Madera County FarM Bureau - maderafb.com Newspapers... · Madera County Farm Bureau Celebrates its Centennial! The Madera County Farm Bureau is excited to announce 100 years of service

Madera CountyFarM Bureau

September 2014 Vol. 4, No. 11agriculture today

See Page 7 See Page 13

House Votes to Block ePa Water rules

Valley communities loBBy congress one more time

for drougHt HelP

See Water; Page 9

See Rights; Page 9

CaleNdarOctober7 Executive Committee Meeting,

2:30 p.m., MCFB Conference Room, 1102 South Pine Street, Madera (559) 674-8871, info @ www.maderafb.com

14 MCFB Annual Meeting of Mem-bers & Board of Directors Meet-ing, 12:00 p.m., MCFB Ben Hayes Hall, 1102 South Pine Street, Madera (559) 674-8871, info @ www.maderafb.com

November4 Executive Committee Meeting,


27-28OfficeClosedfortheThanksgiv-ing Holiday

december2 Executive Committee Meeting,


22-2 OfficeClosedfortheChristmas&New Year’s Holiday

Valley farmers finding ways to make water lastBy David CastellonVisalia Times-Delta

With the Valley struggling through one of the worst droughts in California’s history, Dennis McFarlin has been looking for new ways to get water for his 120-acres of farms between Orosi and Orange Cove.

And the situation is more desperate because he and other farmers who normally depend on water from Millerton Lake delivered through the Friant-Kern Canal are getting practically no surface-water deliveries this summer.

So operators of the Orange Cove Irrigation District have found at least an interim solution for farmers like McFarlin who are short on water. But it’s not a new solution, as the idea harkens back to the 1920s, when farmers with wells often

sold or shared their water with neighbors through pipes between farms, McFarlin said.

That became harder to do once the county started building rural roads, and then it became unnecessary after the Friant-Kern Canal was completed in the 1950s to deliver water to eastern Fresno, Tulare and Kern counties.

This time around, farmers with wells are making deals with farmers who don’t have any — or badly need additional water to supplement their wells — to buy water.

As for how it’s delivered, the system is similar to the one in the 1920, with well pumps pulling water from wells and injecting it into the 115 miles of pressurized irrigation pipes that run through 20-mile-long, two-mile-wide Orange Cove district.

Farmers who have purchased that water are can draw the equivalent amounts out of the system for their farming operations.

New pipes, flow meters and pressure regulators to control and measure the water going in out of the the system have been installed at farms buying or selling groundwater in the Orange Cove district, its the farmers who make the deals to buy and sell its explained Fergus Morrissey, the district’s manager, adding that this is the first time district has transferred well water between farms.

“So it’s basically a sharing of those with groundwater to those without,” he explained. “Otherwise, the people who don’t have any groundwater will lose their permanent crops. They’re desperate.”

This is just one example of farmers and irrigation districts going beyond business

as usual to try to save their crops from dying out due to the drought.

“This is the first major drought we’ve had where we had no water in the reservoir” or at least none available to the majority of farmers who normally get surface water from Friant-Kern, which is driving efforts to find other ways to obtain and preserve water, McFarlin said.

He has a dozen wells on his farms, where he grows citrus, grapes, olives and pomegranates, but he needs additional water for his trees and vines to survive the

Rights to California surface water far greater than average runoffBy Bettina BoxallLos Angeles Times

California over the last century has issued water rights that amount to roughly five times the state’s average annual runoff, according to new research that underscores a chronic imbalance between supply and demand.

That there are more rights than water in most years is not news. But UC researchers say their study is the most comprehensive review to date of the enormous gap between natural surface flows and allocations.

Of 27 major California rivers, rights on 16 of them exceed natural runoff. Among the most over-allocated are the San Joaquin, Kern and Stanislaus rivers in

the San Joaquin Valley and the Santa Ynez River in Southern California.

In theory, that difference is not necessarily a problem. It gives water agencies and irrigation districts with junior rights access to additional supplies during wet years, when runoff is above average and there is plenty to go around. But in reality, study co-author Joshua Viers said, it fosters unrealistic expectations for water that is often not available.

“It gives the public a false sense of water security,” said Viers, a UC Merced professor of water resources. For the most junior rights holders, he added, “It’s kind of like standing in line to get into a concert and they give you a ticket when they’re

2 | September 2014 Madera County Farm Bureau

Most of us will be finished with harvest soon and can breath a sigh of relieve. I know we all had to get by with less water than we needed. Now we are looking forward and praying that we will get at least a normal winter of rain and snow.

We have a state population that exceeds 38 million and an agricultural industry that feeds the nation. We have been struggling to meet the increasing demands for water after three years of drought.

In November we will be voting on a $7.5 billion water bond. The plan includes $7.1 billion in new borrowing and $425 million from previous bonds that would be redirected to the updated water priorities. Key components include $2.7 billion for additional storage. That is almost $1billon more than the governor originally proposed. Storage is essential if we are going to stay a viable industry. We are told that the bond has enough money so that we can actually build Sites Reservoir and Temperance Flat and they can’t get blocked

by the Legislature in the future. Let’s hope we get some thing out of this drought we have all been struggling through.

Madera County Farm Bureau Celebrates its Centennial!The Madera County

Farm Bureau is excited to announce 100 years of service and prosperity! MCFB joins an elite club of California county Farm Bureaus who have the distinguished honor

of serving their local residents for a

century, only 5 others in the Country and State!

The Madera County Farm Bureau was formally established in 1914 as a major insurance provider for people in all industries, not just for agricultural purposes. Its mission was to provide a reasonable insurance base for peoples seeking economic opportunity in California. Most farm bureaus

were originally created as insurance cooperatives, later developing the advocacy roles that commonly governs the bureaus today.

The Madera County Farm Bureau will be celebrating its centennial over the course of the next year –but would like to invite you to attend our annual meeting of members on October 14th, where we will be unveiling historic

photographs of the Farm Bureau and Madera County Agriculture! You’ll also learn about the Farm Bureau’s upcoming activities in health and safety and agricultural advocacy.

Come help us celebrate!

Madera County Farm Bureau news2012 - 2013 executive Committee

President:TomColemanFirst Vice President: Al Sheeter

Second Vice President: Jay MahilSecretary/Treasurer:MichaelNaito

AppointedbyPresident:JimEricksonAppointed by President: Dennis Meisner Jr.ImmediatePastPresident:TomRogers

directors at largeMathew AndrewH. Clay Daulton

Stephen ElgorriagaMichele Lasgoity

Jeff McKinneyPat Ricchiuti

Robert CadenazziNickDavis

Loren FreemanNeil McDougald

Dino PetrucciRobert Sahatjian

Chris WylieCalifornia Farm Bureau - district 9 director

AnthonyToso

California Farm Bureau CommitteePolicy Recommendation – H. Clay Daulton

Air & Environmental Issues – H. Clay Daulton

California Farm Bureau Commodity representativesBee – Ryan Cosyns

Beef – H. Clay DaultonGrape – Jay Mahil

SpecialtyCrops–TomRogers

Office StaffExecutive Director: Anja K. Raudabaugh

Executive Assistant: Normalee G. Castillo

Madera County Farm Bureau1102 South Pine Street

Madera, CA 93637(559) 674-8871; www.maderafb.com

advertising/PublishingMid-Valley Publishing

1130 D Street, Reedley, CA 93654

advertising SalesDebraLeak

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editorNormalee G. Castillo

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POSTMaSTerSend address changes to:

Madera County Farm Bureau1102 South Pine Street, Madera, CA 93637

TheMaderaCountyFarmBureaudoes not assume responsibility for

statements by advertisers or for productsadvertised in Madera County Farm Bureau.

President’s Message

TomColemanPresident

TOBECOMEAMEMBERCALL

674-8871

TOBECOMEADONORCALL 674-8871

new MCFB donors

Ben SlaughterJerald S. Hiatt

Madera Persimmon GrowersMichael Mcreeripaul Sorting

robert a. SpinelliSteve Bolderoff

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

for the months of August & September.

Anja RaudabaughExecutive Director

Executive Directors Address

new MCFB Members

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NAME CITY P/C/B

Adam Kathrein Sanger ConsumerSynthia Kimbley Coarsegold ConsumerMadera Persimmon Growers Madera ProducerAndrew Maik Madera ProducerDeRosset Myers Columbia, SC ProducerAftab Naz Madera Consumer

MCFB welcomes the following new agricultural (producer), associate

(consumer) Collegiate, and Business Support members who joined in

august & September:

Madera County Farm Bureau September 2014 | 3

California’s Water-Starved Farmers Stymied by Fish ProtectionsBloomberg NewsBy Alison Vekshin

Environmental protections for endangered salmon in California’s rivers and streams are drawing complaints from drought-stricken farmers who say water that could be pumped to them is allowed to empty into the ocean.

Authorities have sharply curtailed allocations in the largest U.S. agricultural producing state, with 2012 sales valued at $42.6 billion, forcing growers to leave farmland unplanted or pay escalated prices for water from other sources.

“The Endangered Species Act does not have any consideration for human impact, and that’s a little disturbing,” said Joe Del Bosque, 65, president of Del Bosque Farms in Firebaugh, who grows melons and tomatoes. “It’s already harming us now. It could be worse next year.”

One of the worst droughts in California’s history is intensifying a longstanding conflict between farmers, environmentalists and fishermen over the Chinook salmon that spawn in the Sacramento and San Joaquin river systems. A crash in the

salmon population forced a ban on commercial fishing off California and Oregon in 2008 and 2009. Smelt are also protected, though they are considered threatened, a step short of endangered.

To protect the fish, officials temporarily turn off pumping stations in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta that supplies water to millions of acres of farmland and 23 million state residents. Farmers say shutting down the pumps costs them millions in lost revenue by allowing the water to flow into the Pacific Ocean at San Francisco Bay.

‘Environment Supersedes’“For us, our water supply is directly

linked with whatever fish actions are necessary in the Delta,” said Sarah Woolf, 43, a partner at Clark Brothers Farming near Five Points, California. “There has to be a value placed on delivering water to urban centers, whether it be for industry, for human consumption and for agriculture. Today they are at the bottom of the list and the environment supersedes everything.”

The drought, not environmental regulations, is responsible for the vast

majority of water reductions, said Doug Obegi, a LAWYER FOR the water program in the San Francisco office of the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group.

“There have been very minimal restrictions on pumping due to Endangered Species Act protections,” Obegi said. “By and large, there’s just not enough water to go around in the system.”

Agriculture consumes about 80 percent of all delivered water in the most-populous U.S. state. California’s 80,500 farms and ranches supply everything from milk, beef and flowers to half of the fruits, vegetables and nuts consumed in the U.S.

Zero AllocationAfter three years of record-low rain and

snow, farmers got none of their contractual water allocations, according to U.S. Bureau of Reclamation data. Wildlife and senior water-rights holders -- those with claims dating to before 1914 -- got 75 percent north of the delta, and 65 percent south of the delta, according to the data.

“We’re talking about severe drought conditions,” said Louis Moore, a bureau

spokesman. “Everyone else took a cut. Until the drought is lifted, we have a diminishing water supply that’s only going to get tighter.”

In Congress, Senator Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat, has offered a bill aimed at maximizing water supplies to farmers without violating environmental laws. Senate and House aides are negotiating a compromise version of the bill that passed the Senate in May.

The measure would ask federal officials to open the Delta Cross Channel Gates for as long as possible while salmon aren’t migrating to pump additional water without harming the fish. The gates control the diversion channel near Walnut Grove that moves water from the Sacramento River toward the delta.

$7.1 Billion BondsGovernor Jerry Brown, a 76-year-

old Democrat running for re-election, declared a drought emergency in January and urged the public to reduce water use by 20 percent. Brown last month signed legislation to place a proposal on the

See California; Page 14

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EPA sued — again — to force decision on pesticideSan Francisco ChronicleBy Bob Egelko

More than four years ago, environmental groups asked a federal court to order the Environmental Protection Agency to decide whether to ban a widely used pesticide that scientists have linked to illnesses in children. They settled the case in November 2011 after the EPA said it would make a decision within a year. When that didn’t happen, they sued again. More promises, the groups said, but no performance.

On Wednesday, the same organizations filed a third lawsuit, asking for a firm. court-ordered deadline.

“They’ve done a lot of work to get to the point of making a decision,” said Patti Goldman, a LAWYER FOR the environmental firm Earthjustice in San Francisco. “We’re asking the court to hold them to their most recent promise.”

That would be a decision by the end of December, she said, on whether to outlaw all uses of a chemical called chlorpyrifos. Studies have linked it to asthma and other physical and MENTAL HEALTH problems in children, including delayed mental and motor skill development. The EPA cited those potential dangers in 2000 when it prohibited all household uses of the chemical, which was contained in the pesticide Dursban and other products. The ban also applied to schools, day-care centers, hospitals and nursing homes.

But chlorpyrifos is still used as an See EPA; Page 14


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See Water Rights; Page 15

SLO County moves toward banning exportation of groundwaterNo rules iN place for basiNs that iNclude sm valleySanta Maria TimesBy April Charlton

San Luis Obispo County is another step closer to banning the exportation of groundwater.

On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors directed staff to further develop an ordinance that would regulate exporting groundwater from the county’s 22 basins.

It is expected the proposed new regulations would be presented to the supervisors for action around Thanksgiving.

The county has no rules in place governing the exportation of groundwater from its basins, which range from very small to much larger aquifers, such as the Paso Robles Groundwater Basin and Santa Maria Valley Groundwater Basin, which stretches from northern Santa Barbara County to Pismo Beach.

Assistant County Counsel Tim McNulty told the supervisors they have the power to impose a ban exporting groundwater, as has been done in at least 20 various

counties in the state, but must adopt rules that can be legally enforced.

He suggested if the board moves forward with adopting a so-called “anti-export ordinance,” the regulations should have some flexibility and not completely prohibit the practice of moving groundwater from one basin to a another.

“An absolute ban would be more difficult to defend and more expensive,” McNulty said, adding the supervisors needed to define the meaning of groundwater and its exportation for the purposes of the ordinance, as well as decide whether there should be exemptions to the pending rules.

The elected officials directed staff to define “groundwater” as any water that’s in any given basin and “exportation” as water taken from a basin “for use outside (the) county or for use outside the basin from which it was extracted.”

They also want to see certain exemptions in the ordinance, which is expected to be basin-based, such as allowing exportation to prevent floods, for county projects and

use on contiguous parcels underlying the same basin.

Supervisor Debbie Arnold proposed exempting small water companies and community services districts, but her colleagues didn’t agree.

“I wouldn’t be shy about not exempting small water districts,” said Chairman Bruce Gibson. “The water companies on the Nipomo Mesa are largely unregulated. We need to maintain as much control as possible.”

Additionally, the board also wants to include provisions in the ordinance that if someone wants to export water from any of the basins, he would need to APPLY for a minor-use permit and have a five-year sunset clause.

The ordinance, which the supervisors directed staff to begin drafting in late January, is directly related to beliefs that a proposed groundwater management district in Paso Robles could begin selling water outside the county once it’s established.

Precedent Setting Case Threatens Your Water rights!

Since 2011, Mendocino and Sonoma County Farmers have been embroiled in a legal battle with the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) over a question-ably legal “regulation” that disallows these farmers from extracting water from the Russian River for emer-gency frost and drought protection.

Although the Mendocino County Superior Court ruled favorably for the farmers, the 1st District Court of Appeals overturned the decision and in doing so, have also pro-claimed that ALL water rights, in-



Title Last First Company Address City ZipCFBF President Wenger Paul California Farm Bureau Federation 2300 River Plaza Drive Sacramento 95833CFBF First Vice President Watkins Kenny California Farm Bureau Federation 2300 River Plaza Drive Sacramento 95833CFBF Second Vice President Johansson Jamie California Farm Bureau Federation 2300 River Plaza Drive Sacramento 95833CFBF Administrator Matteis Richard California Farm Bureau Federation 2300 River Plaza Drive Sacramento 95833Mayor Pro Tem Chavez John Chowchilla City Hall 145 W. Robertson Blvd. Chowchilla 93610Mayor Walker Richard Chowchilla City Hall 145 W. Robertson Blvd. Chowchilla 93610Council Member Haworth Dennis Chowchilla City Hall 145 W. Robertson Blvd. Chowchilla 93610Council Member Hebert Janan Chowchilla City Hall 145 W. Robertson Blvd. Chowchilla 93610Council Member Jackson Isaac Chowchilla City Hall 145 W. Robertson Blvd. Chowchilla 93610Congressman Nunes Devin Clovis District Office 264 Clovis Avenue Suite 206 Clovis 93612Congressman Denham Jeff Fresno District Office 4701 Sisk RD Ste 202 Modesto 95356Council Member District 4 Caprioglio Paul Fresno City Hall 2600 Fresno Street Fresno 93721Council Member District 6 Brand Lee Fresno City Hall 2600 Fresno Street Fresno 93721Council Member District 1 Xiong Blong Fresno City Hall 2600 Fresno Street Fresno 93721Council Member District 3 Baines III Oliver L. Fresno City Hall 2600 Fresno Street Fresno 93721Council Member District 2 Brandau Steve Fresno City Hall 2600 Fresno Street Fresno 93721Council Member District 7 Olivier Clint Fresno City Hall 2600 Fresno Street Fresno 93721Council Member District 5 Quintero Sal Fresno City Hall 2600 Fresno Street Fresno 93721Mayor Swearengin Ashley Fresno City Hall 2600 Fresno Street Fresno 93721Supervisor District 3 Perea Henry Fresno County Board of Supervisors 2281 Tulare Street, #301 Hall of Records Fresno 93637Supervisor District 1 Larson Phil Fresno County Board of Supervisors 2281 Tulare Street, #301 Hall of Records Fresno 93637Supervisor District 2, Chairman Borgeas Andreas Fresno County Board of Supervisors 2281 Tulare Street, #301 Hall of Records Fresno 93637Supervisor District 5 Poochigian Debbie Fresno County Board of Supervisors 2281 Tulare Street, #301 Hall of Records Fresno 93637Supervisor, District 4, Vice Chairman Case McNairy Judy Hall of Records 2281 Tulare Street, #301 Hall of Records Fresno 93637Council Member District 1 Bomprezzi Sally J. Madera City Hall 205 West Fourth Street Madera 93637Mayor Poythress Robert L. Madera City Hall 205 West Fourth Street Madera 93637Council Member District 3 Madera City Hall 205 West Fourth Street Madera 93637Council Member District 2 Medellin Andrew J. Madera City Hall 205 West Fourth Street Madera 93637Council Member Distirct 6 Holley Donald E. Madera City Hall 205 West Fourth Street Madera 93637Mayor Pro Tem Robinson Sr. Derek O. Madera City Hall 205 West Fourth Street Madera 93637Council Member District 5 Svanda Gary L. Madera City Hall 205 West Fourth Street Madera 93637Supervisor District 1 Nevarez Manuel Madera County Board of Supervisors 200 West 4th Street Madera 93637Supervisor District 3 Farinelli Rick Madera County Board of Supervisors 200 West 4th Street Madera 93637Supervisor District 2 Rogers David Madera County Board of Supervisors 200 West 4th Street Madera 93637Supervisor District 4 Rodriguez Max Madera County Board of Supervisors 200 West 4th Street Madera 93637Supervisor District 5, Chairman Wheeler Tom Madera County Board of Supervisors 200 West 4th Street Madera 93637 Toso Tony California Farm Bureau District 9 Director P.O. Box 270 Hornitos 95325 Hill Brian State Compensation Insurance Fund 2300 River Plaza Drive Suite 150 Sacramento 95833 Genasci Andrew CFBF Field Representative 2399 Tea Rose St. Turlock 95382Congressman Costa Jim Fresno District Office 855 “M” Street, Suite 940 Fresno 93721Assemblyman Perea Henry T. Fresno District Office 2550 Mariposa Mall Suite 5031 Fresno 93721Senator Berryhill Tom Fresno District Office 6215 North Fresno Street Suite 104 Fresno 93710Senator Cannella Anthony Merced DistrictOffice 1640 N. Street Suite 210 Merced 95340Assemblyman Olsen Kristin Modesto District Office 3719 Tully Road Suite C Modesto 95356Senator Boxer Barbara United States Senate 2500 Tulare Street Suite 5290 Fresno 93721Senator Feinstein Dianne United States Senate 2500 Tulare Street Suite 4290 Fresno 93721 Bobby Kahn Executive Director, Madera County Economic Development Commission 2425 West Cleveland Ave. Suite 101 Madera 93637

Valley communities lobby Congress one more time for drought help Fresno BeeBy Michael Doyle

Seventeen California cities and counties urged Congress on Tuesday to complete drought legislation that’s currently hung up in closed-door negotiations.

The municipal resolutions passed in recent weeks by small towns like Dos Palos and counties like Kern and Kings were presented to the House Natural Resources Committee as part of a public drumbeat that included a several-hour long hearing on easing environmental rules.

“It’s CONTINUING to make the case that we have to move forward,” Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno, said of the hearing Tuesday, adding later that “people in California are wondering if we in Congress are capable of coming together.”

Costa presented the local drought resolutions during a hearing that on its surface was about six different bills centering on the Endangered Species Act. He authored one of the bills, designed to boost water exports to San Joaquin Valley farms.

Costa’s legislation would effectively minimize WATER DELIVERY restrictions imposed as a means to protect Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta fish listed under the Endangered Species Act.

“It would significantly increase water supply for the benefit of workers, farmers and consumers alike,” testified Tom Birmingham, general manager of the Westlands Water District.

Tom Barcellos, a Tipton farmer and board member of the Lower Tule River Irrigation District, added in a written statement that “it’s time for Congress to provide clear direction” on how to APPLY the Endangered Species Act in the Delta” and warned that “if nothing changes, 2015 will be a catastrophe.”

Dubbed the More Water and Security for Californians Act, Costa’s legislation appears not to be going anywhere this year. The Obama administration opposes it, as do some other California Democrats, and Congress has only a few business days remaining before lawmakers rush back home to resume campaigning.

But as stalking horses, Costa’s legislation and the five Republican-authored bills considered Tuesday serve several purposes. Not least, the bills

keep heating the decades-old debate over the trade-off between endangered species protections and human demands -- a debate at the center of the California drought bill negotiations.

“The central reason for reduced water supplies in California stems from drought, not from implementation of the ESA,” said Gary Frazer, assistant director for Endangered Species at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Underscoring the state’s drought-driven political divisions, Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, concurred with Frazer that “environmental restrictions have had minimal effect on WATER DELIVERIES” in the state.

“The narrative of this hearing is all

about positioning the Endangered Species Act as the scapegoat,” said Huffman, who formerly chaired the state Assembly’s Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee.

Huffman and other Northern California Democrats, including those whose districts span part of the Delta, are largely skeptical of the still-secret drought package that was originally authored by House Republicans.

The GOP-controlled House passed an ambitious, 68-page California water bill in February, without a committee hearing. A farmers’ wish list, the House bill limits a landmark 1992 law that directed more water to protect the Delta. It removes wild-and-scenic protections from a half mile of the Merced River, lengthens federal irrigation contracts to 40 years and makes

it easier to move water around the state, among other provisions

The Senate countered in May with a slimmed-down 16-page bill passed by unanimous consent, also without a committee hearing.

Since then, there have been hints that Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California and backers of the House bill have closed their major differences, while Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer and the Obama administration remain cautious. All of the participants in the negotiations have sworn themselves to secrecy.

The reporter can be reached at (202) 383-0006, [email protected] or @MichaelDoyle10 on Twitter.


See Pesticides; Page 12

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Pesticide Levels in Waterways Have Dropped, Reducing the Risks to HumansNew York TimesBy Michael Wines

The development of safer pesti-cides and legal restrictions on their use have sharply reduced the risk to humans from pesticide-tainted rivers and streams, while the potential risk to aquatic life in urban waters has risen,

according to a two-decade survey pub-lished on Thursday.

The study, conducted by the United States Geological Survey and published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, monitored scores of pesticides from 1992 to 2011 at more than 200 SAMPLING points on rivers

and streams. In both of the last two de-cades, researchers reported, they found insecticides and herbicides in virtually all of the waterways.

The results nevertheless documented a striking decline in dangers to humans from pesticide pollution. From 1992 to 2001, 17 percent of agricultural streams and 5 percent of other streams contained at least one pesticide whose average annual concentration was above the maximum contaminant level for drinking water. But in the second decade, from 2002 to 2011, the survey found dangerous pesticide concentra-tions in only one stream nationwide.

The decline occurred in part be-cause manufacturers introduced new pesticides that are less toxic or require smaller applications than older com-pounds. Much of it was driven by regulatory actions that canceled or re-stricted the use of particularly hazard-ous pesticides like dieldrin and lindane.

“It’s very clear in the data that regulatory changes in use do affect what you see in the streams,” said Wes Stone, a hydrologist with the Geologi-cal Survey in Indianapolis and the lead researcher on the survey. “It’s show-ing what you would expect, and that’s good.” Mr. Stone and the study’s other two authors, Robert Gilliom and Karen Ryberg, conducted the research as part of the Geological Survey’s National Water-Quality Assessment PRO-GRAM.

The use of insecticides dropped about one-third in the 1990s, mostly because of changes forced by regula-tory actions, and remained more or less constant during the first decade of the 2000s. The opposite was true of herbi-cides, whose use was steady during the 1990s but then rocketed as the WEED KILLER glyphosate became popular


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summer, which prompted him to buy water from other farmers in the Orange Cove district.

But it wasn’t cheap, said McFarlin, who at times paid up to $2,000 per acre foot of water compared to the $70 he paid for the same amount prior to losing his surface water allotment. And he said he has bought about 300 acre feet of groundwater so far.

An acre foot is equal to one acre of water one foot deep.

Vahid Salehi, owner of Pistacia Global, which manages about 1,200 acres of pistachio farms in the Terra Bella, Riverdale and Ducor areas, helped develop a similar solution when a 50-acre farm he manages with no wells was threatened by the lack of surface water.

In that case, some of his clients with well water agreed to sell some of it, so two 7,000-gallon water tanks were installed near near the pistachio grove without wells, and the water was trucked in to keep the trees alive.

“This went on for almost a month’s worth of irrigation,” with about 50 acre feet of water purchased at a cost of about

$1,200 an acre foot, Salehi said.It’s a considerable amount to pay for

water, but McFarlin said the alternative could be worse, because if trees or vines die, farmers have to endure the costs of pulling them out and replacing them some time in the future with new, immature trees.

From that point, it could take about eight years for a citrus tree to mature enough to produce sufficient fruit to be profitable, he said.

Other methods to save water farmers are looking into include spraying tree leaves with chemicals to reduce transpiration — the evaporation of water through leaves — and spraying ground chemicals to promote the development of more root hairs so trees soak in more water when they’re irrigated and when rain comes.

“I’ve seen a lot of desperation that leads to creativity,” said Ron Jacobsma, general manager of the Friant Water Authority, which oversees distribution of water through the Friant-Kern Canal.

Embracing new, water-saving technology also is important, local water experts said.

Scott Bordelon, co-owner of Caleo Ag, a Fresno-based well-cleaning and irrigation-consulting business that includes clients in Tulare County, said

one of the most promising pieces of new technology available to farmer is a series of underground sensors that detect when irrigation water flows into the ground below the trees’ foot systems, so farmers can adjust and use no more water than their groves need.

The sensors also show if the water isn’t going deep enough because not enough watering has occurred, he said.

“When the drought started, it was getting popular,” Bordelon said of the ground-sensor technology, but because of the financial tolls because of the lack of water, many farmers here can’t afford the sensors.

He said several farmers are ripping out parts of their acreage to build small reservoirs, so they can pump water from their wells at night — when electrical rates are cheaper to operate the pumps — and then use that water to irrigate during the day.

But digging reservoirs seems less for saving water than it is a reaction to higher electrical costs — which are going up in part because the drought is dropping well levels, so more power is needed to pull water to the surface — noted David Cardoza, owner of the Cardoza Company, a land-leveling business in Tulare that digs

reservoirs.Regardless of the water saving-efforts

on the farms at least for the time being dealing for water remains among the most important strategies out there.

Such is the case for the Terra Bella Irrigation District, which this year has made three different deals to buy thousands of acre feet of water and one to conduct a series of swaps with the Arvin-Edison Water Storage District, south of Bakersfield, in exchange for more than 5,000 acre feet of its water in Millerton Lake.

“And we’re going to supply them a 5-to1 supply. So we are going to give them 25,000 acre feet over the next five years,” at a rate of 5,000 acre feet a year.

That will not begin until after the drought ends and Terra Bella gets at least 80 percent of its initial allotment of water in a year, said Sean Geivet, general manager of the Terra Bella district.

“5,000 acre feet in one year is not a huge amount in a decent water year,” he said, adding that the water deals, will cost farmers a lot, but they probably will save about 7,500 acres of trees, mostly citrus and pistachios.

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already at capacity. But you don’t know that you’ll never actually get in to see the show.”

The study, published online Tuesday in the journal Environmental Research Letters, analyzed public data from the State Water Resources Control Board, which administers water rights, and compared it with estimates of natural surface flow.

While the annual statewide flow averages 70 million acre feet, water rights issued since 1914 allocate 370 million acre feet. (An acre foot of water is sufficient to supply two households for a year.)

“What is the most compelling about this,” Viers said, is “that the appropriated rights are so much more than the actual full natural flow. In many cases, we’ve five to

10 times over-promised.”Moreover, the state data base does not

account for riparian rights granted to streamside landowners or pre-1914 rights, under which some irrigation districts and cities claim huge amounts of water. “So in many ways our estimate is a substantial underestimate of the total volume of rights,” he said.

Viers conducted the study with Ted Grantham, now a U.S. Geological Survey scientist, when Grantham was a postdoctoral researcher at UC Davis.

The authors say that the state board has spotty information on actual water use by rights holders, hampering its ability to do its job.

“We’re not lacking in technology and know-how,“ said Viers, who argued that the state is short on funding and “the political will” to develop information and

monitoring systems to strengthen water rights oversight.

“We need both better information infrastructure and policy in order to make better decisions about water use in California,” he said.

Michael Hanemann, a UC Berkeley professor of environmental and resource economics who was not involved in the study, said the issue is not so much that the state has issued too many water rights. Rather, he said, California doesn’t properly enforce them — or in the case of 19th century rights, even know exactly who is

entitled to what.“Without supervision of distribution,

appropriative water rights are meaningless: We do not have a coherent system for allocating water,” Hanemann said.

Amanda Montgomery, a water rights manager for the state board who is familiar with the Grantham-Viers research, said: “We have the system we have and we do our absolute best to implement it effectively … We’re always looking toward program improvements.”

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MCFB Files Lawsuit Against Madera County Over Questionable Approval of Massive Development Project

The Madera County Farm Bureau Board of Directors voted this past August to sue the County of Madera over approval of the Gunner Ranch

West Specific Plan Project and Devel-opment (Project). The Project calls for an integrated, mixed use development, consisting of 2,840 Residential Units,

2.5 Million square feet of commercial uses, 1.1 Million square feet of hospital related services, a government cen-ter, a large commercial medical office complex, a fire station, a community center, 58 acres of open space and parks, an electrical substation, and a 62 acre waste water treatment plant. The County Board of Supervisors approved the Project on July 21, despite the de-velopment relying 100% on groundwa-ter for all planned water supply needs.

The MCFB Board of Directors fully supports the expansion of Children’s Hospital of Central California and is dedicated to seeing its growth success-fully continue in the future. MCFB, however, wishes to see the Hospital actually have some water for planned growth in the future and feels that the authorization of this Project –spe-cifically a massive housing and de-velopment blueprint solely reliant on groundwater –was highly questionable on the County’s part, especially in that face of our current water crisis.

The approval of a project of this

substantial scope that has planned use of groundwater as the ONLY means of supply for a PERMANENT hous-ing project is an action that the MCFB Board of Directors cannot support. We can fallow farmland—and are being FORCED to in this extreme drought—but you cannot fallow residences in times of great need. The County of Madera, especially in light of continuing Stage 4 drought emergency actions, acted questionably in approving this development.

Attempts by the MCFB to clarify data used by the developers to secure the Board of Supervisor’s approval and compel the project to include surface water in usage plans were met with resistance prior to litigation deadlines, thus forcing MCFB to file the lawsuit.

The Farm Bureau is graciously ac-cepting donations to assist in fighting this litigation. Please makes checks payable to:

Madera County Farm Bureau C/O Legal Fund or MCFB Legal Fund


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Valley farm laborers finding work in other statesKFSN-TV FresnoBy Veronica Miracle

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Small, outlying towns in Central Califor-nia are losing farm laborers who are FINDING WORK in other states.

When large groups of people move away from already tiny communities it’s not just the work force that’s af-fected.

If you look out in the fields of Fire-baugh, you’ll find they’re not just miss-ing water but the people that normally care for them.

“They’re going to packing houses. They’re going to Alaska to pack salm-on, they’re going to Nebraska to work in pork processing facilities. They’re going to other places to find work be-cause it’s just not here,” said Firebaugh Mayor Pro Tem Craig Knight.

And when the farm laborers pack and up and leave, the students that fill the hallways at these schools go with them.

“For every student you have you’re getting paid a certain amount of money. And when you lose students of course at the end of the year you’re not going to earn that same dollar,” said Superintendent Russell Freitas of the Firebaugh Las Deltas Unified School District.

Freitas says they’re down about 60 students this enrollment year. And in the wintertime Firebaugh Las Deltas Unified School District typically loses many more. An increasing concern for the small school district.

“In a district that CONTINUES to see their enrollment drop you would have to then make those tough deci-sions as far as laying off employees,” Freitas explained.

Freitas says they haven’t had to lay off any teachers since five years ago. But that could change depending on the winter rain, or lack thereof.


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PEStiCiDESContinued from Page 8

on farms and in gardens.While human-health hazards

declined over 20 years, the share of streams whose pesticide levels posed a potential threat to aquatic life remained mostly steady: Between 60 and 70 per-cent of agricultural streams and roughly 45 percent of streams in mixed-use areas, REGISTERED levels above the benchmark for potential harm to aquatic life.

Urban streams — the survey moni-tored 30 — were the glaring exception.

There, the proportion of streams with pesticide levels above the aquatic-life benchmark soared from 53 percent in the first decade to 90 percent in the second, even as other pesticides were phased out.

The culprits, researchers found, were two pesticides, fipronil and dichlorvos. Fipronil, used in many products, from flea collars to ROACH KILLERS, was not included in the first decade’s surveys but emerged in the second as an alternative to other pesticides whose uses were being restricted. It was found to exceed potentially harmful levels for aquatic life in 70 percent of streams in

the second decade. Other byproducts of fipronil’s natural decay — longer-lived and more toxic than the insecticide itself — also were widely detected in urban streams.

Dichlorvos, an insecticide found on farms and in household applications like no-pest strips and dog de-wormers, exceeded the benchmark in more than 45 percent of the urban streams mea-sured.

More worrisome, perhaps, was a cau-tion at the survey’s beginning: Any po-tential harm to aquatic life is probably worse than the study suggests because potentially important pesticides were not included in the survey, and many others are not measured at all.

Both pesticides cited were also found to pose potential hazards in other streams, but not to the extent found in cities. And the DEGREE of pollution in cities varied: Fipronil contamination was common in cities of the South and West, but less so in the Northeast and Midwest. The researchers said it was not entirely clear why.

“Getting good data to explain the causal mechanism of this can be very difficult in urban environments,” said

Ms. Ryberg, a Geological Survey scien-tist in Bismarck, N.D. “We have pretty good data for agricultural uses, but they don’t have the same for urban areas” because sales of household products are not as closely tracked.

Ms. Ryberg said she suspected that urban contamination was not from the misuse of fipronil — APPLYING too much, too often — but because it had become ubiquitous in some places.

Notably, the Geological Survey study did not monitor some of the most widely used pesticides, including pyrethrins, a garden insecticide also used for FLEA CONTROL in pets, and glyphosate, commonly known by the brand name Roundup. For many compounds, researchers either lack the money to monitor contamination or have yet to develop an accurate test.

“There are constantly new pesticides coming out,” Ms. Ryberg said, “and there’s a lag time between deciding a pesticide will be around for a while, then developing a lab test to detect it, and then having enough data to analyze it. In science, that’s a concern: How do you stay on top of it?”

To advertise in our classified section, please fill out the form below.

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o YES! I am a Madera County Farm Bureau MemberMember #:(see address label) Send ads directly to: Mid Valley Publishing, 1130 G Street, Reedley CA 93654 or fax 559-638-5021.

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MCFB MEMBER RATES: Classified ads are FREE to all Madera County Farm Bureau members and must be of a NON-COMMERCIAL nature. Ads are limited to five lines per member, for a maximum of THREE MONTHS. Send ads directly to: Mid Valley Publishing, 1130 G Street, Reedley CA 93654 - Debra Leak 559-638-2244 or fax 559-638-5021.

NON-MCFB MEMBER RATES: Classified ad rates are $25 for 20 words. Each additional word is $1. Ads must be paid in advance and sent directly to Mid-Valley Publishing, 1130 G Street, Reedley CA 93654 - Debra Leak 559-638-2244 or fax completed form to 559-638-5021.

Madera County Farm Bureau reserves the right to reject, edit or cancel any advertisement at any time in accordance with its policy. Submission of an advertisement to a sales representative does not constitute a commitment to Agriculture Today to publish the advertisement, nor does publication of an advertisement constitute an agreement for continued publication. All ads must be checked for errors the first day of publication by the advertiser. All advertising is subject to the terms of the current rate card. Classified Ad Deadline for the next issue is the first Friday of the month.


See Votes; Page 16

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House Votes to Block EPA Water RulesAssociated PressBy Matthew Daly

The Republican-controlled House on Tuesday approved a bill to block the Obama administration from implementing a rule that asserts regulatory authority over many of the nation’s streams and wetlands — an action that critics call a clas-sic Washington overreach.

The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed a rule that it says will clarify which streams and waterways are shielded from devel-opment under the Clean Water Act, an issue that remains in dispute even after two U.S. Supreme Court rulings.

Agriculture groups and farm-state politicians call the proposed rule a power grab that would allow the government to dictate what farmers can do on their own land. They said the rule is an example of govern-mental interference by bureaucrats who don’t know as much as farmers

and ranchers do about how to be good stewards of their land.

The EPA proposal would have “devastating consequences on every major aspect of the economy,” from farming to manufacturing and road-building, Rep. Steve Souther-land, R-Fla., said. Southerland is a co-sponsor of the bill, which would block the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers from developing or finalizing the proposed rule.

The House approved the bill, 262-152. Thirty-five Democrats joined 227 Republicans to support the bill. Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., was the sole Republican to oppose it.

The measure is not expected to advance in the Democratic-con-trolled Senate.

In any case, the White House has threatened to veto the bill, saying the federal rule is needed to ensure clean water for future generations and to reduce regulatory uncertain-ty. More than 115 million Ameri-

cans get their drinking water from rivers, lakes and reservoirs that are at risk of pollution from upstream sources, the White House said.

EPA Administrator Gina Mc-Carthy said the proposal does not include new restrictions and merely clarifies what bodies of water al-ready are under federal jurisdiction in the Clean Water Act.

“To set the record straight: this is not about restricting farmers; it’s about protecting downstream water quality for all of us without getting in the way of American agriculture,” McCarthy said in a July speech to a farmers group.

The effort to redefine what con-stitutes “waters of the United States” was spurred by two Supreme Court decisions that blurred under-standing of what waters are covered under the Clean Water Act. Two Supreme Court decisions, in 2001 and 2006, limited regulators’ reach but left unclear the scope of author-

ity over small waterways that might flow intermittently. Landowners and developers say the govern-ment has gone too far in regulat-ing isolated ponds or marshes with no direct connection to navigable waterways.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said the rule would extend the EPA’s power to include streams, ponds, ditches and even stormwater runoff, at the expense of small businesses and farmers.

“Beyond sounding ridiculous, this rule will impact farmers, energy producers and any private citizens that use their land for economic or recreational purposes,” said McCar-thy, who is not related to the EPA official.

Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., said the EPA rule would hurt his coal-producing state and cost jobs in a troubled economy.

“One has to wonder what is in


CALiFORNiAContinued from Page 3

EPAContinued from Page 4

November ballot to issue $7.1 billion in water bonds for storage such as dams and reservoirs, groundwater sustainability and water recycling.

The water shortage is expected to cost $2.2 billion statewide this year, and result in a loss of 17,100 JOBS and 428,000 acres of unplanted land, according to a July report by the Center for Watershed Sciences at the University of California at Davis.

To contact the reporter on this story: Alison Vekshin in San Francisco at [email protected]

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Stephen Merelman at [email protected] Pete Young, Jeffrey Taylor

insecticide on corn, grapes, oranges, almonds and other crops, on golf courses and for PEST CONTROL IN urban areas — as much as 5 million pounds APPLIED in the United States each year, one-fifth of that in California alone, according to Earthjustice, the Natural Resources Defense Council and Pesticide Action Network North America.

“My family has dealt with the problem of chlorpyrifos exposure, finding it an unacceptable levels in our air and in our bodies,” Luis Medellin, a farm worker and member of the Pesticide Action Network, said in a statement accompanying the lawsuit. He said the chemical is routinely sprayed on the orange groves near his parents’ home and along his commuting route in the Tulare County farming town of Lindsay, and his family has suffered HEADACHES and nausea.

The California Farm Bureau Federation, however, has opposed a ban and said the EPA’s own studies have shown the pesticide can be applied safely, though its use has declined in recent years.

The environmental groups first asked the EPA for a nationwide ban in 2007 and went to court three years later.

The agency said it was CONTINUING to conduct studies and set deadlines that kept slipping back, according to Goldman of Earthjustice — first November 2011, then December 2012, then February 2014.

The new suit, filed in the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, asks for a binding deadline on an EPA decision by the end of this year. In practical terms, Goldman said, a decision to prohibit all uses of chlorpyrifos wouldn’t take effect until next summer.


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WAtER RigHtSContinued from Page 5

cluding pre-1914 and riparian rights for ALL diversions and extractions from the Russian River are to be disallowed. The Appeals Court decision also expands the use of the “public trust doctrine” and allows the

use of the river to be prioritized for urban uses over agricultural.

The Farm Bureaus of Men-docino and Sonoma are now asking for statewide assistance in their fight against this regu-lation, by taking the ruling to the California Supreme Court. The Madera County Farm Bu-reau sees the imminent threat

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the water over at EPA headquarters,” said Rahall, one of several Democrats in farming and energy-producing states to support the GOP bid to block the EPA.

Rep. Tim Bishop, D-N.Y., said opponents were mischaracterizing the EPA rule.

“It’s not about the federal government trying to regulate someone’s backyard birdbath,” Bishop said. Instead, he said the rule would protect wa-terways that provide drinking water to millions of Americans and habitat to wildlife of all types.

Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, said she was ap-palled that lawmakers were trying to block clean water rules just one month after algae turned Lake Erie green and produced toxins that fouled TAP WATER for 400,000 people in the Toledo area. Holding up a jar of green muck from Lake Erie, Kaptur said better monitoring and testing is needed to reduce phosphorus runoff and prevent toxic algae blooms from contaminating drinking water.

“What happened to us is a severe warning for our country and we better be paying attention,” Kaptur said.

VOtESContinued from Page 13

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Madera County FarM Bureau - maderafb.com Newspapers... · Madera County Farm Bureau Celebrates its Centennial! The Madera County Farm Bureau is excited to announce 100 years of service