A dry January for Tulare County ag [Visalia Times-Delta]
Terra
Bella farmer Geoffrey Galloway had high hopes for January, normally the wettest
month in the Central Valley….But Galloway and other farmer's hopes have so far
been dashed. No rain or snowfall has been reported in the Valley and computer
weather models indicate only a slight chance of rain by Jan. 27 and 28….If
things stay the way they are, the drought picture is even worse because Valley
farmers tapped heavily into their groundwater last year and opportunities to
buy water likely will be harder, said Dan Vink, general manager of the Lower
Tule River Irrigation District. Last year, many avoided ruin because the Terra
Bella Irrigation District made a series very costly water purchases and swaps
for future water supplies, but unless the rest of the winter gets a lot wetter,
farmers in the Terra Bella area may not have those options to fall back on,
Galloway said.
"Our
farms are going to die," he said.
Farmers
respond favorably to conservation initiative [Oakdale Leader]
A
year from now, if all goes as planned, some 3,250 acres within the Oakdale
Irrigation District will use water much more efficiently. Pasture land will
have been ripped, laser leveled and in some cases, converted to a higher-value
crop. New pumps, pipes and sprinkler systems will have been installed. Wasteful
runoff will have been reduced….This year, 114 landowners representing 135
parcels applied before the Jan. 14 deadline, a response OID General Manager
Steve Knell called “tremendous” at Tuesday’s meeting (Jan. 20) of district
directors….Farmers will not irrigate land enrolled in the program for one year;
OID will market the unused irrigation water to buyers; 95 percent of the
proceeds will be returned to the farmer – 20 percent in cash and 75 percent in
credits to make efficiency upgrades on their property.
IID
presses state to live up to Salton Sea commitment [Palm Springs Desert Sun]
The
Imperial Irrigation District is pressing for the state to take the lead in
settling on a plan for the Salton Sea and paying for it as a deadline nears in
less than three years for the lake’s decline to accelerate. IID officials say
they never would have approved the 2003 water transfer deal known as the
Quantification Settlement Agreement, or QSA, without the state’s commitment to
be responsible for much of the costs of “restoration” of the Salton Sea. The
deal called for the IID to deliver “mitigation” flows to the Salton Sea for a
period of 15 years. After 2017, those deliveries are scheduled to end as
increasing amounts of water are sent to urban areas in San Diego County and the
Coachella Valley….The IID is calling for State Water Board to convene a
dialogue between the parties to agree on a plan within six months, and for the
board to issue an order making state funding of that plan a condition of water
transfers under the QSA.
Survey:
Fine wine prices expected to rise [Santa Rosa Press Democrat]
Customers
are likely to pay more for a bottle of fine wine this year as wine prices rise,
the result of an improved economy and strong demand, according to a new survey
by Silicon Valley Bank. The survey, based on responses from almost 600 West
Coast wineries and ongoing research, found that fine wine sales should grow
between 14 to 18 percent in 2015. The fine-wine business is defined by bottles
that cost $20 or more….Winery revenues grew 8 percent through the first nine
months of 2014, according to the bank’s database….But not all the news is good
for the industry. Wines priced less than $7 per bottle had poor sales last year
and that trend is expected to continue into 2015.
Opinion: Protecting
California’s natural lands is key to combating climate change [Sacramento Bee]
…In
his inaugural address, Gov. Jerry Brown identified the important role that
natural and working lands play in fighting the threats of climate change. As
the Legislature now negotiates the newly released budget, putting investments
into natural and working lands is crucial to ensuring those carbon benefits
happen….Forests are a huge carbon-storage bank, and represent our largest
opportunity to remove carbon dioxide already in the atmosphere….Preventing the
loss of farm and rangeland and improving farm practices reduce harmful
emissions in multiple ways. Studies show that developed urban land emits far
more pollution than farmland.
Opinion: Oyster farm's demise
sets stage for next park battle [Marin Independent Journal]
…The
Great Marin Oyster War is over. The Lunny family has left the estero, remaining
fresh oysters are destroyed, their mostly Hispanic workers dispersed and the
site cleared.
Now
longtime Point Reyes peninsula residents await the next big threat to their
existence. The soon-to-be-released National Seashore Ranch Comprehensive Plan
will determine the fate of two dozen or so ranches and 26,000 acres of pastoral
land long used for grazing….The agriculture community's concern is that some
seemingly innocuous policy will be inserted in the plan as a poison pill that
indirectly causes the ranches to become economically untenable. The likeliest
point of conflict will involve the interface between cattle and tule elk that
the park service encourages to proliferate on Point Reyes.
Ag
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