Farmers got a government bailout in 2020, even those who didn’t need it [NPR]
… The $46 billion in direct government payments to farmers in 2020 broke the previous annual record by about $10 billion, even after accounting for inflation. … Yet as the flood of money continued through the summer and fall, most farmers’ economic worries were receding. … Farmers didn’t have to prove that they needed help in order to qualify for subsidies. They simply got paid based on their previous production of grain or pigs or cattle. The more crops they grew, the more government money they got, up to a cap of $250,000 per person.
A remarkable high-desert bird may go extinct in California. What must die to save it [Sacramento Bee]
… Invasive grass and fires aren’t the only threat to the grouse. Development, overgrown forests and a warming climate have collided with bureaucratic vapor-lock, litigation and a political fight over livestock grazing and fossil fuels extraction in the West. … The Byrne family says the government has severely curtailed access to their family grazing land over the decades. … For Mike Byrne, helping restore the birds’ habitat amounts to enlightened self-interest. … Much of their efforts in Modoc County have revolved around removing thousands of junipers, the evergreen trees that are common on the edges of high deserts.
https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/article247379964.html
Dismal California snowpack is bad sign for water supplies [San Francisco Chronicle]
… The snowpack in the Sierra and southern Cascades, which provides as much as a third of the water used by California cities and farms, is about 55% of average for this time of year. … Two more historically wet months lie ahead, and a few big storms could start to rebuild the snowpack. But the bleak December picture, on top of last year’s dry winter, is renewing concerns about drought and prompting water agencies to begin calling for people to conserve more. … The missing wet fronts in autumn also have contributed to California’s record wildfire seasons.
Sites awarded $13.7 million in federal budget bill [The Appeal-Democrat, Marysville]
The federal government, in its 2021 federal spending bill, awarded $13.7 million to the Sites Reservoir project. The money was authorized through the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Act. Following the latest allocation, Congress has now appropriated roughly $23.7 million in WIIN Act funding to the Bureau of Reclamation for Sites Reservoir.
Trump signs spending bill that could send millions of dollars to the Salton Sea [Palm Springs Desert Sun]
… Tucked in the 5,593-page-long law, courtesy of Southern California Democrats, are provisions that hold the potential to unlock millions of dollars of new federal spending to address the Salton Sea. The bill notably modifies the Water Resources Development Act by authorizing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to expedite a study on the feasibility of constructing a perimeter lake around the Salton Sea. … The law also includes more than $150 million for the Army Corps to carry out such studies on water issues at the Salton Sea and elsewhere.
Santa Cruz County food bank doubles service amid pandemic [Santa Cruz Sentinel]
It has been a tough year economically throughout 2020 with unemployment skyrocketing in the spring due to the coronavirus pandemic, which forced many families to resort to food banks and food stamps for the first time. … “Our services have doubled since basically February,” said Suzanne Willis, chief development officer at Second Harvest Food Bank Santa Cruz County. … Families in Santa Cruz County have been hit especially hard between the pandemic and the CZU August Lightning Complex fire.
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