Amid
a third year of drought, state lawmakers began pushing legislation Wednesday that
would begin to regulate groundwater for the first time in California history.
The Senate passed AB1739 on a 26-11 vote, returning it to the Assembly. The
bill by Assemblyman Roger Dickinson, D-Sacramento, is part of a sweeping
legislative package that would require some local governments to start managing
wells and authorizes the state to step in under certain situations if they
don't. AB1739 authorizes groundwater sustainability agencies to install meters
and charge fees….Senate Republicans objected to the legislation, warning about
the creation of state and local "water police." "New layers of
bureaucracy, additional fees and the disruption of existing water rights are
not the answer to effective management of our local underground water
reserves," said Sen. Jean Fuller, R-Bakersfield.
Commentary: California seeks to
take farm water rights [San Francisco Chronicle]
Two
bills being jammed through the Legislature in the final days of the legislative
session would create a new bureaucracy to regulate, monitor and tax the use of
groundwater. These bills would change 150 years of water law - without public
hearings and discussions. These bills would create local and state water police
to limit and restrict how property owners use the water under their
land….Historic and sweeping changes to laws that threaten treasured ways of
life and fundamental property rights should not be rushed through in the final
four days of the legislative session. Laws that impact the lives of so many
must be deliberated in full public view, not behind closed doors.
Stanislaus
County farmers agree to pay for groundwater study to settle environmental
lawsuit [Modesto Bee]
Environmental
activists and a group of Stanislaus County farmers settled a lawsuit Wednesday
over the drilling of groundwater wells to irrigate orchards. The farmers – who
predominately grow almonds in northern and eastern Stanislaus – agreed to
contribute $190,000 toward the study of groundwater conditions in the county,
plus cover assorted attorney fees and court costs. “I view this as a win-win
interim outcome of this litigation,” said Jerry Cadagan, a retired lawyer and
Sonora resident who filed lawsuits this year against farmers and Stanislaus
County leaders over well drilling….His organization, called Protecting Our
Water and Environmental Resources, joined the California Sportsfishing
Protection Alliance in the lawsuit against assorted Stanislaus farmers who
obtained well-drilling permits last fall.
Judge
won't stop water for Klamath salmon [Associated Press]
A
federal judge Wednesday denied a request by irrigation suppliers in
California's Central Valley to stop emergency water releases intended to help
salmon hundreds of miles away in the Klamath Basin survive the drought. U.S.
District Judge Lawrence J. O'Neill in Fresno, California, denied the temporary
injunction sought by Westlands Water District and the San Luis &
Delta-Mendota Water Authority….The judge ruled that the potential harm to
salmon from drought conditions right now outweighs the potential harm to
farmers next year…. At issue is water in a reservoir on the Trinity River in
Northern California, which has long been shared with farmers in the Central
Valley. The river is the main tributary of the Klamath River, where sharing
scarce water between fish and farms has long been a tough balancing act marked
by lawsuits and political battles.
California
environmentalists decry feds' fire plan [Associated Press]
U.S.
Forest Service officials say they tried to balance competing interests in a
plan that will allow loggers to remove trees killed in a massive central
California wildfire last year, but environmentalists have called it a travesty
and are threatening to sue. The highly awaited decision released Wednesday will
allow logging on 52 square miles of forests blackened in the Rim Fire, which
burned 400 square miles of the Stanislaus National Forest, Yosemite National
Park's backcountry and private timber land….It came amid a standoff between
environmentalists and supporters of the timber industry over what to do with
the trees that died in the fire. The blaze also destroyed 11 homes and cost
more than $125 million to fight….David Bischel, president of the California
Forestry Association, said he commends officials for producing the plan in a
timely and transparent process. The association, which represents the timber
industry and provided comments during development of the plan, is reviewing its
details. Taking out dead trees will also allow the public to use the land and
eliminate a new fire hazard caused by the falling trees, logging supporters
have said.
Editorial: Wage theft bill not
a good solution [Santa Cruz Sentinel]
Any
reasonable employer or employee would agree with Assemblyman Mark Stone, the
Scotts Valley Democrat, that workers should be assured that they're paid what
they have earned. That's why he has proposed legislation in the form of AB 2416
— now before the Legislature — that would offer a solution to the problem.
Unfortunately, it's not a good solution….Under his bill, workers, and the
lawyers, activists or even government agencies who represent them, would be
allowed to place liens on an employer's property if wages are not paid — or
even if it's alleged they weren't paid. No proof required….We have no sympathy
for employers not paying workers what they earn. But that doesn't mean that the
solution is to allow formal sanctions on an employer's property until he or she
proves themselves innocent.
Ag
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