 April 1, 2016 CapitalPress.com 9 Grants to help counties implement Calif. groundwater regs By TIM HEARDEN Capital Press SACRAMENTO — Local agencies trying to implement California’s new groundwater regulations are receiving $6.7 million in state funds for their efforts. The state Department of Water Resources has an- nounced grants to 21 counties for planning projects that will benefit disadvantaged com- munities, address critically overdrafted and stressed ba- sins and develop ordinances to preserve groundwater lev- els. While matching funds were required, the grants ad- dressed concerns among local officials that the 2014 Sus- tainable Groundwater Man- agement Act would amount to another unfunded state man- date on counties. “That’s a lot of the con- cern that we’ve heard,” DWR spokeswoman Lauren Bisnett Tim Hearden/Capital Press Willows, Calif., rice farmer Larry Maben prepares to check water levels in his well in this 2014 file pho- to. Glenn County is one of 21 that are receiving grants from the state Department of Water Resources to plan for administering new groundwater regulations. said. She added that Propo- sition 1, the $7.5 billion wa- ter bond passed by voters in 2014, sets aside $100 million for groundwater management. “Proposition 1 will be re- ally one of the major mech- anisms for funding those ef- forts,” she said. “This is just the tip of the spear in terms of financial assistance.” The planning grants to counties with high and medi- um priority groundwater ba- sins included $500,000 apiece for Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera and Tulare counties, whose aquifers have receded at alarming rates as reduc- tions in surface water supplies have forced growers to rely on wells. A National Aeronautics and Space Administration study last summer showed land in the San Joaquin Valley is sinking by nearly 2 inches per month in some places. A “great majority” of the sub- sidence is caused by agri- culture, DWR director Mark Cowin said at the time. Other grants will include: $499,942 to Merced Coun- ty; $250,000 each to Colusa, Humboldt, Monterey, San Di- ego, San Luis Obispo, Sono- ma, Stanislaus and Ventura counties; just under $250,000 apiece for Butte, Glenn, Plac- er, Santa Barbara, San Joa- quin and Santa Cruz counties; and $200,000 for Mendocino County. The grants come as local governments face deadlines of mid-2017 to set up ground- water management agencies and 2020 for the 21 most criti- cally overdrafted or important basins to have sustainability plans in place. Plans for other high- and medium-priority basins must be established by 2022 and sustainability in all high- and medium-priority basins must be achieved by 2040. The state has designated 127 of California’s 515 groundwater basins and sub-basins as high or medium priority. The funding announced March 23 will help counties with long-term planning and to better understand “what’s coming in and going out of their aquifers,” state senior engineering geologist Lau- ra McLean said in a news release. More funding will go out as groundwater sus- tainability agencies move forward with their plans, she said. Kansas State president Amalgamated hires communications specialist tapped to lead WSU By JOHN O’CONNELL Capital Press By MATTHEW WEAVER Capital Press Kirk Schulz, the president of Kansas State University, has been chosen as the next presi- dent of Washington State Uni- versity. Schulz was announced as the new president during a March 25 meeting of the WSU board of regents in the Tri-Cities. Schulz replaces Elson Floyd, who died of colon cancer in June 2015. Floyd was well-regarded by farmers for his commitment to agricultural research. Representatives of Washing- ton’s agriculture industry said they were happy with the re- gents’ choice. “This is a win for WSU, for the state of Washington and ag- riculture,” said Glen Squires, CEO of the Washington Grain Commission. “He’s extremely well-qualified, good leadership experience. (He) will be able to carry on what President Floyd started and really help to build WSU in many ways.” Schulz is coming from the nation’s first land-grant univer- sity, according to Kansas State. Squires believes Floyd’s em- phasis on agricultural research will continue under Schulz. “I’m sure he understands the land-grant mission, com- ing from a land-grant school,” Squires said. “We’re excited to have him.” “It’s good to see the uni- versity moving forward with its leadership transition,” said Jon DeVaney, president of the Washington State Tree Fruit Association. “We are pleased to see it’s someone familiar with the land-grant university envi- ronment.” DeVaney’s organization, the Washington Apple Com- mission, Washington Fruit Commission and Northwest Horticulture Council spoke out in October to ensure that their industry’s voice would be con- sidered in the selection process. DeVaney said the organiza- tions urged the search committee to select someone who would reach out to key agricultural stakeholders in a manner similar to Floyd to maintain WSU’s ser- vices and partnerships. “We’re looking forward to meeting with him and building that same kind of relationship,” DeVaney said. “We are optimis- tic we will be able to work with President Schulz in his new po- sition.” “The agricultural commu- nity could not have done any better on the search,” said WSU interim president Dan Bernardo, provost for the university and former dean of WSU’s College of Agricultural, Human and Natural Resource Sciences. “He certainly has a great reputation as a transformational leader at Kansas State University.” Bernardo previously worked at KSU, and said he was hearing “impeccable” reports on Schulz from contacts at the university in Manhattan, Kan. “Coming from Kansas State, where agriculture is the number one industry in the state, I’m sure he has great rapport with agriculture, and I’m sure he un- derstands agricultural research and its importance to any state and the land-grant university’s role in provid- ing research and information to agricultural pro- ducers,” Bernar- do said. Justin Gilpin, Schulz CEO of the Kan- sas Wheat Com- mission in Manhattan, Kan., said Schulz has been a “good friend and supporter” of produc- tion agriculture and research ini- tiatives to benefit stakeholders, while working to find funding for research. “President Schulz was will- ing to be creative when we need- ed to find ways to fill positions that were very depended upon by wheat farmers of Kansas,” Gilpin said. “I believe (Wash- ington wheat farmers) are going to get a strong leader. I hope we are able to replace him with somebody who sup- ports agriculture research like he did.” WSU entomology associ- ate professor Richard Zack was the representative for CAHNRS on the advisory committee for the presidential search. BOISE — As Amalgam- ated Sugar Co.’s new com- munications specialist, Jessica McAnally will use social media to represent the sugar industry and to respond to what the com- pany sees as misinformation about agriculture. Amalgamated President and CEO John McCreedy said the company had considered creat- ing the position for the past cou- ple of years, but recently opted to go forward with the plan to give members more input in the public dialogue about their industry. “We’ve seen so many people take positions on issues import- ant to us on social media and we’re not seeing our voice rep- resented accurately and consis- tently,” McCreedy said. “People are having conversations about us, and we’re not participating.” Duane Grant, chairman of the board of Snake River Sugar Cooperative, which runs Amal- gamated, considers social media to be “the new morning paper and the way communities talk now.” He believes McAnally will help the company educate consumers with scientific argu- Photo submitted Jessica McAnally, the new communications specialist at Amal- gamated Sugar, Co., holds a container of sugar March 24 on her second day on the job. She’ll help provide her company with an increased social media presence and will help with other aspects of community outreach. ments. “They’re talking about us and they’re talking about wheth- er our product, sugar, is good or not, whether we’re mistreating the environment by planting biotech seeds, and in general, they don’t understand who we are, what we do and even the fundamentals about what sugar does in the diet,” Grant said. McAnally will also help manage the company’s re- vamped website, attend job fairs on behalf of the company, assist in drafting the company magazine and newsletter, take promotional photographs and videos and assist in community relations. “I think it’s important for businesses to guide the story that’s being told about them in the public,” McAnally said. McCreedy said the com- pany sends confidential com- munications to growers on a password-protected site, and McAnally will be responsible only for updating content on the public site. She’ll also improve Amalgamated’s Facebook pres- ence, and will gradually help the company expand into other so- cial media outlets. “We’ll have appropriate links to national organizations and updates on what we consid- er the truth about sugar and the role of biotechnology in feed- ing the world and reducing our environmental footprint,” Mc- Creedy said. He said she’ll also represent the company at state fairs and other functions, explore oppor- tunities to offer scholarships and internships and will “work closely with our human resourc- es department to make sure we have the right presence in the right places.” McAnally has a bachelor’s degree in communications from Boise State University and grew up on a Canyon County sugar beet farm. She’s eager to work with 4-H and FFA chapters in her new role. Planting seed of unknown quality or origin can be costly. You could end up with a crop that bears little resemblance to the variety you intended to grow. Perhaps worse, you might plant seed that emerges poorly or is infested with noxious weeds like goatgrass or wild oats. To be sure you’re buying quality seed, you need to know its identity, purity and germination potential. That’s what the Certified Seed tag is all about. The blue tag tells you the seed you’re buying is only two generations removed from the breeder’s original seed, and that it has endured a rigorous program of field inspection, special harvesting and conditioning procedures, and is backed by an official analysis from the Washington Department of Agriculture Seed Lab to confirm purity and high germination. This Spring... Go for the quality that comes with the BLUE . d Seed Always plant Certifie • Highest Quality • Cleaner Fields • Higher Yields WASHINGTON STATE CROP IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION 2575 NE Hopkins Ct • Pullman, WA 99163 www.washingtoncrop.com For the names of the Certified Seed dealers in your area, call us at 509-334-0461. ROP-13-2-2/#14