Northern California farmers bracing for drastic water restrictions [CBS 13, Sacramento]
Farmers are facing a water shortage right as we head into peak growing season. It’s hitting their bottom line — and potentially yours. Solano County farmer Spencer Bei shows us one of the wells his family uses to farm 15,000 acres. He says he is losing pressure now as he is pumping because he is pulling more from the aquifer due to a lack of surface water and no rain in sight. He is one of many farmers feeling the heat after the State Water Resources Board sent out letters to 4,300 water-right holders saying there was no longer enough water for them and that the remaining 2,300 with pre-1914 riparian rights could see even more restrictions soon. Those so-called senior water-right holders typically are not impacted.
Northern California Farmers Bracing For Drastic Water Restrictions – CBS Sacramento (cbslocal.com)
Pesticide study renews conflict between growers, environmental justice groups [Bakersfield Californian]
Controversy has again soured relations between local growers and environmental-justice activists, this time over concerns related to a three-county study of pesticides’ effects on rural air quality. Central Valley agricultural officials have accused activist groups of planning to skew the research by sending individuals equipped with air-monitoring equipment into areas being treated with harmful chemicals….The executive director of the Kern County Farm Bureau, Romeo Agbalog, said by email Tuesday farmers’ concerns about potential trespassing are understandable in light of a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling affirming ag producers’ property rights. He said he appreciated Fankhauser’s recent advisory and questioned where the UC Davis study is leading. “Farmers … work to produce the world’s food supply under one of the most highly regulated environments in the country, and as such it’s reasonable for us (to) wonder the intent of the study and if more regulations will result thereof,” Agbalog wrote.
‘Scary’: Fuel shortage could ground firefighting aircraft [Associated Press]
Airport officials facing jet fuel shortages are concerned they’ll have to wave off planes and helicopters that drop fire retardants during what could be a ferocious wildfire season, potentially endangering surrounding communities….“We haven’t run into that before,” said Jessica Gardetto, a National Interagency Fire Center spokeswoman in Boise, Idaho, and a former wildland firefighter. “It’s a scary thought, with all the shortages going on right now.”…Jeff Cyphers of Stockton, California-based Humboldt Pacific LCC, said he’s expanding the company’s fleet of 20 jet fuel tanker trucks to transport fuel to West Coast states and, during the wildfire season, Idaho, Montana and Utah. He said there’s currently both a shortage of drivers as well as jet fuel to deliver. “The supply chain right now is probably the most fragile I’ve ever seen in my years of experience,” said Cyphers, who has been in the industry since 1986.
‘Scary’: Fuel shortage could ground firefighting aircraft (apnews.com)
As Western wildfires rage, region to remain ‘tragically dry’ for at least a week. In Oregon, a blaze may burn until fall. [USA Today]
Thousands of firefighters battling scores of Western wildfires were finding little solace in the weather Wednesday, and afternoon wind gusts were forecast to fan blazes already fueled by near-record heat and drought conditions….The fire in the Fremont-Winema National Forest was burning through an area where the Klamath Tribes have lived for hundreds of years. Don Gentry, the chairman of the Klamath Tribal Council in Chiloquin, Oregon, about 25 miles west of the Bootleg Fire, said many deer and other wildlife have perished. “There is definitely extensive damage to the forest where we have our treaty rights,” said Don Gentry, the chairman of the Klamath Tribal Council in Chiloquin, Oregon, about 25 miles west of the Bootleg Fire. “We are definitely concerned. I know there are cultural resource areas and sensitive areas that … the fire is going through.”
Commentary: Californians will adapt to living with drought, as we always have [CalMatters]
Climate change is exacerbating droughts and accelerating the transformation and decline of California’s native forest and aquatic ecosystems. As a state, we are poorly organized to manage these effects, which need extensive focused preparation. We need to adapt (and we will make mistakes in doing so). Our human, economic and environmental losses will be much greater, however, if we manage poorly because of delay, complacency or panic….Here’s what we can do better to prepare for (but not eliminate losses from) droughts to come: Support local effective implementation of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (passed during the previous drought) to eliminate long-term overdraft of our aquifers, which will help sustain farms and rural communities. This will require retiring much lower-valued agricultural land in the San Joaquin Valley to allow groundwater to recover between droughts. Relying on spring runoff to recharge aquifers will be woefully insufficient.
Californians will adapt to living with drought, as we always have | CalMatters
‘Hawk-pocalypse’: Sick, disoriented baby hawks jumping out of nests in California [Redding Record Searchlight]
The extreme heat and drought gripping parts of the western U.S. for weeks is having a devastating effect on wildlife important to California’s ecosystem. Countless baby birds of prey suffering from heatstroke and dehydration are falling or jumping out of nests to escape the baking sun. Smoke from wildfires is compounding the problem. “I’ve dubbed this season Hawk-pocalypse,” said Jeanne “Raven” Capozzo at Shasta Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation, a non-profit about 12 miles south of Redding. High temperatures arrived early this summer, affecting raptors when they’re young and unable to find water and shade on their own. Shasta Wildlife is one of several California animal rescues seeing as many as ten times the usual number of raptor babies in areas where temperatures rose above 100 degrees in June and July.
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