Brown, Legislature to unveil $1 billion drought aid package [Contra Costa Times]
SACRAMENTO
-- Gov. Jerry Brown and legislative leaders on Thursday introduced a $1 billion
package of emergency drought legislation aimed at helping Californians cope
with a stretch of bone-dry weather that's starting to feel endless. But more
than half the money -- $660 million -- is dedicated to flood control projects
that will do little to nothing to mitigate the drought, which is entering its
fourth year in California….The legislation will also include funding for safe
drinking water, water conservation projects and food for farm workers and
others hurting because of the drought.
New
study, old data in Stanislaus County effort to manage groundwater [Modesto Bee]
A
long-awaited tool created to help manage groundwater was unveiled Wednesday to
the Stanislaus County Water Advisory Committee, whose members listened politely
but seemed less than thrilled. The 10-year, $1.25 million effort by the U.S.
Geological Survey, aimed at understanding and predicting how water moves
underground in this region, relies on data at least 11 years old. That was
before growers began pumping groundwater in earnest to feed millions of new
almond trees blanketing the county’s east side, and before the ongoing
four-year drought….The Water Advisory Committee, composed of officeholders and
volunteers – many with stakes in agriculture, water and drilling – also voted
Wednesday to pursue creating an agency to oversee groundwater management using
an “integrated subbasin approach.” That means coordinating with leaders from
San Joaquin and Merced counties, because the groundwater basin under much of
Stanislaus extends beyond county lines to the north and south.
Judge:
CVWD doesn't need to ID heavy water users [Palm Springs Desert Sun]
A
Riverside County Superior Court judge this week ruled that the Coachella Valley
Water District doesn't need to disclose its private customers' groundwater use
data. The First Amendment Coalition filed a lawsuit against the agency in
August to make records of businesses, such as golf courses, accessible to the
public. But a judge shot down the request on Tuesday. "CVWD fought this
lawsuit because we believe it is important to protect private customer data,
whether that customer is a homeowner, a business or a private pumper,"
board president John Powell Jr. said in a statement….CVWD and Desert Water
Agency used to report how much groundwater was being pumped by individual
users, including golf courses, country clubs, farms and resorts. Most users were
commercial or industrial. Both agencies changed course after The Desert Sun
published a list of the valley's biggest groundwater consumers in March 2014.
Water
officials hear predictions of looming crisis at Salton Sea [Los Angeles Times]
After
listening to seven hours of doomsday predictions, state water officials agreed
Wednesday to look at one of California’s largest but often ignored
environmental problems: the deterioration of the Salton Sea. State Water
Resources Control Board members asked agency staff to explore what power the
agency has to get involved in a dispute that, at its core, involves the state
Legislature's refusal to live up to its 2003 promise to keep the sea from
shrinking and wreaking havoc on the region’s environment, economy and public
health….The board’s hearing was at the behest of the Imperial Irrigation
District, which has suggested that the board should amend its approval of the
2003 water deal between Imperial and the San Diego County Water Authority in
order to require the state to fulfill its promise.
Tensions
high amid crippling protests by farmworkers in Baja [Los Angeles Times]
Farmworkers
in Baja California vowed to continue a strike that threatens the region’s
harvest after negotiations broke down late Wednesday and authorities refused to
release dozens of laborers arrested during protests that degenerated into
rock-throwing and looting. The Mexican government has sent hundreds of
soldiers, state and municipal police to secure the region about 200 miles south
of San Diego after thousands of protesters shut down the main highway linking
the coastal agricultural fields with export markets in California….Laborers are
demanding higher salaries and government benefits like social security that
they say agribusinesses have long denied them. Laborers make about $8 to $12
per day on average picking strawberries, tomatoes and cucumbers.
U.S.
presses Indonesia on agricultural trade restrictions [Wall Street Journal]
The
U.S. is escalating a two-year-old fight with Indonesia over its agricultural
trade restrictions by requesting formal settlement of the dispute at the World
Trade Organization. Washington blames Indonesia for limiting U.S. exports to
the fast-growing Asian economy. On Wednesday, U.S. Trade Representative Mike
Froman announced the U.S. would ask the Geneva-based WTO to settle the
agricultural dispute, an indication that earlier consultations didn’t resolve
disagreements over Indonesia’s 2012 rules governing horticultural and animal
products. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has criticized Indonesia’s goal to
supply all of its poultry and beef needs internally as “protectionist policies”
guarding the country’s domestic meat industry at time when Indonesia’s middle
class swells and consumes more protein.
Ag
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