Cannabis stream diversion study prompts legislation, enforcement [Eureka Times-Standard]
After
several years in the field assessing cannabis cultivation sites, counting
plants from Google Earth views and calculating stream flows, a California
Department of Fish and Wildlife team has released a comprehensive paper
revealing the affects of marijuana cultivation on the North Coast’s
watersheds….Awareness has been rising, pilot programs are in effect,
enforcement has increased and legislation is on the way, but it may not be
enough to prevent Humboldt County’s streams from going dry a second year in a
row, lead author of the study, said Scott Bauer, senior environmental scientist
with the Department of Fish and Wildlife Watershed Enforcement Team….Two North
Coast legislators have taken notice of the issue facing the region. The
Marijuana Watershed Protection Act, Assembly Bill 243, was introduced by
Assemblyman Jim Wood and a multifaceted cannabis regulation bill is soon to
follow from Sen. Mike McGuire. Both bills will address bringing cannabis
farmers into environmental compliance.
Monsanto
bites back at Glyphosate findings [Wall Street Journal]
Monsanto
Co. escalated its criticism of a World Health Organization agency’s finding
last week that a commonly used herbicide probably has the potential to cause
cancer in humans. The St. Louis-based agribusiness giant—a major seller of the
weed killer—sought a meeting with senior WHO officials on the International
Agency for Research on Cancer’s finding, while a WHO agency official defended
what he called an “exhaustive” review of eligible data. The IARC’s
classification of glyphosate, the U.S.’s most commonly used weedkiller, as
“probably carcinogenic” in a report published Friday reignited debate over a
chemical that environmental groups have long criticized and the agricultural
industry has defended as safe for humans and less harsh on the environment than
others….Monsanto, which markets glyphosate under the Roundup brand, sent
letters to WHO members seeking to discuss the IARC classification, which
Monsanto officials said ran counter to many other findings, including those by
other WHO programs, according to Philip Miller, the company’s vice president of
global regulatory affairs.
Fireman’s
Fund to pay $44 million to settle U.S. fraud allegations [Marin Independent
Journal]
Novato-based
Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co. has agreed to pay $44 million to settle
allegations that it issued fraudulent crop insurance policies, federal
authorities said Monday. The company “knowingly issued insurance policies that
were ineligible under the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s federal crop insurance
program and falsified documents,” said Benjamin Mizer, acting assistant
attorney general….The Department of Justice said that over those three years
Fireman’s Fund sold and serviced crop insurance policies that were reinsured by
the U.S. Department of Agriculture for a portion of the risks. The government
alleged the company backdated policies, forged farmers’ signatures, accepted
late and altered documents, whited out dates and signatures, and signed
documents after relevant deadlines.
Early
strawberry harvest eclipses last year’s [Salinas Californian]
The
unseasonably warm weather has lit a fire under strawberry production statewide,
prompting one of Monterey County’s top crops to blow past the volume harvested
by this time last year. Data provided by the California Strawberry Commission
for the week ended March 14 show the Watsonville-Salinas district produced
342,642 flats, compared to 26,855 flats at this time last year – more than a
12-fold increase….“We’re way ahead,” said Carolyn O’Donnell, communications
director for the Strawberry Commission. “The warm weather and lack of rain is
resulting in Santa Maria and Watsonville to begin early.”…There has been no
reports of labor shortages yet, O’Donnell said. Last year growers reported
isolated spots of short labor.
Editorial: Pricing will solve
California's water crisis [Orange County Register]
California’s
drought strategy – public awareness campaigns, rationing and fines for
noncompliance – is having little effect, but there is one simple measure that
would help deal with the water scarcity….Rising prices would encourage
conservation much more effectively than public awareness campaigns, and would
do so without government agencies spying on people and without the fear of the
cantankerous or busybody neighbor tattling on someone to enforce $500 fines. A
freer market for water would much more efficiently allocate this precious
resource, and perhaps prompt people to decide that water-intensive rice
farming, for example, is not best-suited to California’s climate.
Opinion: Confusion sets in
over ground water law [Salinas Californian]
It’s
beginning to look like the hosannas that greeted California’s first groundwater
regulation law were a tad premature when it passed late last summer….The new
law’s rules sounded just fine – until someone happened to look at the time
limits….The timetable needs to be cut from 30 years down to no more than five.
There must be a mechanism to create new groundwater agencies if existing
districts can’t resolve disputes. And there needs to be far more reliable
information on the exact amount of water in each basin. Failure to do any of
these things will surely produce a far more severe disaster than the current
drought – unless Mother Nature intervenes with several years of much heavier
rain and snow than California has seen in decades.
Ag
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