Valley water districts want more water. Federal agency says that can’t happen. Here’s why [Fresno Bee]
The federal agency that serves as the nation’s largest supplier of water announced Tuesday that there will be reduced water shipments for the central San Joaquin Valley in 2020 – a decision the Bureau of Reclamation said was informed by extra-dry conditions. Agricultural water service contractors of the Central Valley Project south of the Delta were told they will receive 15% of their contract supply in the initial 2020 allocation….Westlands Water District in western Fresno and Kings counties, which describes itself as the nation’s largest ag water district, wishes the bureau’s allocation was larger. Still, compared to other dry years, a 15% allocation in February is “good news,” officials said.
https://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/water-and-drought/article240623637.html
Appeals court rejects Kern’s oil permitting system [Bakersfield Californian]
In a major legal defeat for Kern’s oil industry, an appeals court on Tuesday struck down the county’s landmark zoning ordinance that in 2015 turned local oil permitting into a streamlined process all but immune from environmental challenges. California’s Fifth District Court of Appeals, ruling on a long-running lawsuit brought by local almond farmers and environmental groups, faulted the county’s analysis of the ordinance. It called the review a violation of the California Environmental Quality Act and said the county failed to provide adequate protection from the ordinance’s impacts.
Ag working out impact of AB5 [Foothill Sun-Gazette, Exeter]
…California businesses are figuring out how to operate under the new employment standards, including those in the agriculture industry. Growers in particular rely on contracts for different services, such as labor contractors, irrigation specialists, pest control advisors, etc. “I don’t think anyone really knows what the full implications are for AB 5,” said Bryan Little, the director of employment policy for the California Farm Bureau Federation. “The new test is a very narrow and specific fit that complicates how someone can do business.”
https://thesungazette.com/article/business/2020/02/26/ag-working-out-impact-of-ab5/
A Mexican exodus is helping shrink the undocumented population [New York Times]
…The pair are among a growing number of Mexicans who have been departing the United States in recent years, part of a reverse migration that has helped push the undocumented population to its lowest level in more than 15 years. New data that will be released on Wednesday by the Center for Migration Studies shows there were 10.6 million immigrants living unlawfully in the United States in 2018 compared with 11.75 million in 2010, a decline propelled primarily by Mexicans returning south….The center’s estimates show that the overall number of undocumented people has dropped precipitously in California, New York and New Jersey, states that for decades have been magnets for unauthorized workers and that, in recent years, have introduced sanctuary policies to protect them.
Fresno County declares emergency as cow carcasses pile up. Plant to temporarily close [Fresno Bee]
A large rendering plant in Fresno County — known to dispose of cattle and other carcasses — has a problem with some of its equipment, leading to what county officials described as a “local emergency” Tuesday….The rendering plant, which is the only one of its size in the central San Joaquin Valley, must shutdown for about a week to fix the equipment. While it’s down, cattle that die on farms will not be picked up or rendered, officials said.
https://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/article240632137.html
Record-dry February in Sonoma County is cause for concern, fire authorities say [Santa Rosa Press Democrat]
A bone-dry February is about to go into the local record books, punctuating the rising unease among residents and fire officials over the specter of renewed drought and an early fire season that could lead to calamitous conditions come fall. No measurable rain has fallen — or is expected — this month in Sonoma County, marking the first time in more than a century that February has delivered zero precipitation in Santa Rosa, where records go back to 1902….A dry winter means brush and timber that provide “heavy fuel” for wildfires are deprived of the usual seasonal soaking and prematurely become ready burn, said Paul Lowenthal, Santa Rosa’s fire marshal.
https://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/10746622-181/record-dry-february-in-sonoma-county
