California environmental regulators are exploring how rice farmers can reduce carbon emissions, paving the way for crops to become part of the state’s greenhouse gas reduction program and affecting one of the Sacramento Valley’s powerhouse agricultural industries. The California Air Resources Board this month directed staff to begin the process for including rice in the
And if California is to ever truly meet its water needs without further stealing from one region — the Owens Valley, the delta — for the benefit of essentially arid lands, it eventually must reprioritize water usage and regulate crops. Government long has regulated land use for shopping malls, factories and dumps. Why not also
After an earthquake and tsunami decimated northeast Japan in 2011 — an unexpected weather incident that scientists are still struggling to understand — the Japanese government built Sanriku Fukko National Park. A triumph of weather-conscious design, built in part to revitalize the area’s flagging economy, the park boasts reconstructed pine forests, tidal flats and seagrass beds hugging the
The adoption of a Merced County ordinance regulating groundwater transfers was halted today by a handful of last-minute comments and suggestions from stakeholders, including a text message sent by Merced Irrigation District’s general manager to the county CEO. The groundwater ordinance was set for a first reading at the Board of Supervisors meeting today, but
After three years of historically dry and hot weather, the images of California’s drought have become familiar: empty fields, brown lawns, dry stream beds. But for every one of those scenes, there are other parts of the state where water has been flowing freely and the effects of drought are hard to see. It’s all
California lawmakers’ failure to pass water legislation this Congress raises questions about strategy, tactics and the ability to learn from falling short. It also sets the stage for next year when – wait for it – the whole anti-drought drama returns for an encore. On Thursday night, the House concluded its work for the 113th
Oversight of genetically modified crops in Hawaii remains the state’s kuleana, a federal judge ruled Wednesday when invalidating Hawaii County’s law restricting the use of transgenic plants. The ruling by U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry Kurren was in line with another decision he made in August overturning Kauai County’s law on pesticides and modified crops. In
It’s the dead of autumn and there’s no sign that the California drought will ease up. When wells run dry the immediate answer is to dig a new one, but they’re expensive. In some parts of the state there’s been an uptick in water theft, but in Central California many homeowners are turning to a
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday allowed environmentalists to challenge the government’s renewal of 41 long-term contracts for irrigation water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, in a lawsuit seeking greater protection for the endangered delta smelt. Water districts had asked the justices to review a ruling in April by a federal appeals court in San
Farm water officials worked years on the $7.5 billion state water bond that passed Tuesday, offering the possibility of partly bankrolling a new reservoir near Fresno. Now it’s time for round two – actually getting funding for Temperance Flat and other projects. At the Fresno Irrigation District Thursday, farm water officials joined the California Latino