California drought enters dangerous territory. What’s ahead for fish, farms and cities [Sacramento Bee]
In just a few weeks, California’s water conditions have gone from bad to terrible. … The State Water Project is limiting deliveries to 5% of what’s been contracted, and the Central Valley Project told most farmers Wednesday they’ll get nothing this year. Separately, the State Water Resources Control Board in June plans to cut off approximately 2,900 farmers and others with so-called junior water rights, prohibiting them from drawing water from rivers and streams. Thousands of other rights holders could lose their water supplies as well later this year. The results could be devastating for California’s $50 billion-a-year agricultural industry.
https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/water-and-drought/article251654333.html
State tells hundreds of landowners in Sonoma, Mendocino counties to halt Russian River water diversions [Santa Rosa Press Democrat]
State regulators have begun notifying more than 900 landowners in Sonoma and Mendocino counties that they must cease taking water from the upper Russian River, where drought-parched flows are unable to sustain those diversions for irrigation and household use, according to the state. … With the prospect of little or no water available to many growers in the critical summer months, some vineyard owners were contemplating drastic action, including removing a large volume of grape clusters so all available liquid and energy could go into a partial crop or pruning off the canes altogether and forgoing a harvest this year in hopes of keeping the vines alive.
Central Coast farmworkers share concerns about drought [KION TV, Monterey/Salinas]
… “We need good water, and we need plenty of water,” said Richard Bianchi. … Bianchi is the farm manager in one of the Sabor Farm ranches in Hollister. There is a maximum amount of groundwater that could be used and the quality of groundwater in certain areas is not optimal for vegetables because of minerals or salts, he said. “Then you’re gonna have to look to other areas, you’re gonna have to change what you’re growing, you’re maybe not going to be able to grow a lettuce or something that cannot handle a certain type of water, you’re gonna have to pivot,” said Bianchi.
https://kion546.com/news/2021/05/26/california-drought-affects-central-coast-farmworkers/
Northern California winemakers embrace fire fighting in early wildfire season [Bay Area News Group]
… Following the wildfires that have ravaged wine country every year since, wine professionals in Napa and Sonoma are learning how to prevent and fight fires by acquiring not only training, but their own equipment, including fire trucks. They’ve even tried to rent single-engine, water-scooping Fire Boss planes to snuff a blaze as soon as it starts. … In response, the Sonoma County Winegrowers and Sonoma County Farm Bureau offered a five-hour course on fire safety training to its land stewards in 2020. … A primary focus of the CWPP efforts is fuel reduction, something vintners and growers across these valleys are also prioritizing.
Bayer to rethink Roundup formula for U.S. consumers [Wall Street Journal]
Bayer AG said it will evaluate whether to continue using the active ingredient in its popular Roundup weedkiller in the residential U.S. market, in the wake of a court setback Wednesday in the company’s efforts to limit future liability over whether the product causes cancer. … The company also said it would rethink selling glyphosate-based products to the U.S. residential market but not to professional or agricultural users. The bulk of the lawsuits, it said, have come from U.S. residential consumers.
Farm bureau chief, former Star columnist John Krist to retire [Ventura County Star]
The CEO of the Farm Bureau of Ventura County has decided to retire in February, ending 14 years with the organization that advocates for hundreds of local farmers and ranchers and the agricultural industry. John Krist, 63, of Ojai, said he decided to step down because he’s ready for a phase of his life that involves less stress and fewer deadlines. … He said a high point in his tenure was helping people in the citrus industry address the threat of the Asian citrus psyllid, an insect that spreads a disease that kills citrus trees. The farm bureau mobilized the industry and mounted a public campaign to keep the number of pests at low levels, he said.
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