Scientists see shrinking California snowpack as a harbinger [Los Angeles Times]
State
workers performed a California winter ritual Thursday, poking hollow aluminum
tubes into Sierra Nevada meadows to measure the snowpack. In what scientists
see as a harbinger, they didn't find much….As the climate warms in coming
decades, scientists say, the state's mountain snowpack could shrink by a third.
By the end of the century, more than half of what functions as a huge natural
reservoir could disappear. But that doesn't mean nature will provide less water
to the Golden State: The latest climate models suggest the overall amount of
precipitation won't change much and may even increase across much of
California. Rather, more of it will fall as rain and less as snow, altering the
timing of important mountain runoff that fills reservoirs and forcing changes
in the way the state manages one of the world's most complex water systems.
Pajaro Valley agency raising
rates for water projects [Salinas Californian]
Water
officials in the Pajaro Valley are a step closer to securing funding to move
forward on critical water supply projects that could help northern Monterey
County. This week the board of directors of the Pajaro Valley Water Management
Agency, or PV Water, voted to adopt what’s called a Proposition 218 Service
Charge Report.…The charge report is intended to evaluate, explain and
substantiate PV Water’s proposed fee hikes. Revenue from the increased fees
will be spent on a 20-year build-out of a number of projects, PV Water General
Manager Mary Bannister said Thursday.…These projects are designed to tackle two
major threats to the Pajaro Valley: groundwater overdraft and seawater
intrusion. PV Water’s district includes parts of northern Monterey County. The
Castroville and Watsonville strawberry growing region has been hit hard by
seawater intrusion, which is caused by over-pumping a groundwater aquifer,
changing the pressure and allowing seawater to infiltrate fresh-water wells.
Growers and municipalities on both sides of the Pajaro River are suffering
seawater intrusion and over-pumping.
State seeks water rules
for pot growers [Santa Rosa Press Democrat]
State
officials have begun rolling out a new environmental initiative designed to win
the cooperation of marijuana growers in protecting Northern California
waterways and fisheries from the kinds of degradation that commonly result from
pot cultivation.…Part of a larger effort to address watershed damage,
environmental contamination and illegal water diversions that have continued
unregulated for decades in remote forests up and down the state, the
undertaking includes a plan to develop water quality standards to which growers
can be held accountable or face fines and other penalties. The multi-agency
endeavor targets those who cultivate pot on private lands, with landowner
permission, and is aimed at creating a system of regulation designed to help
growers farm in an environmentally friendly manner while authorizing enforcement
action where necessary….The program is not intended to deal with growers
illegally squatting or trespassing on private or public lands, which is
prevalent, nor those associated with gangs, cartels, interstate trafficking and
the like. Carrigan said inspectors would be visiting high-risk, garden-dense
watersheds in the months ahead, based on aerial, satellite and Google Earth
imagery identifying areas where marijuana is grown.
Two Valley
food-processing firms sued for alleged wage-and-hour law violations [Fresno
Bee]
A
Pennsylvania law firm has filed nearly identical federal lawsuits against two
central San Joaquin Valley food processors, saying they are violating
wage-and-hour laws by not paying workers for on-site preparation like donning
and doffing required sanitary gear. Each lawsuit — one against Leprino Foods in
Lemoore, the other against Wawona Frozen Foods in Clovis — has a lead
plaintiff, but seeks class-action status.…According to the lawsuit, workers at
the plants are required by both state and federal regulations, and by company
policy, to wear sanitary gear such as plastic aprons, smock, arm sleeves,
hairnets, earplugs and other protective equipment and coverings. The suit says
it takes “substantial amounts of time” to don and doff the gear at the start
and end of each work day, as well as to sanitize, get supplies and walk to the
production line.…Both the Leprino and Wawona lawsuits have identical language
saying, “As a result of the various work activities which must be performed
prior to the start of paid time, employees are regularly forced to arrive at
the plant well before the start of their shifts and are not credited for all
time spent working on behalf of defendants.”
Watching fruit rot
[Economist]
On
January 22nd KFC announced that its Japanese stores faced a shortage of
potatoes. McDonald’s, too, rationed fries in Japan in December, despite an
“emergency” airlift of nearly 1,000 tonnes of spuds. The cause in both cases:
massive delays at America’s West Coast ports. Cargo is piling up inside the
terminals. Exporters and importers are bleeding cash. The North American Meat
Institute says delays are costing meat and poultry producers $30m a week.
Chelan Fresh Marketing, a Washington fruit supplier, has laid off a fifth of
its workforce. It is “a huge mess,” says Jon Wyss, Chelan’s head of government
affairs….Meanwhile, frustrated exporters and importers will find other routes.
In a recent survey by the Journal of Commerce, 60% of shippers said they had
begun redirecting cargoes away from America’s West Coast ports. Once that
business leaves, it may never return. Western ports have already lost market
share to the East Coast since 2002, when failed labour talks led to an 11-day
lockout and a total shutdown.
Opinion: Why egg prices in California are rising [Orange County
Register]
In
what has seemingly become an annual tradition, the New Year brought
Californians more than just a hangover. 2015 welcomed an additional 930 new
regulations, up from 2014. Perhaps none of these will have as immediate an
economic impact as Proposition 2 and an accompanying measure signed by Governor
Schwarzenegger in 2010….And Prop. 2’s price increases will almost-certainly
disproportionately impact this state. According to the Census Bureau’s most
recent Supplemental Poverty Measure, California has the dubious honor of being home
to the nation’s highest poverty rate, affecting 8.9 million of the state’s 38
million residents. Had California voters known of the harm that awaited nearly
a quarter of the state’s population, perhaps they would have voted differently.
And due to the confusing way the law was written, Californians could be in for
“Round 2” between animal-rights radicals and egg farmers.
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