Agriculture

There’s reason for optimism that there can be a truce in California’s water wars. The State Water Board adopted the first phase of a far-reaching revision to the Water Quality Control Plan for the Sacramento‒San Joaquin Delta and its watershed. Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom’s support and involvement will be essential to carry this effort to a positive conclusion.

A growing emphasis on reconnecting California floodplains to rivers so they can absorb floodwaters is a U-turn from past reliance on levees to protect cities and towns.

Agricultural interests have poured $420,000 in recent days into a push to unseat Bakersfield Democrat Rudy Salas Jr., over his vote in 2016 for a landmark bill that grants farm workers overtime.

The dairy industry is responsible for 75 percent of agriculture’s methane emissions, but it has focused on unproven bio-digester technology. California should look at less costly alternatives.

A 152-mile long canal that irrigates pistachios and other crops in the eastern San Joaquin Valley is sinking by an inch a month, the result of groundwater over-pumping by farmers. The Sacramento Bee described the Friant-Kern Canal as an engineering marvel, but its capacity has been reduced by as much as 60 percent at because of subsidence. […]

We have another lawsuit. With a new filing this morning, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra brought the state’s total number of legal challenges against the Trump administration to 33. That’s two lawsuits per month since the president assumed office. The question at issue this time: did the Environmental Protection Agency violate federal procedures when it […]

Democrat Antonio Villaraigosa apparently believes his path to the governor's office runs through the San Joaquin Valley.