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Napa County Passes Contentious Water And Tree Protection Provision

/in , /by /Forbesby Liza B. Zimmerman

After close to a year of non-stop debate about how to protect agriculture and support commerce, the Napa County Board of Supervisors (BOS) passed the final ordinance on Water Quality and Tree Protection last Tuesday April 9th. It was adopted by a vote of 5-0, with provisions for it to take effect in 30 days. Brad Wagenknecht, a supervisor at the Napa Valley BOS, shares in a recent interview that, “the Board has worked on this for such a long time.” He adds that, as a result, “I think you will be able to recognize the Napa Valley in 50 years.”

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What State Has The Greatest Percentage Of Beginning Farmers?

/in , /by /Farm Progress (St. Charles, Ill.)

The 2017 Census of Agriculture was released April 11. Here’s a few findings from the report. Alaska ranks first in the percent of producers who are beginning farmers, followed by Georgia and Maine. Beginning farmers have 10 or fewer years of farming experience. In 2017, 27% of all U.S. producers classified as beginning farmers. Their average age was 46.3, and their farms were smaller than average in both acres and sales. The average age of all U.S. producers in 2017 was 57.5 years, up 1.2 years from 2012, when the last Census was conducted. This continues a long-term trend. Producers had been on their current farm an average of 21.3 years. On average, producers are older in southern states and younger in Midwestern states.

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David Bernhardt Confirmed As Interior Secretary Despite Ethics Concerns

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Anna M. Phillips and Bettina Boxall

David Bernhardt, President Trump’s pick to the lead the Interior Department, was confirmed by the Senate on Thursday amid persistent ethical concerns and doubts about his independence from the energy and water industry groups he long represented as a lobbyist. Senators voted 56-41 in favor of Bernhardt’s confirmation. Several Democrats crossed party lines to support the nominee, including Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico. Sen. Angus King of Maine, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, also voted for confirmation.

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$250 PG&E Bill: Utility’s Customers Will Pay 50 Percent More If Wildfires Erupt Again, Report Warns

/in , /by /The Mercury News (San Jose)by George Avalos

PG&E bills would rocket 50 percent higher if wildfire disasters caused by the embattled utility descend on northern or central California again, according to a report that’s being circulated in Sacramento ahead of a crucial announcement Friday by Gov. Gavin Newsom. An array of catastrophes loom if state officials fail to find a fix for California’s utility-caused wildfire woes, according to the report from Steven Weissman, a lecturer with UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy. “Rates would skyrocket, on average by 50 percent in the first year, to keep up with new fires,” Weissman wrote in his report to the governor’s office. “It’s simple math.”

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Drought Is Not Just About Water. It Affects Air Pollution, Too

/in , /by /Science Magazine (Washington D.C.)by Jason Plautz

The severe drought that struck California from 2011 to 2015 had an obvious impact on rivers, forests, and wildlife. Now, a new study shows it also had some surprising effects on the state’s notorious air pollution, adding new wrinkles to the state’s efforts to clear the skies. Researchers have long known that plants can both help create and cleanse one dangerous air pollutant: ground-level ozone, which causes breathing problems and exacerbates lung damage. Plants can scrub ozone from the air by absorbing the pollutant through their stomata, or pores. But certain plants also emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that react with other atmospheric chemicals to create ozone.

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Balancing Native Plants With A Fire-Resistant Garden

/in , , /by /Santa Cruz Sentinelby Jackie Pascoe

During long years of drought, homeowners were urged to replace thirsty lawns with drought-tolerant plants native to California, and plants from similar Mediterranean climate zones. Now the drought is officially over, but we have another worry: wildfires. Do drought-resistant plants burn more easily? Are we left with the wrong kind of gardens? The answer is: not really. Hydration makes plants are more fire-resistant, and drought tolerant plants, especially California natives, stay hydrated with less water and hold onto it longer than plants that originate in moister places. Plants to remove or avoid are those that shed bark or are fast growing. Also, plants that have a lot of wax, resin, oils, terpenes, or fats, such as chamise, rosemary, and sagebrush.

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With An Impending Deadline, Cal Am Pushes For Desal Plant Permits Amid Changing Waterscape.

/in , /by /Monterey County Weeklyby Asaf Shalev

When you turn on a faucet on the Monterey Peninsula, you’re consuming water that’s been illegally pumped from Carmel River. Now, after more than two decades of this, scores of public officials, utility executives and citizen advocates are working – and sometimes fighting – to replace the region’s water supply before state-mandated sanctions kick in. California American Water is forging ahead with its plan: a desalination plant near Marina. But operating a desal plant is energy intensive and the construction itself will cost about $329 million. Spread across Cal Am’s local customer base of 40,000, that sum averages $8,225 per ratepayer, an expense that would be collected over the course of a few years.

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Full Allocations Hard To Reach Despite Storms

/in , , /by /Western FarmPress (Fresno)by Tim Hearden

Even as winter and early-spring storms have filled reservoirs to the brim and piled snow on Sierra Nevada mountaintops, state and federal officials say they’re limited in how much water they can send south of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. California’s lead water agency on March 20 set anticipated deliveries to contractors at 70 percent of requested supplies. The Department of Water Resources’ (DWR) update came a few days after the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced that agricultural operations north of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta will receive their full supplies while south-of-Delta ag contractors will receive 55 percent.

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DWR Stops Releases From Oroville Dam Spillway

/in , /by /Chico Enterprise-Record

The state Department of Water Resources stopped releases from the Oroville Dam spillway on Wednesday because of forecasts showing upcoming dry weather. The department said releases were halted at 1 p.m. on Wednesday. Outflows from the newly reconstructed spillway started at 8,300 cubic-feet per second, or cfs, on April 2 and peaked at 25,000 cfs on April 7. “Releases over the past 10 days have provided adequate space in the reservoir to help provide flood protection,” said Erin Mellon, assistant director of public affairs, in a written statement.

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Upgrading California’s Water Grid For Future Needs

/in , /by /AgNet West (Fresno)by Brian German

Lawmakers recently heard testimony about the needs of California’s water grid at a recent House Subcommittee meeting on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife.  Several experts presented information about the current conditions of western water infrastructure and what will be required going forward. “One of the first priorities is to really think about groundwater as a more active part of this grid; manage it more intensively and actively.  The second piece is fix what’s broken and expand capacity where it’s needed,” Director of the Water Policy Center at the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC), Ellen Hanak told the committee.

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