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California Wineries, Fearing Recession, Cut Grape Output. Farmers Are Worried

Paul Johnson farms 450 acres of wine grapes in Monterey County for his family’s Johnson Vineyard Co. Normally, a range of local wineries, under multiyear contracts, buy his Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes. But after last year’s harvest, Johnson began to worry when no winery clients renewed their contracts.

Trump Administration Opens California to New Oil Drilling; Possibly Bay Area, Too

The Trump administration’s latest effort to dramatically boost oil and gas production is landing in California, with the Interior Department on Friday opening up 720,000 acres between the Bay Area and Fresno to potential drilling.

The move gives an immediate go-ahead to 14 drilling leases in San Benito, Monterey and Fresno counties, mostly projects near existing drill sites, projects that have been pursued for years by fossil fuel companies looking to expand.

California Must Defend Its Environmental Protection Laws

The governor of California delivered a blow to the environmental community recently by vetoing a bill that would have ensured that laws protecting water, as well as air, climate, worker safety and endangered species, could not be weakened by future federal government rollbacks.

At Orange County Coastkeeper, we are disappointed that Gov. Gavin Newsom chose to veto SB 1 because of pressure from water interests, particularly in the San Joaquin Valley.

Protecting California’s Clean Waters

Water is life. It is essential to the survival of all living things and has been at the center of my work for over three decades as a public servant. I did not select this cause arbitrarily, but because our communities were suffering, and no one was speaking out about safe, clean water supplies for residents of the San Gabriel Valley and greater east Los Angeles County.

The Next Big California vs. Trump Fight is Over Water and Endangered Species

Just how far will Gov. Gavin Newsom go in his high-profile fight with the Trump administration over environmental protections?

The next few months will provide an answer, as Newsom is forced to take a stand on Trump rollbacks in a long-contested battleground — the Northern California delta that helps supply more than half the state’s population with drinking water and fills irrigation canals on millions of acres of farmland.

Coronado Represented On the San Diego Chamber’s Mission to DC 2019

It was an honor to join over 160 business and political leaders from the San Diego Region for the 2019 Mission to DC. Sponsored by the San Diego Chamber, I was able to attend meetings with the EPA, State Department and several congress members as well as network with area leaders.

San Diego Takes Steps to Boost Accuracy of Water Bills After Public Outcry

San Diego took several steps this week to boost the accuracy of water bills, improve customer satisfaction and speed up the installation of digital “smart” meters.

The changes come after public outcry in 2017 and 2018 over exorbitant water bills received by many customers which city officials blamed on faulty meters, employee errors and mismanagement in the Public Utilities Department.

Riverside County LAFCO Conveys FPUD/Rainbow Reorganization to San Diego LAFCO

The potential reorganization in which the Fallbrook Public Utility District and the Rainbow Municipal Water District would detach from the San Diego County Water Authority and become part of the Eastern Municipal Water District will require approval from San Diego County’s Local Agency Formation Commission, but Riverside County’s LAFCO has agreed to let the process be conducted entirely by San Diego County’s LAFCO.

Stored Water Provides Strong Start to Water Year 2020

A year ago, at the start of Water Year (WY) 2019 water storage in the State Water Project’s (SWP) largest reservoir, Lake Oroville, was at just 62 percent of average. Although many of the state’s other large reservoirs were posting better averages, water managers and state and federal agency staff were concerned that California may be headed into another drought.

Whereas the next California drought is not a matter of “if” but rather “when,” the concerns of a year ago have been put to rest for the short-term. California began its WY 2020 on Tuesday with significantly more water in storage than the previous year thanks to above-average snow and precipitation.