Editor’s note: This opinion piece was first published Dec. 1 in The Bakersfield Californian. Reprinted with permission. For decades, California has been paralyzed, prevented from securing an adequate water supply by endless debate, red tape and litigation over where, how, and even if the state should create more water supply infrastructure. In the last ...
As we close out the year and come together at the Western Growers Annual Meeting to celebrate all that our industry provides, endures and surmounts, I find myself reflecting a bit more than usual about the foundational strength of this association: Its board of directors. Naturally, anyone in my position should think a lot about ...
A trio of water issues has come to a head, sparking both congressional intervention and legal action in the fight for water in California. First, the State Water Contractors (SWC) filed a complaint today with the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) asking it to issue orders preventing water diverters in the Delta south of ...
Western Growers’ Executive Vice President Dave Puglia was recently among a panel of water and government experts who discussed the types of legislative approaches that could help resolve California’s water woes. The discussion took place during the Public Policy Institute of California Water Policy Center’s “Priorities for California’s Water” program on October 26. During the ...
The California Water Commission last week reviewed and finalized determinations of eligibility among 11 water storage projects competing for $2.7 billion in bond funds authorized by voters in 2014. WG submitted comments in August 2017 to the Commission in support of both the Sites Reservoir and Temperance Flat Reservoir projects and testified in support of these projects ...
California Governor Jerry Brown, Legislative leadership and a bipartisan group of legislators last week dropped the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund as part of this year’s budget bill, but indicated that they will continue work on it through the summer. According to the Governor’s Department of Finance spokesperson H.D. Palmer, “The Legislature has indicated ...
This coming November, California voters will have the opportunity to support Proposition 3, a measure that would invest $8.877 billion in water infrastructure and programs throughout the state. Prop 3, called the Water Supply and Water Quality Act of 2018, would provide funds to address a host of California’s critical water priorities, including safe drinking ...
All Farm Service Agency (FSA) offices nationwide will soon reopen and offer a longer list of services to farmers and ranchers during the lapse in federal funding. The announcement was made today by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue in a U.S. Department of Agriculture press release. Beginning Thursday, January 24th, FSA offices will be ...
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Bureau) released its 2019 initial water supply allocation yesterday, announcing that Central Valley Project (CVP) contractors south of the Delta will receive only 35 percent, subject to adjustment as the water year progresses. According to the Bureau press release, the allocation is based on a conservative estimate of the amount ...
Last Friday, the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) and the Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) took steps towards providing greater long-term certainty to water users by submitting documents to the State Water Resources Control Board outlining potential voluntary agreements to support environmental objectives while protecting water supply reliability. Available on the California…
Yesterday, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced that Val Dolcini has been appointed as Deputy Secretary for Agriculture at the California Environmental Protection Agency. Dolcini was administrator for the Farm Service Agency at the U.S. Department of Agriculture from 2014 to 2017, where he was also state executive director for California. According to Newsom’s press release, Dolcini…
Assemblyman Adam Gray recently wrote a column in the Merced Sun-Star calling out the California State Water Board’s inability to act in good faith on voluntary agreements. In part, Gray writes, “When the State Water Resources Control Board voted in December to adopt the Bay-Delta Plan, its members ignored the direction of former Governor Brown ...
The Bureau of Reclamation announced yesterday that due to this year’s heavy precipitation, Central Valley Project South-of-Delta agricultural water allocations have been increased to 65% of their contract total, up from 55%. South-of-Delta allocations for municipal and industrial contractors are increased to 90%. While the allocation increase is welcome, logically farmers should be receiving…
With the Newsom Administration pledging to sue the U.S. Department of Interior over the latter’s proposed revisions to rules governing water operations in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, Senator Dianne Feinstein today urged the Governor and Interior Secretary David Bernhardt to “make every effort” to find agreement and avoid legal conflict. In a letter to Newsom ...
Dear WG Members, There is a flood of information – and misinformation – pouring in related to SARS CoV 2 (the virus) and COV 19 (the disease). Western Growers has a full team of staff experts sifting and sorting through this information to find what is useful for our grower and handler members, but this ...
The United Farm Workers’ legislation to change the way workers vote in union elections is portrayed as simply a “vote by mail” or “vote from home” reform of the current process in which union elections occur at the workers’ place of employment under the watchful eyes of independent state regulators. In fact, AB 2183 would ...
The U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) has declined to consider appeals that challenge water export restrictions in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The restrictions, implemented in accordance with the Endangered Species Act, were set forth in 2008 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). On Friday, the Court let stand two rulings by the 9th Circuit ...
Following a request submitted by the Bureau of Reclamation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) approved an increase in the “take levels” for Delta smelt in the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta. The unexpected decision implements a modified, interim version of the Reasonable and Prudent Alternative of the 2008 USFWS Biological Opinion (BO) for operation ...
Yesterday, the State Water Resources Control Board (Water Board) rejected a proposal by the California Department of Water Resources and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation that would have allowed limited increases in export pumping from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta under certain conditions. The rejected plan had the support of the California Department of Fish and ...
A bipartisan, bicameral group of legislators has sent a letter to the California State Water Resources Control Board (Board) requesting that it reverse a recent decision by staff to block moderate pumping increases in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta under certain conditions. The letter, sent to the Board’s Chair, Felicia Marcus, was signed by Majority Leader ...