Latest news with #SustainableGroundwaterManagementAct
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Tehama County supervisors table urgency ag well ordinance
Tehama County Supervisor Matt Hansen ended up being the of member of the board to support an interim urgency ordinance presented to the board during its June 3 meeting to implement requirements for new agricultural wells in areas of concern within the county. 'If we table this it gives us time to come up with a solution, to step up to the plate and make a decision and I don't think we are there yet,' said Supervisor Rob Burroughs. By a vote of 4-1 the urgency ordinance was tabled until the Feb. 3, 2026 board meeting. Hansen voted against the motion. Comment from the public was both for and against the proposed ordinance, the split pretty much between those whose livelihood is agriculture and those who believe agriculture wells in the county are part of the reason for domestic wells drying up and the groundwater shortage problem. Another issue to be addressed by the ordinance is a reported ground subsidence reportedly from new sources of groundwater extraction in impacted areas of the county. 'It is the purpose and intent of this ordinance to protect the public health and safety from the negative impacts of reduced access to water, poor groundwater quality and subsidence,' the proposed ordinance stated. The area of concern included the groundwater subbasins of Red Bluff, Corning and Antelope. For several years now, Tehama County has been developing documents to be in compliance with the state's Sustainable Groundwater Management Act regulations. Justin Jensen, Tehama County deputy director of Public Works/Water Resources, said there are documents already on the books regulating agriculture well permit applications as the county continues to address the groundwater and surface water implications.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Kern County Subbasin to host workshops on Groundwater Sustainability Plan amendments
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — The Kern County Subbasin Groundwater Sustainability Agencies invited the public to a series of community workshops to learn more about their 2024 Groundwater Sustainability Plan amendments and share input. The first workshop is set for Tuesday, June 3, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center, located at 1000 South Owens Street. The two additional workshops will be virtual and are scheduled for June 5 and June 11, both to begin at 6 p.m. and end at 8 p.m., according to organizers. California water resources board clamps down on Kern County groundwater sustainability Attendees can learn more about California's Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, upcoming changes to the plans and how these updates are expected to affect different communities and groundwater users across the Kern County Subbasin, organizers said. The in-person workshop on June 3 will also include a 'kid's corner' where children can participate in activities. All workshops will offer translated materials and interpretation services in Spanish and Punjabi, according to organizers. To register for the virtual workshops or learn more information, click here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
San Francisco Chronicle
06-05-2025
- Science
- San Francisco Chronicle
California dust storms are expected to become more common. Some are ‘as big as a city'
In November 2024, powerful gusts whipped across parts of the Central Valley. The winds not only knocked out power, but they also kicked up soil particles, producing a massive dust storm. The extreme weather event dropped visibility to near zero, grinding highway traffic to a halt. Scientists expect dust storms in California to occur even more often in the future, due to climate change and human activities like construction and agriculture. 'Dust storms can be relatively small, but they can (also) be as big as a city,' said Amato Evan, an atmospheric scientist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego. Evan directs UC Dust, a center bringing together University of California researchers to develop strategies for dealing with dust storms. UC Dust recently published a report on California dust storms, which highlighted issues with human health and public safety that are exacerbated by these events. Dust storms occur when high winds sweep across dry landscapes and lift up dust. That's why the deserts of southeastern California experience dust storms most frequently, especially in the spring, summer and fall. Human activity has also factored into dust storms. Water diversion in the 20th century dried out Owens Lake, which can now produce large amounts of windblown dust. Dust storms frequently occur in the San Joaquin Valley, where agricultural development has produced dust-prone landscapes. A study published April 26 reported that the majority of dust events from this region come from fallowed agricultural land. After crops that were previously planted dry up, such fallowed land becomes bare, exposed soil, explained study author Adeyemi Adebiyi, an atmospheric scientist at UC Merced. This land is susceptible to wind erosion, which produces more dust, said Adebiyi, who also was a co-author of the UC Dust report. The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act may have also increased the chances for dust storms. The act, passed in 2014, limits the overdraft of groundwater in order protect groundwater basins in the long term. It has caused farmers to take some fields out of production due to decreased water access. 'That land becomes another new source of dust that could potentially lead to more dust storms in the future,' Adebiyi said. Scientists expect climate change will make California drier in the coming decades. 'As the planet warms up, arid regions become more arid,' Evan said. That could disrupt the growth of vegetation, like native grasses in the desert, that help stabilize soil. 'We get these drier soils that are less healthy, that are more suitable to being kicked up into the atmosphere,' Evan said. Adebiyi added that it's possible that some places that haven't faced dust storms in the past, like the Sacramento Valley, could see them in the future. One way to mitigate dust emission would be to replant native vegetation, Evan said, though it's expensive and requires water. The development of dust forecasts for vulnerable places, like the Imperial and Coachella valleys, would also help reduce dust exposure, Evan added. Previous studies have linked dust storms to asthma, respiratory diseases and even adverse birth outcomes, said Alexandra Heaney, a climate and health epidemiologist at UC San Diego. Heaney is also part of UC Dust and a co-author of the recent report. Many of those past studies, however, were done in other parts of the world, Heaney said. Dust storms could have different health impacts in California, since populations have different underlying conditions and dust can have distinct compositions. The soil fungus that causes valley fever and can be spread by dust storms, for example, has historically been found mostly in the southwestern United States, including California. Heaney is beginning a project looking at adverse birth outcomes associated with maternal exposure to dust in California. 'We have to really get a handle on how (dust storms are) impacting the health of our communities here,' Heaney said.
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Farming consolidation worries ag industry leaders
Federal data illustrating recent consolidation of California farming has raised concern in the industry about Sacramento's approach to regulation and the future of ag production in the state. Industry leaders are pointing to U.S. Department of Agriculture figures that show the number of farms in California fell 10% between 2017 and 2022, while the average size of those farms increased by about the same proportion. Both trends were seen nationally during the same period but not to such an extent. President Shannon Douglass of the California Farm Bureau Federation said the numbers are not surprising given how hard it is to do business in the state as compared with other farming regions around the world. She voiced particular concern about water availability and how costs disproportionately hit small farmers. The head of the Kern County Farm Bureau, Jenny Holtermann, added that consolidation is always a concern as farmers shrink their farmland holdings or sell out altogether. She said implementation of California's Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, designed to bring pumping of underground aquifers into balance, is likely to leave some farmers unable to produce food. "With increasing regulations, SGMA and the costs of inputs rising, farmers can only stay afloat for so long," she said by email Tuesday. "We need our elected officials and policymakers to start to address our over-regulation and how they are pushing business out of California," she added. "Agriculture is vital to California and our food security for our country." The USDA data doesn't just shine a light on consolidations between 2017 and 2022, the most recent year for which figures are available. It also provides insights on the industry's mixed profitability. It shows the number of farms in the state reporting a profit dropped significantly during that five-year period but that those who reported a net gain made much more money than before. Additionally, the numbers demonstrated that fewer California farms lost money in 2022 as compared with 2017, but those who did saw significantly bigger losses. Also, average profits in the Golden State were considerably higher than those in the country as a whole. The federal numbers being highlighted by the California Farm Bureau Federation are available online at The organization plans to host a news conference on the consolidation-related findings today just outside the state Capitol building in downtown Sacramento. According to the USDA, California's total farm count dropped to 63,134 in 2022. Nationally, it reported, the decline between 2017 and 2022 was about 7%. The average size of California farms increased by 10% during that five-year period to reach 383 acres. Across the country, the size increase was just 5%, though the U.S. average finished the period higher, at 463 acres. USDA data showed the number of Californian farms reporting a profit dropped about 18%, while the size of those net gains rose 76% to hit an average of $665,459 per year. By comparison, the number of farms nationwide that made a profit shrank only 9%, according to the USDA, which noted the average size of those profits rose 78% to reach $224,025 per year. In California, the number of farms reporting a net financial loss declined 5% between 2017 and 2022, the USDA reported. It noted the average size of those losses increased 87% to finish the year with a profit averaging $104,258. The number of U.S. farms reporting a net loss also declined during the period, by 6%. But as happened in California, their losses rose — by 36% to reach $28,597 per year. Douglass, the state farm bureau president, did not bring up the industry challenge presented by the Trump administration's threat to deport undocumented residents. But she acknowledged that mass deportations could present problems for farmers. "I think that anytime we're talking about threats to our workforce, those are definitely challenges that impact our farms," she said.
Politico
08-03-2025
- Politics
- Politico
This farmer is taking the long view on Trump
Presented by With help from Alex Nieves, David Ferris, Annie Snider and Ben Lefebvre POUR ONE OUT: Stuart Woolf likes the extra water President Donald Trump is promising Central Valley farmers — but he doesn't think it'll be enough to change their fate. Woolf, the president and CEO of Woolf Farming and Processing and the current chair of the board for the trade group Western Growers Association, grows almonds and tomatoes in one of the most arid regions of the Central Valley. He's also been an early champion of agave, the drought-tolerant crop used in tequila and mezcal, which he sees as key to sustaining the region's agriculture in an era of limited water supplies, and the development of solar panels on fallowed farmland. A self-described independent, Woolf isn't backing away from his vision. POLITICO caught up with him after a panel at the Kern County Water Summit in Bakersfield on Thursday, where he talked about alternatives to thirsty crops and the long-term sustainability of agriculture on some of California's most productive acres (and got away with applause, not boos). This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity. Has your vision for the Valley changed at all with the federal administration's promises on water? The issues of water in California, these are long-term issues, right? Right now, Trump, at least, has talked about trying to improve water supply, in particular to farmers. Maybe he has a positive impact during his administration, but I would suspect, ultimately, long term, a lot of it will be driven by California policies and issues. Are you talking about the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act? Yeah. Things like SGMA aren't going away. Department of Water Resources Director Karla Nemeth was here talking about the Delta conveyance project and leaning into changes to environmental limits to pumping in the Delta. Do you not see a change of course? I think we're a long, long way from getting the tunnel moving or approved. We're a long, long way from getting Shasta. It's great to hear she's optimistic about some of these things, but one of the things I was going to ask her was like, Well, how do you define long-term success? Is it the reduction of 500,000 acres? We're figuring out how to exchange, market, do all these other things, but at the end of the day, we're still going backwards, by my metric, which is total acres under production. Have you seen anything from the state or the federal government right now that would help transition farmland, or are they just talking about water? I don't think this federal administration is going to set aside money for anything relative to environmental mitigation and climate change and what have you. We recently in our small, fledgling agave industry got a couple grants. It's all about climate change, and we want bilingual education. We realize now with the Trump administration, they're looking at these grants and whether or not they fulfill them. All the words and all the things that we were advocating for are all the words that I think they don't necessarily like. So I'm wondering, if you got a grant for climate-friendly cropping, do you go spend that money believing you're going to receive it, or do you not, because you don't have confidence that they'll actually give it to you, even though it was awarded to you earlier? I would rather try to figure out what I can have control over. On tariffs: Pretty unpredictable so far. What's the impact on you? For the business community, the worst thing is to create a lot of uncertainty and risk. And I think he's creating a lot of uncertainty and risk. I've got loads of agave coming from Mexico that I'm going to be planting, and I'm bringing over loads for other growers to do this. For me, I'm really thrilled about this whole agave thing, because I think it's part of a solution in California to address water demand. I really think it's part of a story of adaptation. And now I'm going to be paying like 25 percent more for this product coming over. It's a really challenging period. The almond industry, for example, is just beginning to come out of four or five years of really tough times. If we have countervailing duties on the stuff that we're exporting, it is going to be really damaging to California. Do you have any big meetings coming up in D.C. or in Sacramento? What are you trying to advocate for these days? Industry groups are trying to figure out who they align with in the Trump bubble or world. Some of our key issues are going to be, we want fair and free trade. We don't want any of our members being harmed by tariffs that are best of intentions, but they come back to really harm our industries. Clearly, immigration is going to be front and center for us. And I think we will be advocates for funding of ag research and the farm bill. Those are three big things, and water isn't even on the list. Water's on that list. I just didn't mention it, but it's on that list. I'm fearful for California agriculture during this administration. We may be able to get more water, but if we lose our markets and prices go in the toilet, that's not a very good trade-off. And if we continue to lose our workforce, and we lose funding for research programs, I think there are more negatives in the process. That's why agave is the only solution. Because people can just drink their worries away? Well, people drink in the best of times and the worst of times. — CvK NEW NEWSLETTER: Are you an energy guru who wants to know more about the impact of data centers on the grid? A scientist interested in the potential of AI? Or just a friendly POLITICO fan? You'll love our new sister newsletter, POLITICO Pro Technology: California Decoded. You can subscribe here. Did someone forward you this newsletter? Sign up here! POORER PORTS: The Trump administration's freeze on clean-energy programs has put more than $1 billion to electrify the Port of Los Angeles — and Southern California's clean air ambitions — at risk. In question are three grants totaling more than $1.1 billion that Biden's EPA awarded the port to kick-start a migration to electric heavy-duty trucks, David Ferris reports for POLITICO's E&E News. Nationwide, dozens of ports are experiencing the same uncertainty with their own grant money. Experts say losing that funding would set back Los Angeles' and California's move to EV trucks by five years — an interval in which more Angelenos will get cancer and asthma, and in which China's industry lead will grow. 'People have projects and jobs counting on these funds, and they don't know what they should be doing right now,' said Jason Mathers, who heads zero-emission truck program at the Environmental Defense Fund. 'It's massively disruptive and it's confusing.' Trump railed against vehicle electrification on the campaign trail, saying at an October rally in New Mexico that trucks fifty years ago were better than electric models today. The EPA and its Los Angeles grant recipients are offering conflicting accounts of the current state of play. EPA in a statement said it 'worked expeditiously to enable payment accounts for ... grant recipients, so funding is now accessible to all recipients.' The recipients say they are having different experiences. The Port of LA says it's received no communications from EPA and that online portals through which it would receive funds are shut. Another, the South Coast Air Quality Management district, says it has communicated with EPA and that its access goes online and offline without notice. — DF, AN AND ANOTHER ONE: Democrats are getting antsy in another state that follows California car and truck emissions standards. Maryland Delegate Dana Stein introduced a bill last week that would delay enforcement of Advanced Clean Cars II and Advanced Clean Trucks, electrification rules congressional Republicans are threatening to revoke. The bill, HB 1556, will have its first hearing in the House Environment and Transportation Committee on Wednesday. Two Democrats in upstate New York also introduced a bill this week to pause enforcement of ACT, which requires manufacturers to sell an increasing number of zero-emission trucks. And New Jersey Democrats introduced a similar proposal to delay clean truck regulations last year, though that effort has stalled. Car and truck manufacturers are increasingly pushing states to slow down their emissions rules ahead of implementation, warning that consumer demand and charging infrastructure are lagging behind expectations. A dozen states follow ACCII, while 11 have adopted ACT. The California Air Resources Board — which developed the standards — has defended the rules, arguing they include flexibility and credit markets that can keep companies in compliance. — AN DOGE TO INTERIOR: The Department of Government Efficiency staffer who visited the Bureau of Reclamation's Northern California pumping plant in January is taking over as the Interior Department's main budget official, POLITICO's Ben Lefebvre and Annie Snider report. Tyler Hassen, the head of oilfield services company Basin Energy, who has been one of DOGE's representatives embedded at Interior, will be delegated that authority as the acting assistant secretary for policy, management and budget, according to people who were granted anonymity to discuss a politically sensitive subject. Hassen will take over for Charlie Dankert, who had been doing that job, the people added. RECLAIMING THEIR JOBS: Five previously fired Reclamation employees are coming back to the agency's California office and more planned terminations are on hold, Annie reports. The office has lost about 100 employees — 10 percent of its workforce — due to buyouts and orders by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency to fire employees who have been in their positions for less than a year or two. Some of the reinstated staffers were associated with a power plant undergoing upgrades near Shasta Dam, while some of the others who were given a reprieve worked at a fish collection facility that is essential to Reclamation's ability to pump water out of the state's main water hub, according to sources POLITICO granted anonymity due to fear of reprisals. — The Army Corps of Engineers knew Trump's dam-opening plans would waste water, an internal memo shows. — U.S. EPA told its staff that spending on items over $50,000 will now need approval from DOGE. — AI bots at UC San Diego have already detected more than 1,200 fires.
