On January 3, 2020, California Natural Resources Agency, California Environmental Protection Agency, and the California Department of Food & Agriculture released the draft water resilience portfolio. The draft is to fulfill Governor Newsom’s executive order on water resilience. There are four major components to the draft; maintain and diversify water supplies, protect and enhance natural [...]
Today, the Newsom Administration rejected the Federal Government’s water proposal and released its draft environmental impact report for “fish protective management” of the State Water Project and water flows through the Delta. According to the Administration, the proposed plan “reflects the state’s assessment that operating rules recently proposed by federal agencies are not scientifically adequate [...]
SACRAMENTO, October 21, 2019 – The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) is now accepting applications for the State Water Efficiency and Enhancement Program (SWEEP), a competitive grant program that incentivizes farmers to invest in irrigation water and energy efficiency. Agricultural operations can apply for up to $100,000 for projects that involve improvements to [...]
The Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released the new Biological Opinions on October 21, 2019. Below is the information released by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “The Service finalized our biological opinion on the coordinated operations of the CVP/SWP on October 21, 2019. The Service carefully evaluated the impact of [...]
On Wednesday, October 17, 2019, the State Water Resources Control Board voted to approve the Central Valley Salinity Alternatives for Long-Term Sustainability, otherwise known as CV-SALTS. Approval of the plan was conditioned upon several revisions. The most notable of these revisions accelerated the timeline to achieve the goal of reducing salts and nitrates in groundwater [...]
The Water Blueprint for the San Joaquin Valley submitted formal recommendations for the Water Resilience Portfolio (WRP) in response to Governor Newsom’s Executive Order (EO) N-10-19. The purpose of the Blueprint coalition is to develop a comprehensive plan to close the 1.5 to 2.5 million acre-foot gap that exists today. The group also highlighted the [...]
On the last day of the 2019 Legislative Session, California legislators passed Senate Bill 1 (SB 1), the California Environmental, Public Health, and Workers Defense Act authored by Senate Pro Tem Toni Atkins. Shortly thereafter, Governor Newsom indicated he will veto the measure, stating “I fully support the principles behind SB 1. It does not, [...]
East Kaweah Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA) will hold two Ag based workshops focused on their release of the Groundwater Sustainability Plans and local implementation of SGMA for groundwater sustainability: October 2 at the Exeter Veteran’s Memorial Building, located at 324 N. Kaweah Blvd. in Exeter. October 3 at the Ivanhoe Veteran's Memorial Building, located at [...]
CCM’s Alyssa Houtby recently joined representatives from several agricultural associations this week for a roundtable forum with the UC Ag Sustainability Institute and advocacy group “Root of Change” about the future of California agriculture, the regulatory, political, and natural resource issues facing the industry, and opportunities for collaboration. The forum was hosted by the California [...]
CCM President Casey Creamer visited South Africa last week as part of a California trade delegation. The delegation was put together by California Department of Food and Agriculture Secretary Karen Ross. Also participating was Karla Nemeth, Director of the California Department of Water Resources; Carlos Suarez, State Conservationist with USDA Natural Resources Conservation District; Randy [...]
