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10 CapitalPress.com December 1, 2017 California Subscribe to our weekly California email newsletter at CapitalPress.com/newsletters Water bond measures endorsed by policy group By TIM HEARDEN Capital Press SACRAMENTO — Two new water bonds slated to be put before California voters in 2018 have re- ceived the endorsement of a key wa- ter policy group. The Association of California Wa- ter Agencies’ board has voted unan- imously to support a $4 billion June ballot measure for water and parks projects and an anticipated $8.9 bil- lion November initiative proposed by former state resources official Gerald Meral. ACWA Executive Director Tim- othy Quinn said the bonds would provide critical funding for water management projects ranging from recycling technologies to groundwa- ter recharge and flood protection. “We view (the measures) as com- plementary,” Quinn told the Capital Press. He added the bonds “would provide need- ed funds to continue Gerald Meral to implement (Gov. Jerry Brown’s) Water Action Plan.” The ACWA, whose 430 public agency members handle 90 percent of the water delivered to the state’s cit- ies, farms and businesses, was set to give a presentation on the bonds at its fall conference Nov. 29 in Anaheim. Though the measures would come just four years after voters ap- proved Proposition 1, a $7.5 billion water bond, Quinn believes there’s still a willingness among the state’s residents to support water system improvements. “We would urge voters to look at both sides, and we think they will likely vote yes,” he said. “Water bonds have consistently been suc- cessful in California.” The June measure was placed on the ballot by legislators, who ap- proved a bill by state Sen. Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles. The measure will include $750 million for flood protection and prevention and $500 million for such projects as safe drinking water and groundwater sustainability. Meanwhile, Meral, a former dep- uty secretary of the state Natural Re- sources Agency, has been gathering signatures this fall for his proposal for such water-related projects as repairs to the sinking Friant-Kern Canal in Tulare and Kern counties. Meral has said his initiative is “a follow-up” to Proposition 1, noting that it’s heavy on groundwater res- toration, waste water recycling and water for fish and wildlife. “ACWA represents hundreds of water agencies throughout Cal- ifornia, and is certainly the most influential water organization in the state,” Meral said in an email. “Their endorsement gives the sig- nal to local water agencies that this measure is highly beneficial to wa- ter conservation, development and management in California.” The proposal comes as the Cal- ifornia Water Commission is con- sidering 12 applications for por- tions of $2.5 billion in Proposition 1 funding for storage projects. The commission expects to make final determinations in June 2018. Tim Hearden/Capital Press File Strawberries from Irvine, Calif.-based Orange County Produce. This year’s California strawberry production has eclipsed last year’s record-set- ting crop. California strawberry production already tops 2016 total By TIM HEARDEN Capital Press CDFA extends vote on dairy quota program By CAROL RYAN DUMAS Capital Press The California Department of Food and Agriculture has ex- tended until Dec. 22 the dead- line for the state’s dairy farm- ers to vote on the referendum for the Quota Implementation Program. The original deadline was Dec. 4. In a notice to industry, the department stated the exten- sion is to give producers an ad- equate opportunity to vote and is due to the disruption caused by recent wildfires. The department earlier mailed 1,054 ballots and had received 400 as of earlier this week. If approved, the QIP would continue the long-standing program that pays quota hold- Tim Hearden/Capital Press File ers $1.70 per hundredweight The California Department of Food and Agriculture has of milk above the state blend extended until Dec. 22 the deadline for dairy farmers to vote price. It has operated within the on the referendum for the state’s new Quota Implementa- state’s milk marketing order tion Program. since the order was established in the late 1960s. The state’s producers are seeking to join the federal mar- keting order system, which does not include quota pro- grams. They have been ada- mant that quota value must be maintained if they join the fed- eral system. A provision in the last farm bill and USDA will allow the state to administer a stand- alone program. A producer re- view developed the program this summer, and it was final- ized by CDFA in September and put to a referendum. If approved by dairy farm- ers, the stand-alone program would only go into effect if producers also vote to join the federal order system. The quota program came about as a means of compen- sating milk producers selling into the higher Class I market and gain their support for es- tablishing a state marketing or- der, which would pool milk and distribute payments more even- ly to producers of milk across all utilizations. Quota certificates are worth $1.2 billion today and are con- sidered an asset that can be transferred or sold. The producer-developed stand-alone program would assess all Grade A milk in the state at no more than 38 cents per hundredweight to gener- ate about $12 million a month needed to fund the quota. The first requirement if QIP is to pass is that at least 51 per- cent of eligible producers must vote. The 400 ballots received by CDFA constitute only 38 percent. Beyond that, votes in favor must be submitted by at least 65 percent of those who voted and produce at least 51 percent of the milk (by those who vot- ed) or 51 percent of those who voted and produce at least 65 percent of the milk produced (by those who voted). WATSONVILLE, Calif. — With a month to go in the year, California strawberry production in 2017 has al- ready surpassed last year’s record total. Growers and their crews had brought in 197.3 million crates statewide as of mid-No- vember, topping the 196.8 mil- lion crates produced in all of 2016, the California Strawber- ry Commission reported. The boom came despite one of the wettest winters on record in 2016-17 and sum- mer heat waves inland. “Part of it is definitely due to having the rain,” commis- sion spokeswoman Carolyn O’Donnell said. “Rain was a good thing for the plants. It helped to rinse away some of the salts that have accumulat- ed in the top layer of soil in re- cent years ... and contributed to overall plant health.” Another factor in the high- er yields was that growers are moving to newer variet- ies, O’Donnell said. Growers were expected to plant 36,141 acres of strawberries in 2017, down from 40,816 in 2013, according to the commission. Strawberries are a year- round fruit in California, with harvests following the sun. During the peak season, all of the state’s major growing regions — around Oxnard, Santa Maria and Watsonville — are producing berries. The peak is typically in the spring and early summer, but it came later this year because of the spring rains. Production is trending up- ward again after several years of modest declines coincid- ed with the recent five-year drought. The rebound is good news for growers, as global demand for strawberries is al- ready increasing. Kelly Hamby UC-Davis alumna wins national award for research, extension efforts ROP-46-3-3/HOU DAVIS, Calif. — A Uni- versity of California-Davis alumna received the Early Career Professional Extension Award during the Entomo- logical Society of America’s annual meeting earlier this month in Denver. Kelly Hamby, who re- ceived her bachelor’s, mas- ter’s and doctoral degrees in entomology at UC-Davis and is now an assistant professor and specialist at the Universi- ty of Maryland, was honored during a breakfast program. The Entomological Soci- ety credited Hamby’s research for addressing invasive and emerging insect pest issues, evaluating and improving pest management programs and developing alternative man- agement tactics, according to a news release. The award was only the latest for Hamby, who also won the John Henry Com- stock Award for research from the society’s Pacific Branch while at UC-Davis.
