
Delta tunnel plan
called a fish death sentence by key group [San Francisco Chronicle]
The
state's plan to build a pair of 35-mile tunnels under the delta would cause the
extinction of winter-run chinook salmon, steep declines in dozens of other
species and devastate water quality in San Francisco Bay, an environmental
group said Wednesday. "This project would be a major step in the wrong
direction," said Gary Bobker, policy analyst for the Bay Institute, which
submitted its 250-page findings this week to the state Department of Water
Resources as it updates its Bay Delta Conservation Plan. The state's $25
billion plan for the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta calls for two
40-foot-wide tunnels to carry water from the northern end of the delta to the
pumps at the southern end. The purpose is to improve water flow throughout the
1,100-square-mile delta; reduce reliance on old, crumbling levees; and
potentially increase water allocations to farms and consumers in Central and
Southern California….A consultant working on the state's delta plan agreed
Wednesday that the northern delta will be saltier, warmer and more stagnant in
years to come. But that's largely due to climate change, not the tunnels, the
consultant said. In fact, the plan would improve conditions for salmon by
reducing the number sucked into the pumps and providing better water
circulation throughout the region, she said.
North American
waterfowl are newest casualty of California’s drought [Sacramento Bee]
Add
another casualty to California’s prolonged and punishing drought: Wildlife
officials warned this week that dry conditions in the state’s Central Valley
could have a devastating effect on North American waterfowl….This year, the
worst drought in a generation means those Central Valley habitats have been
dramatically reduced in size. Wildlife refuges have had their state and federal
water supplies cut by 25 percent. Rice acreage has been reduced by a similar
amount as farmers also have endured water cutbacks….Typically, they would find
refuge in flooded rice fields this time of year. But the California Rice
Commission estimates about 140,000 acres normally planted with rice, and kept
in a flooded condition, have been left dry and unplanted this year because of
the drought. That’s a 25 percent reduction….The problem may not go away even
once winter arrives. That’s because rice farmers normally flood their fields in
winter to decompose rice straw left behind after harvest….But few farmers have
enough water this year to flood their fields after harvest.
Farm bill may ease
ranchers’ pain [Marysville Appeal-Democrat]
For
local ranchers who have seen their pastures devastated by drought, the new farm
bill brought some welcome relief. It's the first farm bill passed since 2008.
Approved in Frebruary, the massive bill is still being analyzed for effects on
various parts of the agriculture industry. But this part is fairly plain: the
Livestock Forage Disaster Program, which compensates eligible ranchers who have
suffered grazing losses due to drought, was moved into a permanent program that
extends, retroactively, to cover losses after October 2011. It's one of the
rare programs that was quickly put into effect, said Glenn Nader, livestock and
natural resources adviser with the University of California Cooperative
Extension. Ranchers' feed costs have skyrocketed since last year. The program,
and the fact that it stretches back to 2011, will help ranchers avoid selling
off too much of their herds in order to feed their cattle, Nader said. Nader
said he spoke with one rancher whose feed costs were more than $100 a month for
each animal. "The magnitude of this drought is something that most people
have not seen in their lifetimes," Nader said.
USDA initiative looks
to cultivate younger farmers [Imperial Valley Press]
The
path that led Manuel Castro to agriculture is different from that of his peers
in the Imperial Valley, where most of the established farmers are second- and
third-generation growers.…Castro is the first in his family to farm in the
United States.…Today, he grows vegetables and forage crops on 2,000 acres near
the Salton Sea. He credits the farm community and luck with helping him get
started.…The U.S. Department of Agriculture has launched an initiative under
the new farm bill to help beginning farmers, like Castro once was, to get
established.…The USDA’s effort brings together agriculture research and
education, loan assistance and access to foreign markets. Most inquiries from
beginning farmers are about accessing credit and capital, according to a USDA
spokeswoman.
Ag
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