Fresno group in U.S. court over water usage in S.F. [San Francisco Chronicle]
A
Fresno nonprofit linked to the largest agricultural water district in the
country filed a federal lawsuit alleging San Francisco and other Bay Area
communities are unfairly exempted from water cutbacks meant to protect
endangered species. The Center for Environmental Science, Accuracy and
Reliability alleges that freshwater diversions from the Tuolumne River are
jeopardizing endangered species of salmon, smelt and sturgeon by increasing the
salinity of the San Joaquin River and Sacramento Delta, where the river water
would naturally flow without upstream dams creating the Hetch Hetchy
Reservoir….The center's executive director, Craig Manson, is the general
counsel for Westlands Water District and the lone named plaintiff in the case
is Jean Sagouspe, a Central Valley farmer who is also on the board of the
Fresno group and is the former board president of Westlands…Attorney Roger
Marzulla, who is representing the nonprofit, said it's no surprise during a
drought that water diversions are being closely looked at. He said farmers
generally feel the "entire burden of the Endangered Species Act" is
placed on them.
Merced
County hires expert to help draft groundwater ordinance [Merced Sun-Star]
The
topic of groundwater is a complicated one, but regulating the scarce commodity
– which is as precious as liquid gold for struggling farmers in a drought year
– is even tougher. But that’s exactly what Merced County officials set out to
do, hiring a 40-year water expert to lead the way. Last week, the county
entered into a $25,000 contract with the California Water Institute at
California State University, Fresno, to develop a countywide groundwater
ordinance. Sarge Green, the center’s project director, will spend the next 12
months meeting with water agencies, farmers, county officials and other
stakeholders to map out a permanent plan for regulating groundwater transfers
outside the county and establishing a long-term water management plan….Prompted
by the pending sale and transfer of groundwater from two private Merced County
landowners to two water districts in Stanislaus County, the Board of
Supervisors started taking a critical look at protecting the county’s
groundwater in May.
Editorial: Water bond merits
consideration [Stockton Record]
…An
essential aspect of the bond is the money to be dedicated to water storage:
$2.7 billion. It’s been too much talk and not enough action on storage-related
issues for several decades, and the state is paying the price for inaction.
Various agencies whose vital mission is to protect and safeguard the Delta are
dismayed with the bond measure and what they see as unqualified support by the
legislators who have been their allies against the Twin Tunnels project….The
distrust of how the state would administer bond monies is understandable and
well earned. We’re asking the state to be good stewards of an immense amount of
money, and they’ve bungled such endeavors in the past. We stop far short of
endorsing the water bond that voters will face in November. There’s much more
to be dissected; more questions to be asked. But legislators have put together
a bond that should not be dismissed simply because of its price tag or
lingering distrust.
Editorial: Crop value
increases: It’s all about the water [Marysville Appeal-Democrat]
It's
pretty incredible, the amount of food produced in Yuba and Sutter counties, and
it's also incredible the increase in value of the crops this last year over the
year before….But we can expect a decline in the value of rice produced here for
2014 as thousands of acres had to be fallowed because of a lack of water….It's
all about the water, folks…Growth year over year again this coming year? Hard
to say. Productive acres planted to nuts will likely increase the value. But
there will be cuts in production to rice and perhaps some other row crops as
water becomes scarcer. Yep, it's all about the water availability. We're
talking about the agricultural produce value of only two counties in Northern
California. Add in a bunch of the other producing counties and the return on
investment for water storage starts to look fairly reasonable.
Fresno
business groups vow to fight bill on labor violations [Fresno Bee]
A
bill that would punish California employers for labor violations committed by
their subcontractors is being called unnecessary by Fresno business groups.
Assembly Member Roger Hernandez, D-West Covina, introduced Assembly Bill 1897
as a way to hold employers accountable for serious worker's rights violations
such as wage theft — a common problem in low-wage fields including agriculture.
Hernandez said the bill is necessary because of the growing use of
subcontractors among employers….But Fresno Chamber of Commerce president Al
Smith said the bill goes too far….He was joined Tuesday at a morning media
event by several members of the business community, including Manuel Cunha,
Nisei Farmers League president; Barry Bedwell, president of the California
Fresh Fruit Association; and T'Shaka Toure, board member of the Fresno Metro
Black Chamber of Commerce. Cunha said that agriculture workers already are
protected by state and federal wage and hour laws. "It just does not make
any sense," Cunha said.
Immigration
crisis at border afflicts heartland harvest [McClatchy News Service]
The
heated tempers of the nation’s border states are driving the debate over
immigration policy. States farther away from the U.S.-Mexico border, though,
are reckoning with a different set of challenges: a skimpy agriculture labor
market and cumbersome immigrant-worker programs that go unfixed amid partisan
gridlock on Capitol Hill. Over 20,000 U.S. farms employ more than 435,000
immigrant workers legally every year, according to 2012 U.S. Department of
Agriculture census data. Thousands _ probably tens of thousands _ more are
employed illegally. Naturally, agricultural powerhouses near the border, such
as Florida and California, employ tens of thousands of seasonal immigrant
laborers every year. But deeper in the homeland, such as the fruit orchards of
the Carolinas, farmers confront a blue-collar labor vacuum. “Because we’re not
a border state, it’s definitely harder to get people over this far from the
border to work,” said Chalmers Carr, the owner of the East Coast’s largest
peach grower, South Carolina’s Titan Farms.
Ag
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