Stanislaus
considers new rules for groundwater wells [Modesto Bee]
After
about six months of debate, Stanislaus County’s Water Advisory Committee is set
to vote Wednesday on an expanded groundwater ordinance. It also will discuss
the advisability of imposing a drilling moratorium on new water wells. The
committee has been probing concerns about falling groundwater levels and
considering options for attaining sustainability. It’s been trying to cobble
together a compromise that’s acceptable to competing interests and compliant
with new state laws. The result is an eight-page proposed ordinance to prevent
any “undesirable result” from groundwater extraction. Defining exactly what
that means, of course, is the tricky part.
Opinion: Is there enough water
for people and nuts? [Modesto Bee]
Proliferating
almond orchards are sucking groundwater to counteract the effects of the
drought. Because the aquifer is a shared resource, many people near these
orchards report their pumps sucking air as their shallower wells run dry.
Meanwhile, local and county officials dither about what to do. Throughout the
lower San Joaquin Valley, there has been clear documentation of ground sinking
when aquifers are depleted; once they collapse, they can never be refilled….But
like the timber barons, the almond barons seem to shrug off these facts, many
expressing outrage that there might be any water regulation at all.
Editorial: Ranches are part of
balance of Point Reyes National Seashore [Marin Independent Journal]
Point
Reyes National Seashore officials got a good idea of the level of public
interest in its update of its park management plan. More than 3,000 comments
were received during the six-week period when park officials invited people and
groups to express their thoughts. Not surprisingly, many of the comments
reflected the split between those who want to continue the park's agricultural
heritage and those who want to see the ranchlands returned to wilderness….These
ranches and their herds are a large portion of the critical mass that keeps
local agriculture viable and strong. Removal of ranches and grazing lands would
undermine that viability. Increasing the lengths of leases to a more reasonable
20 years would certainly help keep the park's ranches strong.
Food
Scores, a new web service, ranks grocery items on ingredients and nutrition
[New York Times]
An
environmental research organization on Monday introduced one of the most
comprehensive online databases of food products, containing information on more
than 80,000 items sold in groceries across the nation. It offers details of
ingredients and nutritional information as well as an attempt to assess how
processed the food items are….The Environmental Working Group aims to assign a
score from 1 to 10, with 1 being the best, to each product based on how
nutritious it is, how many ingredients in it or its packaging raise concerns
and an estimate of how processed it is. Factors include whether a product is
organically certified; raised according to various animal welfare standards or
without antibiotics; and exposed to environmental contaminants and
pesticides….Mr. Cook said he anticipated resistance from the food industry, and
the Grocery Manufacturers Association, the trade group that represents the
industry’s interests, was highly critical of the new tool, saying it was based
on little more than “guesses.”
Yuba
City business goes all in on stevia [Marysville Appeal-Democrat
A
local company has some sweet dreams for the future. Stevia First, a Yuba
City-based agricultural biotechnology company, is making steps toward
commercializing the production of stevia, a sugar alternative with major
potential interest from multinational beverage companies. In the last several
months, the company has raised $1.5 million from investors and secured an
agreement with Qualipride International to distribute Chinese-grown stevia in
the U.S. Both developments are paving the way toward the company's goal of
starting production of stevia, an herb native to South America with a extract
many times sweeter than sugar, in California. If the plan comes to fruition,
the company would construct a processing plant and expand its operations,
bringing with it new jobs, said Robert Brooke, CEO of Stevia First.
Valley
tourism leaders share ideas at Modesto summit [Modesto Bee]
Promoters
of tourism in the San Joaquin Valley might learn something from apple growers
up in El Dorado County. Fifty years ago, they realized that they could not
compete with Washington state in the mass market. They looked instead to
tourism, figuring that visitors would love to pick their own fruit, smell the
fresh-baked pies and otherwise take in the apple experience. “They evolved from
selling apples to selling the place where apples are grown,” said Bill Center,
a campground owner and former county supervisor in El Dorado, at a tourism
summit Monday in Modesto. The second annual event brought forth ideas on how to
boost visitor spending in the five-county region from San Joaquin County south
to Fresno County….Agritourism got much of the attention, as the Valley already
has plenty of farm and ranches.
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