Conservationists say thinning Sierra forests may help state water supply [Sacramento Bee]
With
the state entering its fourth year of drought, some conservationists are
looking at thinning Sierra forests to increase the amount of water that flows
into area rivers. The Nature Conservancy issued a report Friday that argues
that thinning forests on public lands can reduce wildfire risk in the Northern
Sierra. The report also found that such action brings a bonus: water
conservation. Thinning dense forests may lead to a 3 percent to 6 percent
increase in mean annual stream flow to some watersheds, according to the
report….On Friday, the Association of California Water Agencies also released
its own report that calls for better headwater and forest management – and for
better collaboration among federal, state and other agencies, and other
stakeholders.
Editorial: Pay for fighting
wildfires like natural disasters [Sacramento Bee]
An
out-of-control wildfire is just as much a natural disaster as a hurricane or
flood….But that’s not how wildfires are handled in the federal budget, and it’s
taking money away from worthwhile programs in our national forests and parks.
This has to change. The U.S. Forest Service, the White House, bipartisan
supporters in Congress and conservation groups are on the right track. They’re
trying to push through legislation (H.R. 167) so that the costs of fighting the
few catastrophic wildfires would be paid from emergency funds, just as when
other natural disasters strike.
Opinion: Bees need allies
beyond Big Almond [Sacramento Bee]
…No
industry comes close to almond growers in their concern for bee health. But
it’s not enough, given the disregard in the rest of the food system for bees.
Even here, knee-deep in their favorite kind of pollen and nectar, hazards beset
bees. Fungicide cocktails sicken adults and kill larvae. Insecticide-laced
fertilizers in neighboring fields taint nearby plants with poison….Broadly
speaking, the culprit is modern industrial farming. Particularly in the
Midwest, bee habitat has been all but eradicated by crops like corn and soy,
which have replaced once-diverse landscapes with monocultures….Everyone who
eats has a stake in this issue. Bees cannot live on the self-interest of
California almond farmers alone.
Sonoma
County gets set to study groundwater regulations [Santa Rosa Press Democrat]
When
Gov. Jerry Brown in September signed a package of three bills designed to curb
overpumping of water from underground aquifers, the historic legislation sent
fear and panic throughout Sonoma County. Residents who depend on underground
wells as their primary source of water contacted county officials to ask how
the laws would affect them, and farmers whose operations require a steady
supply of water lobbied hard to be included in conversations about restrictions
going forward….Sonoma County this week unveiled its first formal response to a
wave of queries over the past six months about how California’s Sustainable
Groundwater Management Act, which establishes the first rules for pumping
groundwater in the Golden State, would affect property owners and agriculture.
Salinas
area growers begin push to secure water supply [Salinas Californian]
It’s
push and push back time. With the first phases of the Groundwater
Sustainability Act taking shape, growers realize that this legislation will
affect them in a big way. And by big, I don’t mean good….Already state agencies
such as the Water Quality Control Board and the Department of Water Resources,
along with sister federal agencies, are implementing rules governing the amount
of water farmers in the Central Valley receive. Farmers, meanwhile, are
organizing a push-back of their own. Last week growers — represented by Farm
Bureau leaders — from throughout the state made the rounds in Sacramento, visiting
Assembly members and state senators….“If we are going to change what is
happening in Sacramento and Washington, D.C., we have to have a presence,” said
California Farm Bureau President Paul Wenger at this year’s CFBF Leaders
Conference. It appears his words were heeded.
Lake
Mendocino shrinking again [Santa Rosa Press Democrat]
On
the surface, Lake Mendocino appears to have plenty of water, especially when
compared with the near-record low levels that turned most of the lake into a
mudflat last year. But the lake’s water level already has begun a steady
decline that has farmers and water officials concerned it could again shrink to
near empty by the end of this fourth year of drought. “Everybody’s watching
it,” Mendocino County Farm Bureau Executive Director Devon Jones said. Unless
significant rain falls this spring, state regulators are likely to repeat last
year’s unprecedented curtailment of hundreds of water rights held by farmers
and others along the Russian River between Lake Mendocino and Healdsburg. The
state already has curtailed water rights to some Sacramento River tributaries
and notified Russian River water users they could be next.
Ag
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