Water
Transfers
From: Garth Stapley, Modesto
Bee
The prospect of irrigation water
hawked on Craigslist became a possibility Tuesday with a landmark vote allowing
Modesto Irrigation District customers to buy and sell to other farmers within
MID's boundary at any price they want.
The 3-2 decision overshadowed a
competing proposal to establish a pool system managed by district staff in
which growers would buy and sell water for $400 an acre-foot. That idea also
passed, on a 4-1 vote, but supporters acknowledged it might not get traction
because sellers are likely to fetch higher offers on the open market.
Water Supply
From: John Holland, Modesto
Bee
The board of the Turlock
Irrigation District voted 5-0 Tuesday to cut water deliveries to about half of
what its farmers usually get.
Directors set a cap of 20 inches
of water over the 2014 irrigation season in an effort to keep at least some
carryover in Don Pedro Reservoir for 2015. Farmers could get up to 4 extra
inches to complete their final round of watering, at a higher price that will
be considered later.
Water Bond
From: Mark Grossi, Fresno Bee
Assembly Member Henry T. Perea,
D-Fresno, and state Sen. Cathleen Galgiani, D-Stockton, are the latest to
propose a new bill tweaking the California water bond scheduled for November.
There are seven versions now, if
you include the twice-delayed $11. 2 billion version on the ballot now. It's a
crowded, confusing field at a time when President Barack Obama and Gov. Jerry
Brown have drawn attention to an intense drought.
Farming
From: Dan Errotabere, East Bay
Express
Imagine riding in a bicycle race
through the streets of San Francisco, and after completing half the course, you
are told that the rules have changed and every third rider must abandon
pedaling and instead carry his bicycle the rest of the way. You would not be
very pleased if you were that third rider.
Well, that is what happened to
farmers like me along the west side of the San Joaquin Valley after we planted
almond trees years ago but were later told that part of that water needed by the
trees was going to be taken away. Combine years of surviving under these new
rules with a devastating drought that is now gripping our state and the result
is farmers must make difficult decisions this year whether to keep their trees
alive.
From: Julian Suhr, East Bay
Express
Brilliant cover story. Mr.
Palomino does a splendid job chronicling the history and evolution of this
crazy desert farming cash cow we've stuck ourselves with in the western San
Joaquin Valley. Seems to me that we need to start thinking about not just
whether our foods are "local" or "organic," but whether the
growing practices make sense on a basic level, and then vote with our dollars
in the same way Michael Pollan asked us all to vote with our dollars about
industrial food so many years ago.
Food News
From: Staff, farmwater.org
Today, February 26, is National
Pistachio Day! To help celebrate, we've brought together some fun facts,
while some of California's food bloggers and Setton Farms have teamed up to
bring us some very special recipes.
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