Valley Solutions

River restoration – it can happen

River Partners. Ready for liftoff: 6,000 acres of floodplain restoration are shovel ready. 
Synopsis: Through a $40 million investment from the CA Wildlife Conservation Board, river-restoration group River Partners has identified 6,000 acres of “landscape-scale projects” from Stockton to Bakersfield. The projects would double the acreage of restored floodplains in the Valley and frequently connect projects expanding benefits. Known as the SJ10 Projects, the state’s largest restoration group considers the projects their “highest priority,” said Emma Havstad. “It’s significant that River Partners has restored more than 20,000 acres throughout California since 1998,” but “in just the last two years, we have finished the first step to increase that by another 30%.” Most of the projects are clustered along the Tuolumne, Merced and San Joaquin rivers with two on the Kern. It will involve planting hundreds of thousands of trees, shrubs and native plants, restoring habitat corridors linking 7,700 acres, recharging aquifers over vast landscapes and restoring habitat for imperiled species ranging from salmon to rabbits to birds. One of the largest sites is Bear Creek Ranch, 2,100 acres between the Merced and San Joaquin rivers. One of the smallest is 3 acres at Camp Taylor near Modesto. “River Partners has done the assessments and has crafted the restoration plans. We have federal and state support. And, importantly, we have hope,” said the group’s CEO, Julie Rentner. 

Governor unveils new Valley parks

KSEE / CBS47. Park near Fresno to become one of 3 new CA state parks. 
Synopsis: Gov. Gavin Newsom was in Fresno County on Tuesday to unveil three new state parks. The first will be the San Joaquin River Parkway in Fresno and Madera counties. The land is currently controlled by the San Joaquin River Conservancy along both sides of the San Joaquin River below Friant Dam. The second is a 2,000-acre park along the Feather River in Yuba County, and the third is the Dust Bowl Camp in Bakersfield.

Did we teleport to Kansas?

LA Times. Three tornadoes confirmed in CA in a single day. 
Synopsis: The National Weather Service confirmed three tornadoes touched down in the Valley on Tuesday afternoon. An EF1 came down in Clovis at 5:16 p.m., ripping a metal roof off a barn and tearing trees out of the ground or breaking them in half. At 2:19, an EF0 tornado touched down in Madera doing minimal damage. A third tornado hit Merced County near Atwater at around 5 pm, also an EF0 but it did some damage. The NWS’s Carlos Molina in Hanford said CA normally sees about 9 tornadoes a year throughout the state. So having 3 in one day, is “unusual.”

Fresno Bee. Fresno-area tornado warning results in brief school shutdown.
Synopsis: A tornado sighting resulted in a texted warning to cellphones and a lockdown at a nearby school. One funnel cloud was photographed near Hwy 99 near Herndon, but it dissipated before reaching the ground. Another tornado touched down around Biola around 2:15 p.m. but did little damage.

ABC30. NWS says tornado responsible for tearing apart Atwater home.
Synopsis: Significant damage was caused by a “terrifying twister” in Atwater on Monday. Said Jesus Duran, “I have a nephew that lives in Kansas. I was like, ‘Dude, you’re the one in Kansas. We’re the ones in Atwater. There’s not supposed to be no tornadoes over here.’” Confirmed Kris Mattarochia of the National Weather Service: “There was absolutely a tornado here. There’s video evidence, there’s ground truth.” Metal siding was blown about 400 yards from its building, said Mattarochia. “It was pretty scary,” said Duran.

Asparagus ice cream, yum

Stockton Record. San Joaquin Asparagus Festival returns for 40^th year with new menu. 
Synopsis: One of the state’s earliest food festivals – created 6 years after the original Garlic Festival in Gilroy – will return to Stockton this weekend at the San Joaquin County Fairgrounds. The three-day event begins Friday and features everything from deep-fried asparagus (the crowd favorite) to asparagus ice cream to bacon-wrapped shoots. If that’s not enough, check out deep-fried ravioli, lumpia, nachos and sausages – all made with asparagus. Music, a beauty pageant, a petting zoo and rides will be part of the festival. Tickets are $15, or $10 for seniors and kids.
MAD Note: When the Asparagus Festival first started, there were 40,000 acres of it growing within 20 miles of Stockton. Now, there’s hardly 400 acres. But Mexican asparagus tastes good, too.

300 urge farm bill passage

Ag Daily. 300 ag groups demand a new Farm Bill from Congress. 
Synopsis: In a letter delivered on April 17, more than 40 national farm groups along with dozens of state associations and product groups told members of Congress that passing a new Farm Bill must be a high priority. “Simply put, agriculture and rural America cannot continue to manage the challenges of 2026 with the solutions of 2018,” said Farm Credit Council president Christy Seyfert.
MAD Note: The Valley has three members sitting on the House Ag Committee – Adam Gray, Jim Costa and David Valadao. The committee is made up of 54 members, 29 Republicans and 25 Democrats.

Where will water come from?

Ag Alert. Dry conditions push farms to new irrigation strategies. 
Synopsis: South-of-the-Delta farmers are looking for cost-effective ways to make their very limited water supplies go further after being told they will get only 20% of their promised water from the federal CVP. Dan Errotabere said he will fallow 30% of his acreage this year. He said there’s nothing left to wring out of efficiencies such as micro-drip, which he installed years ago. He’s working with biochar, which takes time to yield results, and software integration to better direct water to root zones. Don Cameron is using automated, AI-directed drip on 900 acres of onions and tomatoes and has installed telemetry so the computers can talk to the shut-off valves and flow gates. A company called AgMonitor has installed its gear on 350,000 acres on the Westside, reducing water use by up to 15%. Others are using robots developed for golf courses to measure soil moisture.

How will water get there?

SF Chronicle. Trump administration offers plan to stop dam removal on CA river. 
Synopsis: USDA Sec. Brooke Rollins has offered a plan to stop the removal of two century-old dams and their long-defunct power plants on the Eel River. Rollins said the Lake Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District has expressed interest in buying the Cape Horn and Scott dams from PG&E. The Southern California agency would presumably continue their operation as irrigation storage. What Lake Elsinore would get out of the dams is uncertain, considering it’s 600 miles away and there is no means of moving water from the Eel watershed to the Sacramento where it can be shipped south. The state and various environmental groups say the dams should be removed to restore salmon runs on the river and have offered other means of supplying irrigation flows.

Ending CA’s flex-fuel ban

The Observer. Bill proposal would lift CA’s ban on E85 conversion kits. 
Synopsis: San Joaquin County assemblymember Rhodesia Ransom wants to allow consumers to buy kits that make it safe to use gas mixed with alcohol -- E85, meaning up to 85% ethanol – in their engines. CA is the only state that prohibits the kits. Using E85 could, maybe, lower gas costs for commuters, like those living in Ransom’s district and working in the Bay Area. One distributor says his E85 is $2.50 a gallon cheaper than gasoline. Some say E85 would do three good things: Lower fuel cost, reduce emissions and add to fuel supply. Currently, only 1.1 million of CA’s 40 million cars can use E85, aka flex fuel. The kits cost around $800 and mechanics charge $200 to $300 to install them. The New Car Dealers, LULAC, the state Chamber and others support the measure.

Big projects have great cost

Riverbank News. Learning true cost of reliable water supply. 
Synopsis: Columnist Dennis Wyatt recalls some of those who have died while building large water projects in California, starting with 96 workers on the Hoover Dam. Eventually he mourns the loss of Twyla Cappuro of Coulterville. The 35-year-old geologist was working on the Canyon Tunnel project when a large rock dislodged from the tunnel roof and killed her. The death of the young mother shows that “water systems, freeways, bridges, tunnels … often come at a great cost.”

Cellphones banned by schools

Modesto Bee. Modesto school board amends student conduct code with new cellphone ban policy. 
Synopsis: On Tuesday night, Modesto City Schools board of trustees banned cellphones in classrooms during school days. Starting next school year, students must keep phones in their backpacks. They cannot be used during class or lunch or passing periods. Some parents were angry with the policy, saying it limits necessary communication with children to arrange pickups and drop-offs. Another parent said students should be allowed to use their phones during lunch and the full-day ban fails to teach students how to manage a tool that has become necessary in today’s society.

Big cats, big danger

Ag Alert. Big cats complicate ranchers’ livelihoods. 
Synopsis: State officials say there are at least 3,645 mountain lions roaming California, and possibly 4,750. It’s illegal to kill them, but there’s little stopping the lions from killing livestock and pets. Goats, sheep, calves, dogs and cats are especially susceptible. Some people get big dogs, like a Great Pyrenes, to protect their flocks. Others install electronic cameras and hot fences. The state won’t help discourage lions unless homeowners have both and a dog. The problem is spreading out of mountain counties to the central coast and even urban-wildland interface counties such as San Mateo, where lions prey on pets. Deterrence needs to be quicker and more robust, say those who have lost animals.
MAD Take: Lions are scary. Wouldn’t it be better for the lions and for us if they also feared humans?

Merced Sun Star. Mountain lion kills 2 CA dogs in ‘unprovoked attack.’
Synopsis: A mountain lion jumped over a fence into a yard in Yucaipa on Saturday morning, killing two dogs. The cougar killed a 90-pound husky and 65-pound Anatolian shepherd. These are not small animals. If you encounter a lion, never turn your back on it; make noise, stand as tall as you can and throw things at the animal if it moves toward you. If you see deer on your property, you are likely to see mountain lions.

Getting stuck in mud, jail

GV Wire. Madera County Authorities arrest suspect in drug, theft case after car stuck in mud.
Synopsis: After deputies found a car axel-deep in mud, they looked in the trunk and found it filled with stolen ag chemicals. Then they took a look around and found the driver; in his pockets they found his meth. The chemicals were valued at $10,000 and had been stolen from a nearby storage unit. The driver was arrested on a variety of charges – theft, drug possession, conspiracy, more.
MAD Take: Too bad “stupidity” isn’t a chargeable crime; they could have got him on that, too.