FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2016 VOLUME 89, NUMBER 9  WWW.CAPITALPRESS.COM GROUNDWATER Its burdens and CRISIS its opportunities Redding The state has identified 21 groundwater basins considered 5 critically overdrafted. In accor- dance with the Sustainable 80 Groundwater Management Act, Sacramento local public agencies are tasked with achieving Stockton sustainable man- San Francisco agement plans by Jan. 31, Fresno 2020. Critically overdrafted groundwater basins 5 Los Angeles 10 Source: California Dept. of Water Resources Alan Kenaga/Capital Press W 40 15 San Diego 8 By TIM HEARDEN Capital Press hile some growers may see the emerg- ing new state groundwater regulations as a potential burden, Helm, Calif., farmer Don Cameron sees them as an opportunity. Few growers understand California’s ground- water crisis better than Cameron, who farms al- monds, walnuts and about two dozen other crops on 7,000 acres on the north fork of the Kings River in the San Joaquin Valley. Cameron’s Terranova Ranch isn’t in an irriga- tion district, so he relies entirely on groundwater pumping. In 2011, he used a federal conservation grant to start using fl ood water from the river to replenish the aquifer beneath his sandy proper- ty, and he hopes to someday fl ood as many as 16,000 acres during wet winters to recharge the groundwater supply. With the drought-related escalation of pump- ing throughout the valley causing land to sink at a historic rate, Cameron is concerned about the future availability of the resource. However, he believes the Sustainable Ground- water Management Act — a package of laws en- acted in 2014 to give local agencies sweeping new controls over groundwater use — will create momentum for more projects like his. “We’re looking long-term,” Cameron said. “Before the Sustainable Groundwater Manage- ment Act passed, this was our goal — to try and rebuild sustainable groundwater in our region. Now with SGMA, it’s even more in the fore- front. It can actually solve a lot of the issues we have with groundwater pumping.” By DAN WHEAT Helm, Calif., almond grower Don Cameron. Courtesy of Almond Board of California A precious resource Groundwater is the lifeblood of California ag- riculture. In the almond industry alone, nearly 70 percent of farms normally rely on at least some groundwater for irrigation, according to a 2014 survey by government agencies and the Almond Board of California. Turn to WATER, Page 12 Courtesy of Calif. Dept. of Water Resources One of three new wells is being tested west of Bakersfi eld, Calif., in October as part of the Kern Water Bank Recharge and Recovery Enhancement Project. The groundwa- ter at this well site will discharge into a connected underground pipeline, which pumps into the Kern Water Bank canal. ELLENSBURG, Wash. — A state attorney gener- al’s investigation of WAFLA advising growers on a wage survey will not impede the association’s ability to pro- vide H-2A-visa foreign guest- workers to growers this year, but the U.S. Department of Labor might. That’s what Dan Fazio, WAFLA direc- tor, said at the organization’s Fazio annual labor conference at Central Washington Univer- sity in Ellensburg on Feb. 18. DOL is supposed to act on H-2A applications no fewer than 30 days prior to the date the workers are needed but that is slipping to 15 days or less, guaranteeing workers will be late, Fazio said. A half-dozen applications for a total of about 1,000 workers, mainly for Washing- ton tree fruit growers, are late so far this season and there’s “every indication it will continue,” Fazio said. DOL blames it on technical prob- lems and lack of staff, he said. Delays could play hav- oc with the timely arrival of some 15,000 workers from Mexico on H-2A visas this season to prune trees, thin crops and pick fruit in Wash- ington. WAFLA, formerly known as the Washington Farm La- bor Association, is working with DOL and members of Congress to address the prob- lem. DOL announced delays in late January. WAFLA be- gan experiencing them in ear- ly February, Fazio said. Because of the delays, growers should make sure their applications specify the earliest possible date of need and that they are fi led 75 days prior to that date, Fazio said. Last season, 433 workers lost a combined 2,593 days of work due to visa printing problems at the border that began in May and peaked in June, according to WAFLA’s 2015 annual report. The Obama administration has been “very hostile” to the H-2A program, Craig Regel- brugge, senior vice president of AmericanHort in Washing- ton, D.C., said at the Wash- ington Growers League annu- al meeting in Yakima, Jan. 26. Also at WAFLA’s Feb. 18 meeting, a letter from Fazio to members was distributed emphasizing the Washington attorney general’s civil inves- tigation into WAFLA advising Turn to H2A, Page 12 Ag: Oregon wage hike will have big impact By SEAN ELLIS Capital Press Ag interests say the three- tiered plan to hike the state’s minimum wage passed by the Legislature is better than some alternatives, but still will have a big impact on growers and processors. Under the plan awaiting Gov. Kate Brown’s signature, in July Oregon’s minimum wage will jump from $9.25 to $9.75 statewide. It will gradually climb to $14.75 in 2022 in the Port- land urban growth bound- ary, which includes parts of Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties. It will rise to $13.50 in Benton, Clat- sop, Columbia, Deschutes, Hood River, Jackson, Jose- phine, Lane, Lincoln, Linn, Marion, Polk, Tillamook, Wasco and Yamhill coun- ties, and parts of Multnomah, Clackamas and Washington counties outside Portland’s urban growth boundary. Turn to WAGE, Page 12 Sean Ellis/Capital Press Farmers, onion processors and small business owners from Malheur County oppose increases to Oregon’s minimum wage Jan. 14. 9-4/#5 50 miles WAFLA deals with H-2A slowdown, AG probe Capital Press California’s sinking problem N $2.00