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Many San Diego County Farmers Excluded from Federal COVID-19 Relief Funds

/in , , /by /inewsourceby Camille von Kaenel

Farmers who grow San Diego County’s most valuable crops may miss out on federal cash for coronavirus-related losses because some of their agriculture products — primarily flowers, nursery plants and exotic fruits — are not included in the relief program.

The growers are pushing to get their specialty crops added to the government’s eligible list, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture appears willing to hear them out. It has asked for more information on nursery plants and cut flowers, and given the farmers a deadline of today to provide more data on their losses.

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A Proud California Dairy Farmer Battles for Survival in Wildly Uncertain Times

/in , , /by /InsideClimate Newsby Evelyn Nieves

After 67 years of living and breathing dairy farming in California’s San Joaquin Valley, Scott Magneson cannot, will not, stop.

Every morning before dawn, when the valley fog is still resting on his fields in thick clouds, he checks the barns. Then he starts on the to-do list, which outlasts the day. In another farm tradition, Magneson rarely leaves his land. He can’t remember the last time he and his wife Pat (who does the bookkeeping) took a vacation.

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Water Sector asks Senate for Aid in Next Relief Package

/in , , /by /Water Finance & Management

The Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies and National Association of Clean Water Agencies, two organizations representing municipally-owned utilities, recently asked Senate leaders to include public sector aid in the next round of COVID-19 relief legislation.

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SB-625 Fallout Continues: Metropolitan Water District Warns of Incompatible Office

/in , /by /Cerritos Community Newsby Brian Hews

Hews Media Group has obtained a letter from Metropolitan Water District of Southern California General Manager Jeffrey Kightlinger addressed to California State Senator Sam Bradford (D-Carson) outlining MWD’s position on Bradford’s SB-625, the bill he co-sponsored with Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia that would put Commerce-based Central Basin Municipal Water into receivership and dissolve the board of directors, five of which are elected.

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Federal Judge Considers States’ Bid to Block Trump Water Rule

/in , , /by /Bloomberg Lawby Alexandra Yetter and Ellen M. Gilmer

A California federal judge is weighing whether to block the Trump administration’s controversial water rule, as requested by more than a dozen states suing over the regulation.

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California spent three hours Thursday hearing arguments on whether to halt the Navigable Waters Protection Rule from taking effect on June 22, as planned.

A preliminary injunction will “prevent widespread harm to national water quality, and disruption” to water pollution control in cities and states while the claim is litigated, the 17-state coalition led by California and New York argued in a motion filed last month.

The rule “seriously undermines water quality and seriously is contrary” to the Clean Water Act, New York attorney Timothy L. Hoffman, representing the coalition, told Judge Richard Seeborg.

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Study Suggests Extreme Weather Conditions in California are a Result of Atmospheric Rivers

/in , , /by /KUSI San Diegoby Ginger Jeffries

California spent 376 weeks in a drought, from December of 2011 until March of 2019.  That’s the longest duration of drought we’ve ever seen here in the Golden State. Now a study by Scripps Institution of Oceanography suggests wet and dry extremes in California are likely the result of severe storms called Atmospheric Rivers.

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Trump Administration Will Not Regulate Rocket Fuel Chemical in Drinking Water

/in , , /by /The Guardianby Emily Holden

US environmental regulators have decided they will not put restrictions on perchlorate – a rocket fuel ingredient known to harm fetal brain development – in drinking water. The Environmental Protection Agency argued that the federal government, states and public water systems have already taken proactive steps to reduce perchlorate levels.

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Opinion: California Can Lead the World to a More Sustainable Agriculture Industry

/in , , /by /Cal Mattersby Steve Shimek

As a biologist and environmental advocate, even before the pandemic, I was scared by the headlines about our planet:  A 75% decline in insect biomass with a 40% loss of insect species predicted; a United Nations warning of the imminent extinction of 1 million species worldwide; a 3 billion loss of birds in United States and Canada over the past half-century; the growth of dead zones on our coasts and the decline in the oxygen held by the world’s oceans.  Climate change will only worsen these environmental problems.

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U.S. House Democrats Unveil $1.5 Trillion Infrastructure Plan

/in , , /by /Reutersby Richard Cowan

U.S. House of Representatives Democrats on Thursday unveiled a $1.5 trillion infrastructure bill that they will seek to pass in coming weeks, arguing it has been made more urgent by the coronavirus pandemic.

The legislation would spur construction or improvements f roads, bridges, ports, clean energy, schools and other projects that experts say have long been neglected. It comes at a time when the United States is in desperate need of new jobs amid an economic downturn sparked by the coronavirus.

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California and EPA Tussle Over Water-Quality Protections

/in , , /by /Courthouse News Serviceby Matthew Renda

Attorneys for 18 states and two major cities were in federal court Thursday asking a judge to grant a preliminary injunction that would prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from removing protections from temporary streams, wetlands and other minor water bodies.

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