The San Joaquin Valley has received a specially addressed message from the Union of Concerned Scientists about what it thinks people across the region should be doing about looming water shortages, worsening air quality and generally more volatile weather in the years ahead.
After years of efforts to provide needed repairs of the Friant-Kern Canal, the first stage of those repairs is on the verge of finally happening.
And the repairs will be done to the canal in Southeastern Tulare County.
On Wednesday, the Bureau of Reclamation signed a record of decision to advance construction to repair a portion of the Friant-Kern Canal. The decision gives final approval on the required environmental reviews for the first phase of repairs to the canal.
The COVID-19 pandemic prompted a record number of people to try gardening for the first time this year. Many of them were concerned about possible shortages and had a desire to avoid shopping and crowds.
For others, a home garden has always been part of their yearly routines.
President Donald Trump recently signed into law a bill to reauthorize the Nutria Eradication and Control Act of 2003. The bill will provide federal assistance for states dealing with nutria issues. California is among the states that will receive federal support under the bill. The legislation was authored by Representative Josh Harder who introduced the bill in June of 2019. Federal funding for addressing nutria has been established at up to $12 million per year under the bill.
San Diego County agriculture is well-known for citrus and avocados. Kyle Rosa is counting on coffee joining this list. Rosa, owner of Bluetail Coffee Grove, started growing coffee on a 2.5-acre farm in San Marcos last year. After 15 years in the finance industry, Rosa and his wife moved from San Francisco to start their new venture. The new farmer quickly turned to the Vallecitos Water District for help establishing smart water use and efficient systems to irrigate his six different specific types of coffee.
The Friant-Kern Canal has received the approval from the federal government to fix a sag in the canal.
The Bureau of Reclamation gave its approval Tuesday – signing a Record of Decision giving environmental clearance for the project – following action from the Trump administration to invest about $5 million to study and begin pre-construction work on the canal.
Water districts races in the Coachella Valley on the Nov. 3 ballot saw all their incumbents holding onto leads by Wednesday afternoon, but Imperial Irrigation District’s board of directors appeared to be headed for a board shakeup.
Tension is growing between politicians claiming to be “climate leaders”; those who say that enacted policies are too little, too late; and industry sectors lobbying to maintain the status quo. Environmental activists are pushing hard against the fossil fuel industry and commercial agriculture — two sectors that helped build Ventura County but are now being put under the spotlight for activities that contribute to global warming.
A 340-acre landfill facility in Richmond, Calif., is releasing contaminated stormwater contaminated into nearby waters in violation of its federal water pollution permit, a conservation group says in a lawsuit filed in federal court. The West Contra Costa Sanitary Landfill has consistently released stormwater and non-stormwater containing high levels of iron, aluminum, and a high pH, according to the suit.
A declaration suit filed in Superior Court in Sacramento by attorneys for some of the leading environmental groups in America accuses the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) of trying to prevent anyone in California from filing a court action challenging the bonds after the bond sales are underway. Referring to the DWR’s court filing in August, the environmental groups’ Oct. 29 suit says it amounts to the DWR writing a “blank check” to finance the project.
