Pressure’s on to help Delta fish suffering amid drought [Sacramento Bee]
With
populations of numerous endangered Delta fish species at alarming lows,
officials in California are planning a number of steps to help them survive if
2015 proves to be a fourth drought year….DWR, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation,
and three state and federal wildlife agencies last week released a “Drought
Contingency Plan” that outlines numerous steps to stretch water supplies and
protect fish species this year. The plan also applies to salmon, which have
slightly different needs than resident species in the Delta….Among the measures
planned are “early warning” fish sampling in Delta waters to determine where
fish are located and where they are moving. This began in December and will
continue through April. The primary goal is to guide water diversions from the
Delta to avoid drawing sensitive fish such as smelt into water-export pumps.
Feds
say San Joaquin River could reach ocean this year; farmers say it isn’t close
[Fresno Bee]
Stream
gauges and monitoring wells are ready and waiting along the San Joaquin River.
Big money has been spent for the right to let water flow through a private
bypass. All that’s missing now is water. If the drought breaks by spring, the
river should be ready to reconnect with the Pacific Ocean for the second time
in the last six years, say federal officials who are working on restoring the
San Joaquin….West-side farmers along the river, worried about endangered salmon
and seepage damage, argue it’s far from ready for any kind of flow….Area
farmers haven’t been satisfied with the bureau’s progress. Several projects,
like fish screens to keep endangered fish from straying into irrigation canals,
have not been finished. Farmers say it would be a nightmare if protected fish
died in their canals.
Groundwater
concerns shared at Stanislaus water summit [Modesto Bee]
The
drought and concerns over groundwater dominated Stanislaus County politics in
2014, and it looks like that will continue this year.
More
than 170 people showed up Friday for an all-day Water Summit focused on groundwater
and what the county must do to ensure it’s managed in a sustainable way for
future generations. The public gathering was designed to foster cooperation
among Stanislaus’ irrigation districts, municipal water agencies, farmers,
businesses and residents….“We want to keep local control because we don’t want
the state coming in, telling us what to do,” said Wayne Zipser, who runs the
Stanislaus County Farm Bureau and leads the county’s Water Advisory Committee.
But getting agreement about how to regulate groundwater use will require people
with competing interests to work together.
California
drought could end with storms known as atmospheric rivers [Los Angeles Times]
Powerful
storms known as atmospheric rivers, ribbons of water vapor that extend for
thousands of miles, pulling moisture from the tropics and delivering it to the
West Coast, have broken 40% of California droughts since 1950, recent research
shows. "These atmospheric rivers — their absence or their presence —
really determine whether California is in drought or not and whether floods are
going to occur," said F. Martin Ralph, a research meteorologist who directs
the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes at the Scripps Institution of
Oceanography at UC San Diego….This month, a group of government and university
scientists, including Ralph, are launching a major field experiment to better
understand atmospheric rivers as they develop over the Pacific….Scientists will
use the information to try to improve atmospheric river forecasts, including
where they will hit hardest and for how long. That could help communities
prepare for flooding and allow water managers to make better use of storm
runoff.
Valley
nut, citrus exports halted in port dispute [Fresno Bee]
Nut
crops and citrus are among California’s hottest exports this time of year. But
stalled labor negotiations between West Coast dock workers and terminal
operators has put the brakes on overseas shipments, causing warehouses to begin
filling up and impatient buyers to cancel contracts. The labor dispute that is
now in its sixth month has created a logjam at the ports, including three of
California’s busiest for exporting agricultural products: Los Angeles, Oakland
and Long Beach….Despite the efforts of a federal mediator and pressure from
members of Congress and industry groups, the bottleneck continued as of Friday,
increasing the anxiety level among importers and exporters. The slowdown has
been especially painful for San Joaquin Valley nut and citrus growers, who have
carved out lucrative markets overseas.
U.S.
research lab lets livestock suffer in quest for profit [New York Times]
At
a remote research center on the Nebraska plains, scientists are using surgery
and breeding techniques to re-engineer the farm animal to fit the needs of the
21st-century meat industry….These experiments are not the work of a meat
processor or rogue operation. They are conducted by a taxpayer-financed federal
institution called the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center, a complex of
laboratories and pastures that sprawls over 55 square miles in Clay Center,
Neb….Since Congress founded it 50 years ago to consolidate the United States
Department of Agriculture’s research on farm animals, the center has worked to
make lamb chops bigger, pork loins less fatty, steaks easier to chew. It has
fought the spread of disease, fostered food safety and helped American ranchers
compete in a global marketplace. But an investigation by The New York Times
shows that these endeavors have come at a steep cost to the center’s animals,
which have been subjected to illness, pain and premature death, over many
years.
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