Agriculture
The Big Con: New Report Exposes The Real Beneficiaries Of Proposition 18
By Elanor Starmer
Food&Water Watch
The legislature reconvened on Monday with a hefty set of tasks ahead of it. Passing a budget will clearly be the most painful, but let’s not underestimate the intensity of the battle over the fate of Proposition 18, the massive water bond currently on this November’s ballot. The legislature’s decision – widely believed to be forthcoming before August 20th – on whether to postpone, scrap or leave untouched this controversial measure is actually a referendum on who should control water in California. Legislators have an opportunity to weigh in in favor of the public by voting to permanently remove the bond from the ballot.
Tribal Prayer Ceremony Held to End Suffering of Eel River
By Dan Bacher
The Eel River Prayer Ceremony and Summit, a historic 2-day event was held on the banks of the Eel River near Willits, California on July 17-18.
“We will not sit idly by," was the central message of the event, hosted by the Round Valley Tribes of Covelo and Friends of the Eel River (FOER), which drew concerned Eel River supporters from San Francisco to the Oregon border, including biologists, hydrologists, fishermen and leading environmental groups. It was the first time in 100 years, since traditional spiritual ceremonies were banned among tribal governments, where members of the Round Valley Tribes of Covelo; and their spiritual leaders and tribal dancers, guided a sacred prayer ceremony for the relief of the long-suffering Eel River.
Of Lions and Lines
Scott Morrison
The Nature Conservancy
Back when the line was drawn to separate California from Baja California, I bet few imagined how significant that border would become for wildlife. Today, the contrasts in conservation status across the U.S. – Mexico border are pretty stark.
North of the border is an extensive – albeit incomplete—network of public and private conservation lands that offers some protection for an extraordinary diversity of coastal, montane and desert species. South of the border there are only a few, isolated protected areas.
But unlike on the more intensively developed California side, there are still vast regions of northwest Baja California that are remarkably intact. The Sierra Juarez mountain range, for example, just south of San Diego County, is one of the few true wilderness areas remaining in the globally imperiled mediterranean biome of North America.
Legislative Round-Up: Heading Into The Final Stretch
By Traci Sheehan
Planning and Conservation League
The environmental community started the month of July with great optimism. During the past few weeks, the majority of the environmental and public health bills we were supporting received the votes necessary to move forward. This week marked the deadline for these bills to pass their respective policy committees.
Here's a round up of the environmental bills that will move forward just as soon as the Legislature reconvenes after July recess. These bills would advance the protection of our ecosystem, promote conservation of our natural resources and reduce waste in landfills.
Judge Wanger Affirms Flows to Protect Central Valley Salmon
By Dan Bacher
Environmentalists, fishermen and the Winnemem Wintu Tribe scored a legal victory on March 31 when a federal judge affirmed restrictions on Delta pumping to protect imperiled Central Valley salmon populations.
In a rebuke to junior water rights holders, Judge Oliver Wanger of the Eastern District of California refused to grant the Westlands Water District and its co-plaintiffs a temporary restraining order on the biological opinion of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). The opinion includes seasonal water flows required to protect Sacramento River endangered spring-run Chinook salmon and Central Valley steelhead in the California Delta, according to the Planning and Conservation League (PCL).
Snow Water Content 107% of Normal - But the "Drought" Continues?
By Dan Bacher
The snow survey conducted by the State Department of Water Resources (DWR) on March 3 indicated that water content in California’s mountain snowpack is 107 percent of normal for the date, making the state water supply outlook much better this year than it was last season. By contrast, water content statewide was 80 percent of normal at this time last year.
Amazingly, DWR is still promoting the false concept of a drought this year. "California may face a fourth year of serious drought in 2010," DWR proclaims on its "drought" page: http://www.water.ca.gov/drought.
Groups Blast Westlands Attempt to Use Aqueduct As Sewer
By Dan Bacher
Every time that you think that corporate agribusiness can't stoop any lower than they have already in their campaign to destroy imperiled fish populations and fishing jobs, they always manage to reach a new low in their race to the bottom.
In the latest surrealistic episode in the California water wars, Westlands Water District, the "Darth Vader" of California water politics, is now seeking a permit to pollute the drinking water supply for millions of Californians, according to a coalition of environmental, fishing and tribal groups.
"Westlands has proposed a project to discharge up to 100,000 acre feet of groundwater into the State Water Project California Aqueduct, a drinking water supply for approximately 20 million people," revealed Bill Jennings, executive director of the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance.
The Resnicks Manipulate Water Policy with Big Campaign Contributions
By Dan Bacher
Stewart Resnick, the Beverly Hills agribusiness tycoon who owns 115,000 acres of farmland in Kern County, appears to be putting his bets on Jerry Brown as the winner of the gubernatorial race in the November election - even though Brown hasn't officially declared himself as a candidate.
On November 11, 2009, Resnick and his wife, Lynda, the co-owner of the giant Paramount Farms and Roll Corporation, wrote four checks totalling $50,000 for the Brown campaign.
The donations that the Resnicks made to Brown to date exemplify the enormous political influence of Resnick and other water barons exert over California water politics. The Resnicks are the largest tree fruit growers in the world.
Judge Upholds Pumping Limits to Protect Delta Smelt
By Dan Bacher
Federal Judge Oliver Wanger on Wednesday denied the request by Westlands Water District and other water agencies for a temporary restraining order (TRO) on Delta pumping restrictions necessary to protect Delta smelt.
Attorneys from Earthjustice and NRDC successfully argued that a temporary restraining order (TRO) of Old and Middle River (OMR) flow restrictions would imperil the endangered Delta smelt, found only in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. OMR flows are a measure of whether the San Joaquin River is flowing towards the sea or towards the Delta pumps, where thousands and thousands of Delta smelt, longfin smelt, chinook salmon, steelhead, striped bass, threadfin shad and other fish species are killed every year.
Fresno Judge Halts Protection Plan For Winter Run Chinook
By Dan Bacher
(Fresno) Federal Judge Oliver Wanger on Friday afternoon put a temporary hold on a federal plan (biological opinion) protecting salmon from the fish-killing California Delta pumps that deliver water to corporate agribusiness and southern California.
The ruling, in place for 14 days, allows for unlimited pumping, at least unless the projects hit "take" limits for salmon killed at the pumps or until Delta smelt protections are triggered in the Delta. The ruling can be extended by the judge for 14 more days.
Westlands Water District, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) and other water districts requested the Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) so that water exports from the Delta could be increased. The pumping restrictions are designed to protect migrating juvenile winter-run Chinook salmon from being killed in the massive federal and state project pumps.