8 CapitalPress.com June 2, 2017 Idaho groundwater users give lawmakers, libraries Swan Falls book By JOHN O’CONNELL Capital Press BOISE — State lawmak- ers and public libraries will receive copies of a former state Supreme Court justice’s book on the cornerstone case in Idaho water law, courtesy of irrigators who belong to Idaho Ground Water Appropriators Inc. Jim Jones, author of “A Little Dam Problem,” recent- ly retired from the state’s high court and was Idaho’s attorney general during the early 1980s, when a water dispute over control of the Snake River led to the historic Swan Falls Agreement. Water experts say the 1984 agreement balanced Idaho Power’s need for a predictable minimum flow at its Swan Falls power plant with the need to maintain an adequate water supply for irrigators and other users, thereby paving the way for the state’s continued Courtesy of Jim Jones Recently retired Idaho Supreme Court Justice Jim Jones signs copies of his book, “A Little Dam Problem,” about the historic Swan Falls Agreement, in March. Jones was the state’s attorney general during the landmark water battle. economic development. “The Swan Falls Agree- ment does set the framework for how we manage the Snake River system,” said Brian Pat- ton, the Idaho Department of Water Resources Planning Bu- reau chief, acknowledging the book raised his awareness of “a lot of the history.” IGWA Executive Director Lynn Tominaga said the book provides a behind-the-scenes account of the agreement to share with new lawmakers, and he added, “I don’t know if there’s a lot of water history in the public libraries.” Jones started poring through old records in his file cabinet to commence work on the project about two years ago. Caldwell-based Caxton Press published his 374-page book in December. “The stakes were extremely high, and we were able to get a resolution that I think served everybody pretty well,” Jones said. “I thought it was history that ought to be preserved so we wouldn’t some time down the road end up fighting this battle again.” Jones explained Idaho Power and the state agreed in the 1950s that water rights on all of the company’s Snake River dams would be sub- ordinated to agricultural and other upstream uses. Howev- er, in response to a suit from rate payers, Idaho Power filed a suit claiming it had a senior water right at Swan Falls. Re- versing a decision by a lower court, the Supreme Court ruled in 1982 that the subordination agreement applied only to the Hell’s Canyon complex of dams, and Idaho Power had a right at Swan Falls for 8,400 cubic feet per second of water. The case was sent back to the district court to determine if additional factors would af- fect the company’s right, but Jones explained, “Everybody went to the Legislature to see if they could win there.” Idaho Power’s bills were vetoed by Democratic Gov. John Evans, an ally of Jones on the issue, and bills support- ed by Jones and the governor to subordinate the company’s water right failed to make it through the legislature. Jones said he recruited a pair of can- didates who won legislative seats against supporters of Idaho Power. Ultimately, however, the sides agreed no victories could be won in the Legisla- ture and began negotiations. Idaho Power officials declined to comment for this story. The agreement promised Idaho Power minimum flows of 3,900 cfs at Swan Falls in the summer and 5,600 cfs during winter — the differ- ence between the company’s specified water right and the lesser volume it’s granted un- der the agreement is known as trust water. The agreement also called for the Snake Riv- er Basin Adjudication, which was only recently completed and cataloged all of the sys- tem’s water rights. “Over the years, a lot of people had gotten water rights on paper that were significant- ly more than what they used,” Jones said. “If you’re not us- ing it, it should go to some- body else.” Calif. citrus industry to boost Beekeepers build high-tech assessments to battle psyllid storage to improve hive survival By TIM HEARDEN By JOHN O’CONNELL Capital Press Capital Press SACRAMENTO — A bill that would enable the citrus industry to boost spending to battle the Asian citrus psyllid and huanglongbing is headed to Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk. Legislators unanimous- ly approved the bill by state Sen. Cathleen Galgiani, D-Stockton, that allows for an additional $9.6 million in grower assessments to be spent by the California De- partment of Food and Ag- riculture for psyllid control programs. The legislation follows a previous bill signed by Brown that enables the in- dustry to raise its assessment from 9 cents per 40-pound carton. A separate bill was needed to authorize state agencies to spend the money. “That’s all industry money that’s funded to operate the program,” said Joel Nelsen, president of California Cit- rus Mutual. “It’s operated through CDFA, so it looks like general fund (in the state budget).” Depending on crop siz- es, the assessment generates SHELLEY, Idaho — Bee- keeper Adam French plans to build a large, modern facili- ty in which he’ll store hives, hoping to curb his winter-kill losses. French, with Cox’s Honey, explained he wants as many hives as possible to survive the winter so he can take full advantage of increasing de- mand for pollination services in California’s almond or- chards. He’s noticed a trend of regional beekeepers investing in bee storage lately, rather than leaving hives exposed to the elements or turning to the historic standby among Idaho apiaries — renting space in potato cellars. In the past five years, French estimates almond pro- ducers have increased pay- ments for pollinators by $35 to $50 per hive to the $175- $210 range. According to USDA, California’s rapidly growing almond industry pro- duced a crop valued at more than $5 billion in 2015 and stepped up its acreage by 7 percent to 1.24 million acres in 2016. “The incentive is now greater than it’s ever been to have those bees alive in the winter,” French said. For several years, his fam- ily has stored up to 10,000 hives in uninsulated “shell” buildings during the cold months preceding late Janu- ary, when the bees are needed in California. He’s also leased space in a local potato cellar for the surplus hives. Though both options have served him well, French said his storage buildings are outdated, and he can’t always count on finding an available potato cellar. Last winter, he was forced to leave 2,100 colonies out- doors, and he lost 500 of them. Next year, French plans to build a new facility in Nam- pa with the capacity to hold 15,000 colonies — allowing him to expand production. His building will be insulated and climate-controlled to maintain a constant temperature, and it Courtesy Calif. Citrus Pest and Disease Prevention Program California Citrus Mutual president Joel Nelsen talks to growers during a meeting in Ventura County on the Asian citrus psyllid in 2016. The Legislature has passed a pair of bills that will allow the citrus industry to raise its grower assessments to tackle the psyllid and huanglongbing, the deadly tree disease it can carry. between $15 million and $18 million a year and is matched by nearly $11 mil- lion in federal funds, Nelsen said. A committee will de- cide this fall how much the assessment will be raised, he said. The grower-funded Citrus Pest and Disease Prevention Program was created through legislation in 2009, and growers have since invest- ed more than $100 million in the program, according to Citrus Mutual. Most of that money has gone to trapping, treatments and surveys in urban areas to stop the spread of the psyllid and huanglongbing, the dead- ly citrus tree disease that the psyllid can carry. As of late April, huan- glongbing had killed 54 res- idential trees in Southern California, but the disease has not yet migrated to the Golden State’s commercial groves. Courtesy of Israel Bravo A high-tech bee storage facility built in Twin Falls, Idaho, last fall kept winter kill of hives to just 6 percent, leading to plans for a second area storage building. Bee storages protect hives during the winter until they’re moved to California for pollination, and are becoming increasingly popular. will be modeled after a new facility built for Noyes Apiary in New Plymouth, Idaho. Last fall, Shaun Steele, with Steele Apiaries in Eagle, Ida- ho, invested nearly $600,000 to build a 15,000-square-foot bee storage building, frustrat- ed by rising lease rates for po- tato storages. In his first win- ter in the new building, Steele stored 3,500 of his colonies and leased space for 9,800 colonies to local beekeepers. Last fall in Twin Falls, Is- rael Bravo and the local pota- to cellar manufacturer, Agri- Stor, built a cutting-edge bee storage facility with technol- ogy to regulate humidity, car- bon dioxide and temperature using a smart phone. In its first winter, Bravo said the “smart storage” lost just 6 percent of the 17,000 colonies held for a Texas bee- keeper. Bravo will be breaking ground soon on another Twin Falls storage facility, with plans to rent space to area beekeepers. He said he and Agri-Stor may build a third building next year. They also intend to offer equipment comprising the “brains” of their facilities to small, re- gional beekeepers, enabling them to retrofit existing build- ings to have controlled tem- peratures, carbon dioxide and humidity. Bravo finds the high hu- midity, dusty air and pesticide traces in potato storages are often less than ideal for bees. NAFTA renegotiation prompts farm tariff investigation By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press 22-4/#18 U.S. trade experts will study the economic effects of eliminating tariffs on Canadi- an and Mexican farm goods in anticipated negotiations over the North American Free Trade Agreement. The U.S. International Trade Commission will in- vestigate a list of nearly 400 “import sensitive agricultur- al products” to see if any are still subject to tariffs under NAFTA, as well as the impact of removing those tariffs on the U.S. economy. Many of the items on the list are dairy products, fruit and vegetable crops, oils, sweeten- ers and processed ingredients, but it’s unclear how many are still subject to tariffs. The investigation was launched due to a request by U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, who asked USITC to keep information related to “probable econom- ic effects” confidential for 10 years due to national security concerns. A public hearing on the matter is scheduled for June 20 in Washington, D.C., and the USITC plans to submit its report to Lighthizer on Aug. 16. It’s likely the Trump ad- ministration may offer to elim- inate certain tariffs to persuade Canada to get rid of programs aimed at curbing overproduc- tion in its dairy and poultry industries, said Steve Suppan, senior policy analyst at the Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy. The U.S. is also opposed to Canada’s higher quality standards for grain, which al- low less non-grain material in bulk shipments and impose a barrier to U.S. grain exports, Suppan said. “I’ve got to believe it’s a preparation for a trade-off proposal,” he said. The U.S. generally op- poses “supply management” programs aimed at controlling agricultural production but supports them in other con- texts, such as for Chinese steel and aluminum produc- tion, Suppan said. It’s “striking” that Ligh- thizer wants to keep certain information confidential for 10 years, he said. The U.S. likely expects to use the report to support its arguments for renegotiating NAFTA, but keeping infor- mation about methodology secret would prevent indepen- dent analysis of the agency’s econometric studies, Suppan said.