see page 12 & insert for details almond farmer recognized for … newspapers/mcfb dec... ·...

Madera CountyFarM Bureau

December 2014 Vol. 4, No. 14agriculture todaySee 2 & Insert for details

Happy Holidays from tHe madera county

farm Bureau!office will Be closed dec.22-Jan. 2

cpr/first aid trainingenglisH: January 15, 2015

spanisH: feBruary 17, 20159:00 am – 2:00 pm

call (559) 674-8871 today to rsVp

See Stewardship; Page 8

CaleNDarDecember22-2OfficeClosedfortheChristmas&

NewYear’sHoliday

January6 ExecutiveCommitteeMeeting,

1:00p.m.,MCFBConferenceRoom,1102SouthPineStreet,Madera(559)674-8871,[email protected]

13 MCFBBoardofDirectorsMeeting,12:00p.m.,MCFBBenHayesHall,1102SouthPineStreet,Madera(559)674-8871,[email protected]

15 MCFB&AmericanRedCrossCPR/First Aid Training, English 9:00a.m.–2:00p.m.,BenHayesHall,1102SouthPineStreet,Madera(559)674-8871,[email protected]

February3 ExecutiveCommitteeMeeting,

1:00p.m.,MCFBConferenceRoom,1102SouthPineStreet,Madera(559)674-8871,[email protected]

17 MCFB&AmericanRedCrossCPR/First Aid Training, Spanish 9:00a.m.–2:00p.m.,BenHayesHall,1102SouthPineStreet,Madera(559)674-8871,[email protected]

19 MCFB&AgSafeManagersMeet-ing:MSPACompliance,Workers’CompensationInsuranceRequire-ments,English8:00a.m.–12:00p.m.BenHayesHall,1102SouthPineStreet,Madera(559)674-8871,[email protected]

Third-generation Madera County almond grower Tom Rogers says it’s a fun time to be an almond farmer. That’s been true even this year, when the lack of surface water forced him to turn to wells. He admits to a series of “fire drills” to keep trees irrigated when one of those wells went out for a month at the peak of irrigation season.

“This year, as much as we dislike it, it’s been a great education for us,” Rogers said. “It forced us to rethink what we do and as-

sess whether we are doing the very best. What we have been doing is working, but I think we can do even better.”

Earlier this year, Rogers was pre-sented with the 2014 Farm Water Steward Award for the work he and brother Dan have done to reduce water use by improving irrigation scheduling techniques over the last five years. The award is presented jointly by the Pacific Institute, Community Alliance with Family Farmers and Ag In-novations Network.

Moisture, Weather Monitoring

The Rogers brothers use a com-bination of automated soil mois-ture and weather data monitoring from on-site stations to apply the right amount of water, based

on tree demand and orchard and weather conditions, by using highly efficient irrigation systems.

While Tom Rogers appreciates the recog-nition, he says he is doing many of the same things almond growers across the state are doing to optimize use of water resources. Almond growers today use a third less water to produce a pound of almonds compared to 20 years ago1.

“I don’t think we are doing anything special here,” he said. “We are paying attention, and a lot of farmers are doing that as well.”

According to the recent baseline report of the California Almond Sustainability Program, 70% of almond acreage today is under micro-irrigation, and more than 80% of growers use some mixture of soil-, weath-er- and plant-based measurements to decide when and how much to irrigate.

Tom and Dan are also following in the footsteps of their father, who was an early adopter of water conservation technology.

“My dad was on the ball as far as irriga-tion goes,” Rogers said. “We are farming very sandy ground, and we have always tried to do well with water.”

From Flood to Micro to Drip

The family first planted almonds in 1981,

Almond Farmer Recognized for Water Stewardship

Drought year pushes tom rogers to further improve water use efficiency

2 | December 2014 Madera County Farm Bureau

Madera County Farm Bureau news2014 - 2016 executive Committee

President:AlSheeterFirstVicePresident:JayMahil

SecondVicePresident/Treasurer:MichaelNaitoSecretary:NickDavis

AppointedbyPresident:DennisMeisnerJrAppointedbyPresident:TomRogers

ImmediatePastPresident:TomColeman

Directors at largeMathewAndrewH.ClayDaultonJimErickson

NeilMcDougaldDinoPetrucci

RobertSahatjian

RobertCadenazziStephenElgorriagaMicheleLasgoityJeffMcKinneyPatRicchiutiChrisWylie

California Farm Bureau - District 9 Director AnthonyToso

California Farm Bureau CommitteePolicyRecommendation–H.ClayDaultonAir&EnvironmentalIssues–H.ClayDaulton

California Farm Bureau Commodity representativesBee–RyanCosyns

Beef–H.ClayDaultonGrape–JayMahil

SpecialtyCrops–TomRogers

Office StaffExecutiveDirector:AnjaK.RaudabaughExecutiveAssistant:NormaleeG.Castillo

Madera County Farm Bureau1102SouthPineStreetMadera,CA93637

(559)674-8871;www.maderafb.com

advertising/PublishingMid-ValleyPublishing

1130GStreet,Reedley,CA93654

advertising SalesDebraLeak

(559)638-2244

editorNormaleeG.Castillo

Periodical PostagePaidatFresno,California93706

POSTMaSTerSendaddresschangesto:

MaderaCountyFarmBureau1102SouthPineStreet,Madera,CA93637

TheMaderaCountyFarmBureaudoesnotassumeresponsibilityfor

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TOBECOMEADONORCALL674-8871

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Columbia Canal Co.Dennis MeisnerH. Clay Daulton

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MCFB would like to thank all of our members who help support our work through their voluntary contributions

for the months of November & December.

We sincerely wish everyone a blessed and rainy holiday sea-son, and that we’re all able to slow down and spend more time with our families.

As we head into the New Year, the office is busily planning for a productive start to 2015. We are rolling out new safety trainings, new membership programs and options, along with a new take on our annual Wine Tasting event. Save the date for May 3rd, 2015 –you won’t want to miss it!

Wrapping up 2014 has proven to be more difficult than typically imagined. The Farm Bureau continues to advocate for our membership quite heavily in the areas of water and water management, high speed rail intervention and medita-tion, and many other local activities. We continue to strive to illustrate a positive benefit for all our members, and we’re open to any and all suggestions as to how to do that better!

Please take a moment to stop by my office, make an appointment, or give me a ring if you ever need to –that’s what I’m here for!

Best wishes on the conclusion of your year,Anja

AnjaRaudabaughExecutiveDirector

Executive Directors Address

Happy Holidays!from the

Madera County Farm Bureau!

The holiday season is upon us and I want to extend three wishes to everyone: Good health, successful ventures, and reservoirs full of rain! Does one need more? Well…

I was recently at Blue Diamond Growers’ annual meet-ing in Sacramento and a most interesting discussion broke out among those seated at my table. The dialogue centered on how farming in general, and nut cultivation in particular, have vanished from the good graces of the general public and lawmakers and now our agrarian economy is seemingly considered the root of all problems, especially when the issue is water!

One of the attendees seated next to me then started citing a variety of sta-tistical evidence that refuted the claim that farming is at fault for our water crisis. She later provided me these statistics in writing, including:

--Less than half of California’s water goes to farming—in fact, on average, agriculture accounts for about forty percent total. Fifty percent goes to en-vironmental uses (including rivers, streams, wetlands and wildlife preserves) while ten percent goes to urban use, all of which are important.

--Even though the acreage of pe-rennial crops in California, including almonds, increased during the 2000’s, the total of amount of water that went to farms held steady—so a shift in crops grown hasn’t meant more total water going to agriculture.

--In the last twenty years, almond growers have reduced the amount of water they use per pound of almonds

AlSheeterPresident

President’s Message

Farm Bureau Membership Benefits

InsuranceAlliedInsurance,HealthNet, NationwideAgribusiness,

StateCompensationInsuranceFund, VPIPetInsurance

News and entertainmentAgAlert,CaliforniaCountryMag&T.V.

VehiclesDodgeTrucks,VansandSUV’s,VehicleRentals,

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ContacttheMCFBOfficeat(559)674-8871orwww.maderafb.comfordetails.

SeePresident’sMessage;Page10

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No room for waste in the California’s water bondcoorDinate plans for the greatest impactEditorialSacramento Bee

More than two-thirds of California voters authorized the state to borrow more than $7 billion to improve a water system strained by more than three years of drought. Now the diffi-cult job of smartly targeting problems and effectively implementing projects is beginning.

With that huge amount of money on the table, many government and non-governmental agencies began salivating before the polls opened Nov. 4. The fear of wasting billions of taxpayer dollars unwisely on poorly conceived plans that do not lead to a more sustainable water system was the most salient argument heard from the nearly 2.3 million Californians who voted against Proposition 1. We hope those fears do not bear out.

One of the challenges will be to direct funds to projects that are coordinated to have the greatest impact on some of the state’s most pressing needs. Yes, the list of needs is long and many problems won’t be completely addressed, but signifi-cant progress can be made on how California approaches its demand for water through treatment facili-ties, recycling, habitat restoration and storage.

The $520 million designated for clean drinking water and wastewater treatment has the potential to dra-matically improve the lives of many disadvantaged California residents. It’s astonishing that water flowing from the faucets in some commu-nities does not meet safe drinking standards. The water may contain a variety of contaminants such as nitrates, perchlorate and arsenic, to name a few.

Water treatment facilities for poor, rural communities that don’t have safe water to drink should be high on the list of concerns for legislators return-ing to Sacramento this week.

One question: Out of $7.5 billion in the bond, is $520 million enough money to solve all the problems in many communities that don’t have adequate public water facilities? The answer is no, of course not. But the bigger question legislators will need to figure out is who will pay for main-taining the new facilities in disad-vantaged communities after they are built. There is no money in the bond for continued maintenance.

Some will argue that the state has plenty of water for residents and agriculture, but we do not use it ef-ficiently or recycle it on a scale that

could ensure a stable supply. The bond provides $725 million for recycling and advanced water-treatment technology projects, such as desalina-tion and wastewater reuse. With the concern over a dwindling snowpack, it’s time to embrace recycling, waste-water reuse and apply technological advances to desalination plants.

A much bigger share of bond money – $1.5 billion – will go to several state agencies and regional conservancies to protect and restore rivers, lakes, creeks and urban streams. Eleven regional agencies will re-ceive $327.5 million – including the San Diego River Conservancy ($17 million), State Coastal Conservancy ($100.5 million) and Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Conservancy ($50 million) – for projects to improve the flow in streams and rivers that will enhance ecosystems. These various

regional projects, especially those designated for the Delta, will need a coordinated approach to achieve the greatest impact.

The most controversial and costly aspect of the bond is water storage. There are two distinct camps on how best to invest the $2.7 billion ear-marked for storage. One side wants to build new dams or increase reservoirs of existing dams. The other camp says the state can get more bang for its buck with groundwater storage.

The California Water Commission, made up of nine members appointed by the governor, will decide which projects are the most cost-effective and provide the biggest improvement for the state’s water system. It will set criteria for projects and evaluate them


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SeeReliefBill;Page9

Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s drought relief bill needs closer scrutiny

By Michael HiltzikLos Angeles Times

No one is more adept at turning crises into opportunities than represen-tatives of special interests in Washing-ton. And there are few better opportu-nities-in-disguise than the California drought.

Addressing the drought is compli-cated, technical and politically charged. Billions of dollars in business invest-ments are at stake, so millions are available to push legislators in one direction or another — especially if the key discussions are held behind closed doors.

That’s why it’s probably a good thing that Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) last week abandoned her effort to craft a drought relief bill in haste and through private conversations with Central Valley Republican members of Congress and lobbyists for well-heeled water users. Many of those parties live to overturn the federal Endangered Species Act and Clean Water Act, which they say deprive Central Valley growers of desperately needed water.

Feinstein’s original goal was to reach agreement with the Republicans by Dec. 11, when Congress goes home for the holidays. Her plan now is to move a bill through the GOP-majority 2015 Senate under “regular order,” meaning it will be subject to public committee hearings, presumably with testimony from commercial fishers and environ-mental advocates who complained they were shut out of the earlier talks.

It isn’t entirely clear that shift-ing from closed-door negotiations in a politically split Congress to open discussions in a uniformly Republican Congress will be a positive step. Envi-ronmental advocates have their fingers crossed.

“We’re not out of the woods,” says Doug Obegi, a senior attorney for water issues at the Natural Resources Defense Council. “But regular order does mean that if anything emerges, it will be less bad.”

The problem with trying to craft water solutions for California in Wash-ington is that it can’t be done without trampling court rulings and state laws

and policies that apportion an increas-ingly scarce resource among increas-ingly demanding users.

Water experts viewed the precursors to Feinstein’s efforts — a GOP bill passed by the House in February and a Senate bill sponsored by Feinstein later in the year — as piecemeal solu-tions designed to exploit the crisis, not resolve it. Neither measure could create new water supplies, because they don’t exist.

“This is not a drought bill for the entire state,” says Patricia Schifferle, a water policy expert at Pacific Advo-cates. “This is about creating winners and losers in a time of shortages.”

Any congressional interference in California water regulations could upset a delicate balance between federal authority and long-established state prerogatives to set their own water policies, placing Congress on “risky constitutional ground,” says Antonio Rossmann, an expert on water law at UC Berkeley’s law school.

Feinstein is well aware of the pitfalls. “Water is one of the most difficult and convoluted subjects that I’ve ever en-countered,” she told me last week. “It’s driven by water rights law, it’s driven by history, it’s driven by environmental concerns, it’s driven by politics.”

Her efforts to quickly complete a bill were aimed at heading off a draconian Republican measure that would have destroyed environmental protections, but couldn’t have passed both chambers on Capitol Hill. “Waiving the Endan-gered Species Act and the Clean Water Act and denying advanced science … isn’t going to get us anywhere in the Senate,” she said.

Yet the conviction was widely shared that Feinstein’s negotiations would have benefited a cadre of wealthy growers by allowing federal officials to limit releas-es of water into the Sacramento Delta designed to promote environmental and clean water goals and preserve the salmon industry, shifting the water to the growers instead.

Democratic members of Congress from Northern California asserted that the proposed measure “would have eviscerated environmental laws protect-ing fisheries, California watersheds, local water supplies, and tribal and local economies in order to benefit a few powerful Delta water exporters.”

Although full details were never released, a coalition of 34 Indian tribes and environmental organiza-tions wrote Feinstein on Nov. 18 that


Salinas Valley growers cut water useBy Dennis L. Taylor Salinas Californian

Farmers in the Salinas Valley have claimed for years that they take water conservation seriously by investing in new technologies that make irrigation more efficient and by working closely with universities to develop best water-saving irrigation practices.

Their claims are now documented in a new report released this week by the U.S. Geologic Survey that shows irrigation water use has been cut from 746 million gallons per day in 2000 to 477 million gallons per day in 2010, representing a savings of 269 million gallon a day. That means on an annual basis, farmers cut their water consumption by more than 98 billion gallons.

If that 98 billion gallons is converted to acre-feet, or AF, it comes out to about 300,750 AF, which is getting close to the 377,000 AF capacity of Lake San Antonio. Bottom line: That’s a crazy amount of water savings over a decade.

Norm Groot, the executive director of the Monterey County Farm Bureau, has said even before the USGS report came out that Monterey county growers have made big strides during the past couple of decades in reducing the amount of water they use on crops.

“More than 60 percent of the crops grown in the valley use drip tape or other modified irrigation methods,” Groot said.

While farmers have been adopting new irrigation technologies to conserve water, they have also managed to increase yields two or three times over, Groot said.

Across the country, water use has reached its lowest recorded level in nearly 45 years, according the the USGS report. About 355 billion gallons of water per day were withdrawn for use in the entire United States during 2010, which represent a 13 percent reduction of water use from 2005, when about 410 billion gallons per day were consumed.

Decisions on which crops to plant have already been made, typically in November,

to prepare for spring planting in mid- to late February. The planning is timed so that when growers, particularly lettuce growers, return from Yuma, Arizona, and other southern growing areas they will be ready to hit the rows in Salinas.

Looks can be deceiving in agriculture, particularly the way the drought has shifted water use. This time of year passers-by can look up and see sprinklers going full bore on bare land. Groot recalled driving down Monterey-Salinas Highway and saw farmland that had Rain Bird sprinklers watering nothing but soil.

“I could see the people in their cars turning their heads like, ‘What is that farmer doing?’” Groot said.

That is part of the drought. In a typical year, when growers return from Yuma, the rains have moistened the soil, making it ready for the sprouts to be planted. If the soil is not wet, it will take the baby plants longer to acclimate and put roots down, Groot explained.

Because agriculture pumps more than 90

percent of the groundwater in the Salinas Valley Water Basin, according to the Monterey County Water Resources Agency, conservation efforts by growers have a far greater numerical impact on water use countywide.

Drip irrigation systems deliver water directly to a plant’s roots, reducing the evaporation that happens with spray watering systems. Timers can be used to schedule watering for the cooler parts of the day, further reducing water loss. Installed drip irrigation can save up to 80 percent more water than conventional irrigation, and can even contribute to increased crop yields, according to the California Department of Food and Irrigation.

And with the ongoing breakthroughs in sensor equipment that can signal the exact amount of water a crop needs, and when it needs it, growers are likely to continue the reduction in water use.

Dennis L. Taylor covers agriculture for TheCalifornian.com. Follow him on Twitter @taylor_salnews.

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California motorists to begin shouldering costs of carbon auctionBy Dale KaslerSacramento Bee

Motorists are about to get drafted into California’s war on climate change.

Starting Jan. 1, gas and diesel fuel will be subject to California’s cap-and-trade market, a 2-year-old regulatory mechanism that puts a price on carbon spewed into the atmosphere.

The result will be higher gasoline and diesel prices, and probably more controversy for a state program that’s already been attacked in the courts by

the business community.With fuel the cheapest it’s been in

years, state officials say the price in-crease won’t clobber consumers. The in-crease is likely to be less than 10 cents a gallon, said Mary Nichols, chairwoman of the California Air Resources Board, which runs the carbon program. Given the typical volatility of gas prices, Nich-ols said most consumers will probably barely notice the difference.

“The amount is small,” she said. “It does get hidden in the noise, in the

other changes that are constantly tak-ing place in the pricing of gasoline.”

Some academic experts have echoed Nichols’ projections. But oil-industry advocates, who have been campaigning for months against the move, say the effect could be more significant.

The Western States Petroleum Asso-ciation, or WSPA, the leading industry trade group in California, has posted on its website a prediction that prices could rise 16 to 76 cents a gallon. The WSPA prediction is based in part on a 4-year-old analysis of carbon prices by the Air Resources Board.

WSPA spokesman Tupper Hull acknowledged in an interview that the petroleum group’s prices estimate might be high, saying “I don’t dispute” predictions of more modest increases.

Regardless of the magnitude of the increase, WSPA is actively fighting a regulation that it says will harm con-sumers. A group organized by WSPA, the California Drivers Alliance, deliv-ered petitions with 115,000 signatures to an Air Resources Board meeting in Southern California last month. The petitions demanded a halt to “the hid-den gas tax,” as critics have labeled it.

Motorists “are going to participate in California’s grand experiment in con-trolling climate change,” Hull said. “We believe it’s important for consumers to be aware and to understand.”

Until now, the responsibility for fighting global warming in California has fallen on several hundred cement manufacturers, food processors and other large industrial firms. Under the program, which is the centerpiece of the state’s landmark 2006 climate change law, the big companies essen-tially have to pay for the right to emit greenhouse gases. They must purchase carbon allowances, either at quarterly state-run auctions or on the open mar-ket.

It’s designed as a market-based ap-proach that gives companies flexibility for complying with the regulation. Most of the emissions allowances are given out for free, and if their emis-sions exceed the cap, companies can buy more credits or find ways to reduce their carbon footprint. The total amount of carbon that can be emit-ted in the state – the “cap” – declines

slightly each year.Oil refiners are already covered by the

cap, but only for the greenhouse gases emitted from their smokestacks. The impact on fuel prices has been mod-est, maybe a penny a gallon, said UC Berkeley energy economist Severin Borenstein.

The change that’s coming Jan. 1 will broaden the oil industry’s participation. For the first time, the carbon coming out of car and truck tailpipes will be covered.

Motorists won’t be responsible for buying carbon-emissions credits. Instead, fuel wholesalers will have to purchase the credits in an amount based on the volume of fuel they deliver to service stations. The Air Resources Board will make more carbon credits available at its auctions to accommo-date the increased demand.

The expectation is that the cost of carbon will be passed along to driv-ers. The impact on pump prices will be a function of the carbon content in a gallon of fuel, and the market price of emissions credits – currently a little more than $12 a ton. Based on that, Borenstein said, fuel prices could increase 9 to 10 cents a gallon on New Year’s Day or within a few days after. His estimate is in line with Nichols’ projections at the Air Resources Board.

The oil industry and some business groups pushed for legislation this year that would have canceled or postponed the inclusion of gas and diesel in the carbon program. Despite support from some Democratic lawmakers, the leg-islation failed in the face of opposition from the Air Resources Board and Gov. Jerry Brown.

David Clegern, an Air Resources Board spokesman, said California’s climate change initiative has to include tailpipe emissions. They account for nearly 40 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions, he said.

“The cost of the carbon allowance has to get passed through. That’s the whole point. The consumer feels the impact,” said Jon Costantino, a senior adviser on carbon markets at the Manatt law firm in Sacramento and a former staffer at the Air Resources Board, where he managed climate change planning.

SeeCarbonAuction;Page7


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Supporters of the state’s plan say the burden on motorists won’t be excessive. At an extra dime a gallon, the aver-age family will pay an additional $12 a month for fuel, Borenstein said. Put another way, a 10-cent increase would be just a fraction of the 33-cent drop in average pump prices in California over the past month.

But critics say any price increase will be felt, especially among moderate- to low-income Californians.

“Everybody who buys gasoline is going to be taxed for the cap-and-trade tax,” said Lee Jamieson of Jaco Oil Co., a Bakersfield wholesaler that has been purchasing carbon credits in advance of Jan. 1.

Jamieson, whose company also oper-ates a Central Valley convenience store chain called Fastrip, isn’t happy about the regulation. He said motorists are quick to point fingers at the industry when gas prices go up.

“Don’t blame us; we didn’t do it,” he said. “The Legislature did it.”

Cap and trade is already a sore point with many in the business community. Since the state-run carbon auctions be-gan in late 2012, companies have spent

$2.27 billion on emissions allowances. The California Chamber of Commerce has called the expense a drag on the economy. The chamber and the conser-vative Pacific Legal Foundation have sued to block the auctions, arguing they amount to an unconstitutional tax, but so far have had no success.

Oil groups say bringing motor fuels into the equation will bring even more harm to the economy. The industry-supported California Drivers Alliance released a study in September saying an increase in fuel prices of 10 to 12 cents a gallon would cost the state’s economy $2.94 billion and eliminate 18,000 jobs “as households across the state cut back their spending to afford higher priced gas.”

The economic pain would grow if price hikes at the pump are higher, ac-cording to the study, produced by Davis consulting firm Encina Advisors LLC.

WSPA says that’s a distinct possibil-ity. If the price of carbon shoots up to $75 a ton, the price of gasoline could jump as high as 76 cents, according to the oil producers’ association. That prediction is based in part on a 2010 analysis by the Air Resources Board.

The Air Resources Board, however, said fears of a massive price increase are overblown and typical of how the petroleum industry reacts to new regu-

lations.“When we took the lead out of

gasoline, when we took the sulfur out of diesel … there were always, I will call them, either predictions or threats by the oil companies that the price at the pump would go up and people would

be hurt,” Nichols said. “Gasoline is cheap relative to other things you can buy and relative to overall inflation in the economy.”

Call The Bee’s Dale Kasler, (916) 321-1066. Follow him on Twitter @da-kasler. [email protected]


StEWARDShiPContinuedfromPage1

and in 1997 Tom and Dan began converting most of their 176 acres of almonds from flood to microsprinklers. This winter, Tom Rogers will further improve efficiency by converting those orchards to drip irrigation. Pressure-compensating drip emitters will allow for more uniform distribution of ap-plied water throughout the orchard and more fine-tuned distribution to the root zone.

Technology to improve accurate monitoring is the cornerstone of Rog-ers’ sustainable irrigation management program.

“When you can get the tree the water it needs when it needs it, then you can do a really good job of maximizing your irrigations,” he said.

Three soil moisture–monitoring stations measure moisture throughout the soil profile every 8 inches down to a depth of 4 feet. That data is recorded to help Rogers monitor tree water use throughout the season and from year

to year to establish patterns and predict irrigation trends.

“In spring, there is a point when the tree pulls hard and we see a drop in available moisture,” concludes Rogers. “We don’t see it in the tree, but with monitoring information we can give the tree water before it stresses.”

More Improvements

Soil temperature probes reveal when microbes and roots are active for improved fertilizer uptake. Weather stations also measure temperature and humidity inside the canopy, as well as wind speed and direction, plus rainfall. After this year, Rogers will also use the weather stations to track reference evapotranspiration (ET°) to further im-prove irrigation scheduling. Real-time pump pressure monitors let him know exact water use in 15-minute intervals.

All this data, along with established alerts, is sent remotely to Rogers’ iPad, where he can also remotely make ad-justments to his irrigation schedule.

Even with this technology, Rogers

said, good water management requires hands-on farming.

“Some people want these systems to tell them what to do, but they can’t,” he said. “You’re still farming, but it’s out there when you’re not. This is what makes farming fun.”

1. UC Drought Management – His-torical Almond ET, see and Goldhamer, David. 2012. Almond in Group Yield

Response to Water. FAO Irrigation and Drainage Paper No. 65, P. Steduto. T.C. Hsiao, E. Fereres, and D. Raes, eds. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, Italy, pp. 246-296.

- See more at: http://www.al-monds.com/newsletters/outlook/almond-farmer-recognized-water-stewardship#sthash.ljYEMlZx.dpuf

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drafts they had seen showed it would benefit mostly “desert agriculture in the southwestern San Joaquin Valley — not California as a whole.”

They’re right in pointing the finger at those agricultural users. Almond and pistachio farming in the valley —including growers affiliated with the giant Westlands Water District and nearby Paramount Farms, owned by Beverly Hills billionaires Stewart and Lynda Resnick — is a major factor in unbalanced water allocations statewide. These users hold low-priority water rights, but their crops can’t survive a break in supply. They spend lavishly to preserve their water; Westlands’ lobby-ing expenses in Washington have run to roughly $600,000 this year and last.

As my colleague Bettina Boxall reported last month, the parched southwestern valley, dependent on im-ported water, may be the worst place in California to practice this kind of agri-culture. But instead of wise agricultural practices, Westlands has substituted legal actions and lobbying for environ-mental rollbacks.

The Resnicks have leaned on Fein-stein to carry their concerns to govern-ment environmental officials. In 2009, Stewart Resnick wrote her to accuse the Interior and Commerce depart-ments of using “sloppy science” to impose environmental restrictions on water allocations to growers and other users, and to demand an “indepen-dent science review.” Possibly aware that the Resnicks had made $500,000 in political donations over the previ-ous four years, mostly to Democrats, Feinstein passed Resnick’s letter on to the agencies’ secretaries and endorsed his request. (The National Academy of Sciences later determined, alas, that the restrictions were “scientifically justi-fied.”)

That’s one reason environmental interests were uneasy about any closed-door discussions Feinstein might hold over the very same water allocations. She bristles at the implication: “All sorts of ulterior motives were being assumed,” she said, “and it’s simply not true.”

Instead, Feinstein said she was simply trying to afford water agencies more “flexibility” to shift allocations between

environmental requirements and the needs of users in the most drought-stricken parts of the state. “We are on our way to being a desert state,” she said, “and we have to find ways of using water more efficiently.” That’s true, but only by engaging all stakeholders in an open discussion.

Feinstein also pledged that she “won’t be a party” to a bill that overturns the Endangered Species Act or the Clean Water Act, or that disregards the bio-logical science underlying environmen-tal allocations. But both those admi-rable goals were compromised by her attempt to negotiate a deal and present it as a legislative fait accompli. There’s no guarantee that a bill that emerges from a Republican Congress even after public hearings will be, as Obegi put it, “less bad.” But at least the mechanisms that produce it will be open for all to see.

Michael Hiltzik’s column appears Sundays and Wednesdays. Read his blog, the Economy Hub, at latimes.com/business/hiltzik, reach him at [email protected], check out face-book.com/hiltzik and follow @hiltzikm on Twitter.

cover the next 18 to 24 months.

The commission should establish a thorough and transparent public process to evaluate proposed stor-age projects. The decisions on how and where to spend $2.7 billion for water storage poses the biggest risk due to political influence to waste this huge amount of taxpayer dollars.

Other projects will be approved by the State Water Resources Control Board or the Department of Natural Resources and go into a draft budget for review by Gov. Jer-ry Brown. After the budget is given to the Legislature in January, the public will have the opportunity to weigh in. If the budget is approved by July 1, money will soon flow to projects statewide.

With $7.5 billion on the table and the state in the fourth year of drought, it’s critical the taxpayers’ money is spent wisely.


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by thirty-three percent.--California farmers have steadily

done more with less. Between 1967 and 2010, farm revenue in the state grew by more than eighty-eight percent while the total applied water-use to crops was reduced by twenty percent.

So maybe there is one more wish I want to put on my list this year—a true appreciation for farming. I’m not talking about a slap on the back from kindred spirits but both an understand-ing and value placed on a farmer’s hard

work and stewardship of resources by the population at large and our gov-erning bodies alike. We can all agree that there are great challenges in terms of water in both Madera County and California. The facts as listed above show that farmers know how to solve water problems. Let those that don’t farm quit pointing fingers at us and in-stead join with the farming community to solve our water challenges.

‘Merry Christmas’ and ‘Happy Holi-days’ to one and all!

PRESiDEnt’S MESSAgEContinuedfromPage2

House Republicans, Costa join for last-ditch shot at California water billBy Michael DoyleFresno Bee

WASHINGTON — House Repub-licans joined by Fresno Democrat Jim Costa late Tuesday started a last-ditch maneuver to pass California water leg-islation that is friendly to farmers and frightening to environmentalists.

Acting fast in the dying days of a lame-duck Congress, the seven Cali-fornia lawmakers introduced a bill that

consolidates some ideas they think could pass both the Senate and House.

The 28-page bill is cast as a tempo-rary measure, and it omits the water storage project authorizations and some other provisions that had made a previous House bill politically contro-versial.

“House leadership understands that

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action needs to be taken before Con-gress adjourns,” said Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Tulare. “We are offering a compro-mise based on the Senate water bill in a further demonstration that a bipartisan majority in the House is both willing and able to act.”

The bill introduced by Rep. David Valadao, R-Hanford, as the chief spon-sor has the strong backing of House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield and is effectively guaranteed to pass the Republican-controlled House sometime before the scheduled Dec. 11 congressional adjournment. The bill has the backing of Costa but is likely to be opposed by most other House Demo-crats.

In theory, the water bill could pass the House either as a stand-alone bill or as an inclusion into a much larger, must-

pass omnibus spending bill needed to keep the federal government operating.

“For the sake of the people of Cali-fornia, we can no longer delay action,” McCarthy said.

The real test for what is billed as the California Emergency Drought Relief Act will come not in the House but in the Senate, where for months Democrat-ic Sen. Dianne Feinstein had engaged in closely held negotiations with House Republicans.

Late last month, Feinstein called off the secret talks and said she would try again to pass California water legislation early next Congress through what she described as “regular order.” On Tues-day night, Feinstein’s spokesman Tom Mentzer said the senator’s office had just received the House bill and still was reviewing it.

Politically, the House bill with its provisions designed to last 18 months puts Feinstein in a potential bind. The

specific language in certain cases closely tracks language she previously has voiced support for, House Republicans say. At the same time, some of Feinstein’s fellow California Democrats have urged her to resist accepting water legislation until more inclusive negotiations can begin next year.

“A bill of this magnitude requires public hearings and regular committee process,” seven House Democrats from Northern California and the Sacramento Valley declared in a joint statement last month.

The new House bill includes language designed to boost water exports south of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. It mandates “temporary operational flexibility” for water project operations during early storms, and it spells out as-sorted protections for Sacramento Valley water users. Much of the language is specific and technical, with the implica-tions not immediately obvious to the lay

reader.Contact Michael Doyle: mdoyle@

mcclatchydc.com, (202) 383-0006 or @MichaelDoyle10 on Twitter.

WAtER biLLContinuedfromPage10


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