Valley Headlines

We can collaborate …

River Partners. Bridging divides through restoration.
Synopsis: Julie Rentner – CEO of River Partners and the woman who spearheaded the Dos Rios Ranch refuge project – writes about the polarization that overtaking the Valley and nation and why we must resist this kind of thinking. This “divisive mindset often clouds the immense power of collective action,” Julie writes. In the Valley, our problems are clear for all to see. But so are the solutions, if we work together. Environmentally speaking, floodplain restoration has been proven to address several problems – increasing groundwater storage, habitat improvements, flood protection for poor commmunities. “This isn’t just theory. River Partners has proven restoration works,” writes Julie. And it is working. “Let’s not waste our energy in the argument space and instead put our energy in the working space. Let’s continue to work hard and collaborate on a grand vision for our Golden State in 2025 and beyond.” 

… Or we can fight

Valley Sun. Valley water players praise Trump’s ‘People over Fish’ order.
Synopsis: Reporter Daniel Gligich writes in the Valley about various farming groups who have lined up to praise President Trump’s Day 1 executive orders. Among them is Allison Febbo of Westlands Water District, saying the needs of CA farmers and the environment can be balanced. The Friant Water Authority says that for 3 decades “the CA water delivery system” has been “over-regulated, over-litigated and overwhelmed by conflicting priorities and interests” and thinks Trump can help remedy that situation. The San Luis & Delta-Mendota WA called for better balance “between multiple needs.”

SF Chronicle. ‘A salmon extinction plan’: How Trump’s executive orders on climate could impact CA.
Synopsis: Reporter Julie Johnson writes from San Francisco, talking to those who see harm in several Trump executive orders designed to roll back climate protections. She quotes UC Berkeley’s Danie Farber saying Trump has “declared war on climate policy and climate action.” Berkeley energy expert Severin Borenstein says the “big question is: How much is Trump going to operate within the law? We don’t know.” Daniel Sperling of UC Davis says that as Trump discards America’s climate-saving actions, other countries will do the same. Then there’s the Golden State Salmon Association’s Scott Artis, who called Trump’s water policy a “salmon extinction plan.”
MAD Take: Huh. As bad as the 2019 Biological Opinion is, I don’t think it will do as much to exterminate salmon as commercial drift-netting. Or trolling. Or purse-seining or any other method that allows commercial fishers to kill 50% of the entire population each year.

Cal Matters. Trump jumps back into CA’s water wars with a pro-farmer decree.
Synopsis: Dan Walters looks at Donald Trump’s demand that more water be moved out of the Delta and sent south through the CVP. He first tries to explain the enormous complexities of collecting, moving, sharing water in a state where there’s frequently not enough to meet all demands. Dan’s bottom line: “Despite the media splash, it’s doubtful that Trump’s decree will be anything more than a relatively brief pause in efforts to resolve CA’s water conflicts.”
MAD Take: Dan has explained the view from 10,000 feet extremely well.

Is it all about a golf course?

E&E News. Trump’s water war with CA could benefit his LA golf course.
Synopsis: Trump National Golf Club in Rancho Palos Verdes has been left browner since rules were put in place in 2020 to cut in half how much water golf courses can consume. That “giant valve” that the President speaks of when referencing CA water flows comes apparently from his understanding of how water is sent to his golf course. Interesting. 

In praise of lush lawns

CA Policy Center. Quantifying the upside of more lawns. 
Synopsis: Count on columnist Edward Ring to take the opposite side of the one issue that farmers and environmentalists can agree on – that suburban lawns are wasteful water-guzzlers. Ring looks at the estimated water use of 109,000 acres of turf in LA. It would require roughly 545,000 acre feet of water to keep it green each year. But lawns aren’t just ornamental. Ring says that healthy lawns increase humidity, create less-combustible landscape and lower urban temperatures by 7 to 14 degrees – meaning coastal AC costs are cut by 25%. That electricity savings would be roughly 2,063 gigawatt hours for LA’s 3.3 million households. That much electricity could be used to desalinate water more than enough water to grow all the grass in LA and then some.
MAD Take: Not sure Ring’s data and conclusions are valid, but he’s often as entertaining as he is provocative. This is no exception.

We have a plan, let’s use it

Modesto Bee. Stanislaus farmers, home-builders could lose vital workers to mass deportation.
Synopsis: Reporter John Holland checks in with Karlha Arias, president of the Latino Community Roundtable, who says deporting undocumented workers will “devastate local economies.” Stan State Prof. Gokce Soydemir says deportation will reduce farm income by 30%, costing Stanislaus farmers $1 billion a year. Tom McClintock ignored John’s request for comment, but Adam Gray sent an email: “The fastest way to bankrupt our local ag and construction” sectors is to deport all the workers, said Gray. He added that he supports the 2024 immigration package that Trump in effect killed.

Merced Focus. Advocates mobilize in CA’s Central Valley as deportation fears spread.
Synopsis: Donald Trump’s orders to halt people at the border and the sweeps of orchards and parking lots in Kern County have worried a lot of people. Many are calling Cultiva Central Valley and the Central Valley Immigrant Integration Collaborative, more worried about the status of their children – native born and immigrant – than they are about themselves. Another group, the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, has printed cards to be handed to authorities enumerating their rights under treaties with Mexico and other Latin American countries. Meanwhile, the Dept of Homeland Security is threatening to go into schools and churches to arrest undocumented immigrants, sparking reactions from school and church leaders statewide. Valley superintendents felt compelled Wednesday to send letters assuring parents that their students would not be arrested on campus.

Mo Schools exec retiring

Modesto Bee. Superintendent Noguchi announces retirement at school board meeting.
Synopsis: Sara Noguchi says she’ll remain in place until a successor is hired, hopefully by the end of the school year. She has been Modesto City Schools’ top exec since July 1, 2018. During her time the district passed massive bonds to renovate schools, the GATE program was expanded to all elementary campuses and after-school programs were improved. 

Good dog beats bad guy

GV Wire. Fresno County traffic stop turns into $640K cocaine bust.
Synopsis: A routine stop of a suspicious vehicle on I-5 led to the seizure of 17 pounds of cocaine stuffed into a gym bag. A CHP K-9 officer sniffed it out and Alejandro Bravo of Yakima, Wash., was arrested.

Arrest in awful animal cruelty

SF Chronicle. 27 horses found dead in SJ County, woman arrested.
Synopsis: On a farm near Clements, 62-year-old Jan Johnson apparently let her horses and cattle starve to death. She has been arrested and charged with animal cruelty, and having a sawed-off shotgun. She is affiliated with a farm in Clements and a livestock company in Stanislaus County. The remaining horses were taken to Oakdale Equine Rescue, which is asking for donations to help save the animals.

Does Care Court work?

Merced Focus. CARE Court was touted as a way to fight homelessness; who has been helped?
Synopsis: Reporter Marijke Rowland writes about the Modesto program aimed at providing treatment and getting people off the streets. Said recent graduate, “I want to prove that I could have hopes, achieve. Finish up this and then move on – something big, get back out there and do good.” The 14-month pilot program had 67 applicants and petitions, below the 90 expected. Pilot programs elsewhere were also underused; 1,000 were expected to participate in San Francisco, but only 42 took part. In Stanislaus, it all worked out to roughly $15,000 per participant. For that investment, 31 people were placed in treatment, 20 got housing.

Some Valley ERs swamped

GV Wire. Fresno ERs impacted the worst since COVID; only go for true emergencies.
Synopsis: Reporter Edward Smith writes that people with colds, flu and RSV have swamped ERs at Community Regional and Clovis Community. At Valley Children’s, demand has leveled off since Christmas. Kaweah is seeing normal volumes.

Here’s looking at Shrew, kid

SF Standard. CA’s most elusive mammal caught on camera for first time.
Synopsis: The Mount Lyell Shrew, which lives in a very small part of Yosemite NP, had never been photographed before. A group of CA Academy of Sciences researchers finally got the mouse-like creature that spends much of its life underground to pose. Climate change is threatening the shrew’s preferred high-elevation habitat that is rapidly warming.