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4 CapitalPress.com February 17, 2017 Faltering Oroville Dam puts region’s $1.5B ag industry at risk Bill would do away with dyed fuel in Idaho By TIM HEARDEN Capital Press Courtesy California Department of Water Resources Water from the Oroville Dam auxiliary spillway fl ows toward the diversion pool on the Feather River on Feb. 12. Some of California’s most valuable almond, walnut, peach and prune crops as well as several processors sit in the path of potential fl ood waters from Lake Oroville. Area in detail SACRAMENTO 99 CALIF. 5 32 70 VA L L E Y Chico BUTTE Lake Oroville Oroville Dam 49 er Sacramen t o R iv er 45 Oroville Feather Riv r ve Ri 20 Yu ba CHICO, Calif. — A large portion of the Eastern Sacra- mento Valley’s $1.5 billion agriculture industry is directly in the path of potential fl ood waters from Lake Oroville if the dam or its spillway were to fail. The Highway 99 corridor between Chico and Yuba City is dominated by rice, nut and tree fruit crops, including al- monds, walnuts, peaches and prunes, said Louie Mendoza, Butte County’s agricultural commissioner. In addition to farms, sever- al major processors are in the area, including Pacifi c Coast Producers’ fruit processing plant in Oroville and several dehydrators along Highway 70 south of town, Mendoza said. “If the spillway was to go, we could have a tremendous amount of water,” he said. “There would be substantial damage to agriculture if that were to happen.” The potential for major damage to their operations loomed as area growers were among the roughly 188,000 people from Butte, Yuba and Sutter counties who were told to evacuate Feb. 12. Neither Mendoza nor other local or state offi cials could say how many farms were affected by the evacuation order. About one-third of Butte County’s $773 million agri- culture industry is within the affected corridor, Mendoza said. Likewise, signifi cant portions of Sutter County’s $544 million ag industry and Yuba County’s nearly $232 million industry may be at risk. As it was, some fruit and nut orchards planted inside levees were likely fl ooded as Feather River waters rose, said Lisa Herbert, Sutter County’s agricultural commissioner. That’s a normal occurrence that trees can withstand, al- though young plantings could have diffi culties, she said. Herbert had not received any damage reports from 99 SUTTER 20 YUBA 20 Yuba City 49 80 70 5 Counties subject to emergency evacuation 65 113 N 10 miles 99 Alan Kenaga/Capital Press farms as of Feb. 13. She said some growers likely moved equipment to higher ground and secured facilities before leaving. “We’ve had water in fi elds before,” Mendoza said. “At this point, one of the concerns right now is that almonds are beginning to bloom and the trees are starting to grow. If we have continued fl ooding in orchards with almonds, there’s a chance it could damage the trees and drown them out, ba- sically.” A further complication with almond blossom is that thousands of bee boxes are in the orchards. Those are often placed on the ground, although Mendoza said many beekeep- ers anticipating fl ooded fi elds put them on stands. Herbert’s offi ce warned area beekeepers about a week ago that high water would be coming and that they should remove hives from fl ood zones, she said. “Most of our almond crops are located on the outskirts of the Sutter Buttes ... which is a little bit higher,” she said. However, Colleen Cecil, the Butte County Farm Bu- reau’s manager, said she has seen bee boxes sitting in water, “which isn’t ideal,” she said. “I’m sure landowners are doing everything they can to mitigate those instances,” Ce- cil said. Several area fairgrounds were being used as shelters for displaced residents, and a large animal shelter was set up at the Silver Dollar Fairgrounds in Chico. The evacuation order came after engineers spot- ted a hole on the concrete lip of the secondary spillway for the 770-foot-tall Oroville Dam and told authorities that it could fail. Crews later used trucks and helicopters to move large rocks and gravel to fi ll in erosion on the emergency spillway. Evacuations remained in ef- fect as of nightfall on Feb. 13, although Butte County Sheriff Korey Honea told reporters he is “working on a repopulation plan” to allow people to return when the state Department of Water Resources and other agencies determine it’s safe. The DWR was releasing 100,000 cubic feet per sec- ond from the Oroville Dam’s main spillway to draw the lake down as much as possible be- fore another big storm was set to arrive on Feb. 15. The same thing was hap- pening at Shasta Dam, which boosted releases to 79,000 cu- bic feet per second on Feb. 13 and raised fl ooding concerns for residents and farms along the Sacramento River. In Teha- ma, Calif., the river was fore- cast to rise nearly 3 feet above fl ood stage early Feb. 14, said former Tehama County super- visor Ron Warner. Almond and walnut grow- ers have received permission to use fungicides even in stand- ing water, said Rick Buchner, a University of California Coop- erative Extension farm adviser in Red Bluff, Calif. Lake Oroville is the center- piece of the State Water Proj- ect, which has already raised its projected allocations to at least 60 percent of requested supplies. DWR spokesman Ted Thomas said he doesn’t know whether damage to the Oroville Dam could affect surface water deliveries this summer. “People are working very hard to deal with the challeng- es that we have,” said acting DWR director Bill Croyle, adding a team that includes several government agencies and private contractors are working to shore up the dam. Croyle also said during a news conference he had been unaware of reported warnings about the emergency spill- way’s weakness from environ- mental groups in 2005 during the dam’s relicensing process, but that offi cials will examine what went wrong once the cri- sis is over. John Deere Dealers See one of these dealers for a demonstration By SEAN ELLIS Capital Press BOISE — A bill that would eliminate dyed fuel in Idaho and require farmers and others who now use it to pay the taxes on diesel fuel upfront and apply for a re- fund has been introduced in the Idaho Legislature. The idea has been ad- amantly opposed by the state’s main farm groups in the past, and many of them have policy opposing the taxing of dyed fuel, which is exempt from state and fed- eral fuel taxes because it’s only for use in off-road, un- licensed vehicles. Idaho Grain Producers Association Executive Di- rector Stacey Katseanes Sat- terlee said her group would oppose the legislation, which is in the Senate Transporta- tion Committee and awaiting a public hearing. “We think the state’s dyed fuel program is important for agriculture and we want to see that program retained,” she said. Diesel fuel in Idaho is taxed at a rate of 32 cents per gallon at the state level and 24.4 cents per gallon at the federal level. People in industries such as agriculture, construction, mining and logging that pur- chase dyed fuel don’t pay those taxes because their ve- hicles aren’t used on public roads. Senate Bill 1052 would do away with dyed fuel in Idaho, keeping only clear diesel fuel in the market- place for all users, but those who are eligible could apply for a refund on a monthly or annual basis. State estimates of the amount of dyed fuel used il- legally in Idaho range from $3 million to $15 million. There is no dyed fuel en- forcement program in Ida- ho and efforts to create one have failed over the years, said Sen. Chuck Winder, R-Boise, who is carrying the bill in the Senate. The problem with Ida- ho’s dyed fuel program “is that it doesn’t get enforced,” he said. The bill was crafted by Jerry Deckard, a lobby- ist who represents the Ada County Highway District and the Associated Logging Contractors of Idaho. He did not return phone calls seeking comment for this story. “I do like the bill as an alternative to the issues we’re going through with how to regulate dyed fuel,” said Winder. The legislation would still accommodate those who are eligible to not pay taxes on diesel fuel, he said. “It doesn’t cost them any more money,” he said. “They just have to submit an application to receive the money back.” A separate bill intro- duced by Sen. Bert Brack- ett, a Republican rancher from Rogerson, would cre- ate a basic dyed fuel en- forcement program in Idaho that would allow certain law enforcement officials as well as weigh stations to check vehicles to see if they are using dyed fuel illegally. That bill is also await- ing a hearing in the Senate Transportation Committee, which Brackett chairs. Satterlee said Brackett’s Senate Bill 1072 addresses most of the concerns farm groups have with a dyed fuel enforcement program and IGPA sees no reason to oppose it. 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