Ag Alert December 16, 2020

Water Continued from Page 1

delta litigation “hamstrings voluntary agreements.” Scheuring said Farm Bureau filed a lawsuit with more than a dozen other groups on the unimpaired-flows regula- tion, adding that FarmBureau supports a “functional flows” approach found in the voluntary agreements. In hi s presentat ion to the Farm Bureau meet ing, Conant said Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Water Resi l iency Portfolio endorses voluntary agree- ments as the path forward. Through the water portfolio, Conant said, the governor has shown an inter- est in taking a leadership role to address California’s water challenges, through conservation, diversity of supplies and new storage, such as construction of Sites Reservoir. “It is clear that California needs more storage and expanding areas where the existing storage exists. That’s why we continue to explore options for funding,” Conant said. Funds fromthe 2014 Proposition 1wa- ter bond will help fund several new and expanded storage facilities, including Sites, and Conant discussed planned federal projects such as expanding ca- pacity of Shasta and San Luis reservoirs. “The department’s highest priorities in the last few years have been to invest in

and modernize our water infrastructure to ensure reliablewater supplies,” he said, pointing out that in many cases, Bureau of Reclamation infrastructure is 60 to 100 years old. The bureau also plans to restore stretches of the Friant-Kern Canal and Delta-Mendota Canal, which have lost capacity due to subsidence. In the other Annual Meeting session, California Farm Bureau Federal Policy Consultant Erin Huston said water infrastructure development could be among the priorities of the incoming 117th Congress. In addition, Huston reported spec- ulation that the new Biden adminis- tration could “repeal and replace” the Trump administration’s version of the waters of the U.S. rule under the Clean Water Act. The current rule updated a 2015 Obama administration rule that drew widespread concern from agri- cultural groups and others for greatly expanding federal jurisdiction over wa- ter, land and land use. “They could do a repeal and replace of the rule or a modi f ication in the areas in which they disagree, which, broadly speaking, seems to be around the issue of jurisdiction and includes which bodies of water are considered navigable and which bodies are not,” Huston said.

During his session, Conant said there is a growing confidence that moderate to strong La Niña conditions in the Pacific Ocean substantially increase the odds of a dry winter. “Some reservoirs are above average, some are below, but it’s extremely early in the season,” he said. “Reclamation is already planning for a potential dry winter by decreasing river releases and conserving storage to the greatest ex- tent possible.” Discussions of water supply andpolicy inevitably led to California’s groundwa- ter law, the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act or SGMA. If no action is taken to build new storage or update water infrastructure, Conant said, “up to amillionacres of land may need tobe retired inorder to achieve water balance.” “If some projects are implemented that they’re pursuing over the next 10 years, and if the biological opinions are upheld, that number can be cut about in half as to the number of acres that would need to be retired in order to achieve a water balance,” he said. “We cannot lose sight of the profound economic and so- cial effects that will have.” (Chr i s t ine Souza i s an ass i s tant editor of Ag Alert. She may be contacted at csouza@csouza@cfbf.com.)

balance among competing demands for use of CVP water.” Conant said the federal agencies hope to resolve the litigation from the state and “to return to the extraordi- nary progress that was made in 2018 through the voluntar y-agreement process in collaboratively updating the water quality control plan for the bay-delta.” Voluntary agreements would serve as an alternative to “unimpaired flows” plans by the State Water Resources Control Board. A first phase of the wa- ter board plan, adopted in 2018, would require water users in San Joaquin River tributaries to leave 30% to 50% of unimpaired flows in the Stanislaus, Tuolumne and Merced rivers for fish populations, unless voluntary agree- ments on the three tr ibutar ies can be reached and adopted instead. A second phase proposes similar un- impaired-flow requirements for the Sacramento River watershed of approx- imately 55%. “There can be no voluntary agree- mentswithout resolutionof this litigation from the state,” Conant warned. During a separate session, California Farm Bureau Senior Counsel Chris Scheuring agreed that the state-federal

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Agricultural Market Review

Quotations are the latest available for the week ending December 11, 2020 Year Ago Week Ago Latest Week Livestock Slaughter Steers – 5-Area Average Select & Choice, 1050–1150 lbs., $ per cwt. 119-119.50 110-111 110-112 Hogs – Average hog, 51-52% lean, Iowa-Minn. market, $ per cwt. 60.71 64.53 64.17 Slaughter Lambs – $ per cwt. 125–175 lbs. National weekly live sales 141-162.56 140.50-172.50 152.85-172 Field crops – basis prompt shipment Barley – U.S. No. 2, $ per cwt. Truck, Stockton-Modesto-Oakdale-Turlock 12 10-10.25 No Quote Cotton – ¢ per lb., Middling 1 3/32” Fresno spot market 69.07 72.11 73.04 Corn – U.S. No. 2 yellow $ per cwt. trucked 9.58 5.68 5.62 Alfalfa Hay – $ per ton, quality*, FOB Region 1, Northern Inter-mountain 220-240 (P) No Quote 200-205 (S) Region 2, Sacramento Valley 215-220 (F/G) 230-280 (G/P) 150 (organic sudan) Region 3, Northern San Joaquin Valley No Quote 295 (S) 275-285 (S) Region 4, Central San Joaquin Valley No Quote No Quote No Quote Region 5, Southern California 270 (P) 255 (P) 255 (P) Region 6, Southeast Interior 150-215 (P/S) 175-195 (P/S) 195 (P/S) Oat Hay – $ per ton, quality*, FOB Northern California, dairy No Quote No Quote No Quote Oats – U.S. No. 2 white, $ per cwt. Statewide, trucked price No Quote No Quote No Quote

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Dry Beans – Grower FOB prices Baby Limas, $ per cwt, (sacked) Large Limas, $ per cwt. (sacked) Blackeye, $ per cwt. (sacked)

No Quote No Quote No Quote

Rice – Milled No. 1 Head, FOB No. Calif. mills Medium grain, $ per cwt. Wheat – U.S. No. 2 or better, winter, $ per cwt. 13% protein, Los Angeles, trucked price

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No Quote 11-11.10 (No. 3) Provided by the California Farm Bureau as a service to Farm Bureau members. Information supplied by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Market News Branch. * ADF=Acid detergent fiber; (S) = Supreme/<27%ADF; (P) = Premium/27-29; (G) = Good/29-32; (F) = Fair/32-35. 11 (No. 3)

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December 16, 2020 Ag Alert 19