California voters OK’d billions for water projects. Where are the new dams, reservoirs? [Sacramento Bee]
It doesn’t look like much now, a dry and dusty valley surrounded by the modest mountains of California’s Coast Range. These barren, brown hills an hour northwest of Sacramento will be the future home of Sites Reservoir, one of the few major water projects to be built in California since the 1970s. California taxpayers are helping pay for Sites, which would hold more water than Folsom Lake, through a $7.1 billion bond they approved during the 2014 election….“If Sites were open today, we’d have nearly 1 million acre feet of water for farms, the environment, cities,” said the authority’s executive director Jerry Brown (no relation to the former governor). But here’s the thing: Sites isn’t ready to open today, tomorrow or anytime soon. Mired in red tape and struggling with rising costs, even after the project was downsized, the reservoir isn’t scheduled to begin construction until 2024 and wouldn’t begin filling until 2030. None of the major water storage projects being funded by Proposition 1, the 2014 water bond, will be able to provide short-term relief for California’s worsening water situation.They’re all still in the pre-construction phase: reviewing environmental impacts, designing dams and nailing down financing to pay for the costs the state won’t handle. “Anybody who thought we would have a new surface reservoir by now from the 2014 water bond doesn’t understand how … that kind of project happens,” said Ellen Hanak, a water expert at the Public Policy Institute of California.
https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/water-and-drought/article252514453.html
Help for homeowners in wildfire areas? California wins lawsuit over insurance coverage [Sacramento Bee]
With wildfires burning again and thousands of rural Californians losing their insurance coverage, state regulators have won a key legal battle that they believe could stabilize the fragile market for homeowners’ policies in fire-prone areas. A judge in Los Angeles ruled that Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara has the right to force the California FAIR Plan — the so-called “insurer of last resort” — to offer more expansive coverage that resembles typical homeowners’ policies. The industry-run FAIR Plan had sued the commissioner, seeking to block his order. The decision by Judge Mary Strobel in Los Angeles Superior Court comes as another difficult wildfire season grips the state….Meanwhile, as the FAIR Plan’s customer rolls grow, Lara has been negotiating with traditional insurance companies on a plan that would require them to sell coverage in fire-prone areas as long as those communities meet certain standards for safeguarding against wildfire risk. That includes “hardening” homes by retrofitting them with fire-resilient materials.
https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/fires/article252907383.html
State water board considers resolution on racial equity [Bakersfield Californian]
Racial equity may soon become a guiding principle at a powerful state agency that helps mediate water disputes and directs taxpayer investments in troubled Central Valley water systems. A draft resolution pending before the State Water Resources Control Board would condemn systemic racism, xenophobia and white supremacy while committing the agency to making racial equity, diversity, inclusion and environmental justice central to its work….Environmental justice groups have spoken in favor of the effort, saying communities of color have suffered disproportionately from a lack of clean, safe, affordable and accessible drinking water….On Monday the Kern County Farm Bureau emailed its members to notify them there’s still time to offer public comments on the draft. The notices offered no opinion about the draft, and bureau officials did not respond to repeated requests for comment Tuesday. The California Farm Bureau also did not respond to a request for comment. Neither did a few environmental justice organizations active in the Central Valley. The water board and its parent agency, the California Environmental Protection Agency, also did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday.
State water board considers resolution on racial equity | News | bakersfield.com
Agency eyes ‘right-to-repair’ rules to aid consumers, shops [Associated Press]
Americans would be freer to repair their broken cellphones, computers, videogame consoles and even tractors themselves or to use independent repair shops under changes being eyed by federal regulators that target manufacturer restrictions. Responding to a new competition directive from the Biden White House, the Federal Trade Commission is moving toward writing new rules aimed at helping small repair businesses and saving consumers money on repair costs. The five FTC commissioners took up the so-called “right to repair” issue Wednesday….Allowing consumers to make their own repairs “saves money, and it keeps electronics in use and off the scrap heap,” says Nathan Proctor, a director of U.S. Public Interest Research Group’s right-to-repair campaign. “It helps farmers keep equipment in the field and out of the dealership,” Proctor said in a recent statement. “More repair choices will protect the environment by cutting down on the amount of new electronics we make and old stuff we toss.”
Agency eyes ‘right-to-repair’ rules to aid consumers, shops (apnews.com)
Zero-emission tractors to be used at Napa, St. Helena farms, others around Bay Area [Napa Valley Register]
Seven zero-emission tractors will be deployed at Bay Area farms, a first for California. The tractors are the result of a $1 million grant to the Bay Area Air Quality Management District from the state’s Funding Agricultural Reduction Measures for Emission Reductions, or FARMER, program. The shift away from diesel-powered tractors on farms is meant to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. “The Air District is proud to take the lead in advancing clean technologies, such as zero-emission tractors, which is a significant and necessary step toward meeting our goals of reducing air quality disparities and climate impacts throughout the Bay Area,” said Jack Broadbent, executive officer of the air district. “The FARMER program is proof that clean technologies are possible in every industry.”
Monterey County agriculture value drops 11.3% in 2020 to under $4B [Monterey Herald]
Gross production value of Monterey County agriculture decreased 11.3% in 2020 under the dual challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and local wildfires. Ag leaders, however, reported some positives in the industry in 2020 such as the collaborative efforts to keep the workforce safe and healthy while continuing to provide food for American tables and beyond. Agriculture Commissioner Henry Gonzales made the announcement Tuesday at a presentation to media along with leaders in the industry where the Monterey County 2020 Crop and Livestock Report, titled Resilience in Adversity, was released. “Farming is always responding to challenges on a daily and annual basis. Of course, 2020 produced the pandemic and then the fires … it really challenged the ag industry,” said Gonzales.
Monterey County agriculture value drops 11.3% in 2020 to under $4B – Monterey Herald
Ag Today is distributed by the California Farm Bureau Marketing/Communications Division to county Farm Bureaus, California Farm Bureau directors and staff, for information purposes only; stories may not be republished without permission. Some story links may require site registration. Opinions expressed in stories, commentaries or editorials included in Ag Today do not necessarily represent the views of the California Farm Bureau. To be removed from this mailing list, reply to this message and please provide your name and email address. For more information about Ag Today, contact 916-561-5550 or news@cfbf.com.
