A long-term plan intended to improve flood protection in the Central Valley would affect tens of thousands of additional acres, including farmland that could be converted to permanent wildlife habitat, according to figures released in a new draft conservation strategy document from the California Department of Water Resources. The draft conservation strategy is a planning
California has lost half its big trees since the 1930s, according to a study to be published Tuesday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences—and climate change seems to be a major factor. The number of trees larger than two feet in diameter has declined by 50 percent on more than 46,000 square
Westlands General Manager Tom Birmingham told the Fresno Bee the negotiations indeed were confidential and completely private. But the existence of the talks was no secret, he said. Westlands has regularly briefed the federal court about the talks, Birmingham said, adding that environmental groups and others last year were told of the six-page “principles of agreement”from
About 20 percent of California’s oil and natural-gas production uses hydraulic fracturing — with almost all of it happening in one corner of the San Joaquin Valley — according to the most authoritative survey yet released of fracking in the Golden State. Oil companies frack 125 to 175 of the roughly 300 wells drilled in
The Five-Year Infrastructure Plan is required to be updated annually by the Dept. of Finance and was created by Gov. Brown in his first iteration. The overarching, $57-billion plan now enforces the three priorities set by the Strategic Growth Council, which uses Chapter 1016 (AB 857) of 2002 as authority: 1. Promote infill development by rehabilitating,
The Yurok tribe has sold millions of dollars' worth of carbon credits, known as offsets, to some of the state's biggest polluters. The tribe's forestry program is one of more than two dozen operations across the nation that have generated offsets for California's growing carbon market. The initiative is giving the Yurok tribe a new
For years, thousands of companies have purchased renewable energy credits, known as RECs, to say they use green power and to shrink their carbon footprints. Now, as skepticism mounts about whether RECs achieve their claimed environmental benefits, the market for these credits is slowing—and a number of companies, from Whole Foods Market (WFM) to McDonald’s (MCD), are quietly scaling back their involvement.
Hoping to reshape the Democratic coalition governing the California Legislature, business-backed outside groups spent millions during the 2014 election cycle to elect Democrats they believe will be more sympathetic to their interests. Newly elected Democratic candidates aided by business-funded groups posted an impressive record. In seven out of 10 races to fill open seats, the
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
In the first major test of how California voters would react to hydraulic fracturing on the ballot, two counties in California approved fracking bans on Tuesday. Opponents of fracking are hoping the movement will spread to other counties. But a measure to bar the controversial oil production technique in Santa Barbara County — where the oil