A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
October 23, 2008
2. Supply –
Drought stresses rice farmers, waterfowl
Fewer flooded fields means less money from hunting leases
Capital Press
Storm door could be kicked ajar this winter
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Drought stresses rice farmers, waterfowl
Fewer flooded fields means less money from hunting leases
Capital Press – 10/23/08
By
Millions of ducks and geese have begun winging their way south to California's rice fields - but the birds are finding less water to rest in because of a two-year drought that is expected to stress the rice farmers as much as their avian visitors.
Sacramento Valley rice farmers have flooded their fields after harvest ever since the state largely barred them from burning their leftover rice straw; flooding rots the straw, which farmers can turn back into the soil come spring.
This year water supplies are so short some farmers may not be able to get water for decomposing the rice straw after Oct. 31, and most of those who can will see prices soar.
"I think what you're going to see is people flooding up and getting the water deep before Oct. 31 and hope it holds - or they'll hope for rain," said Don Bransford of the Glenn-Colusa Irrigation District, which oversees the water supplies for roughly 100,000 acres of rice in the valley.
Phil Nickerson runs the West Valley Flyway Club, a duck club within the irrigation district. He said in his area, only about 7,500 acres are expected to be flooded. Last year irrigators flooded 25,000 acres.
Nickerson said prices for water are four times as much as they were last year - so much higher that he is flooding only six fields for hunters this year, instead of 22.
That hurts Nickerson's income, just as it does for all the farmers who lease out their land to hunters every winter. An average four-man blind in the valley can generate more than $5,000 to a farmer. But if they can't get water, "they're going to lose that revenue," Bransford said.
Leo LeGrande farms rice around Willows. He said he expects far fewer fields to be flooded in his area, as farmers decide to spend the money for extra diesel fuel and to chisel or disc the rice straw back into the soil.
LeGrande also said that if the winter is dry, fewer fields will be planted in rice next spring, too, as farmers sell their allotted water to
"Ducks are like rice farmers," LeGrande said. "They need water like we need water. Your ducks are going to be concentrated more, and you might get some problems with disease."
There was an outbreak of disease among ducks and coots late last winter. Packing too many birds in too small an area can create conditions ripe for avian flu, cholera or botulism poisoning.
Greg Mensik, of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, said his agency will be watching out for that, "but what we need to remember is that the amount of water we've seen in recent years is not what we had in the 1970s - there's a whole lot more flooded fields now," he said.
Mensik said waterfowl have no problem feeding on dry ground if there are wetlands nearby for them to hang around in. But Mensik said if all the farmers are disking or chiseling their leftover rice, the waste grain that waterfowl need won't be available.
"It's going to be a challenge," he said.#
http://capitalpress.com/Main.asp?SectionID=67&ArticleID=45520
Storm door could be kicked ajar this winter
By Niesha Lofing
Hoping for a wet winter? You might be in luck.
Meteorologists are seeing indications that a weather phenomenon that can help drive storms into
The hope lies with the Madden-Julian Oscillation, an area of globally enhanced energy that travels out of the Indian or Pacific oceans and can interact with the jet stream that goes across the Pacific, bringing storms into the state, said Steve Goldstein, a National Weather Service meteorologist.
The weather phenomenon was a factor in the wet storms that pummeled the
"It wasn't the only factor involved, but there was definitely one of these Madden-Julian circulations to enhance the jet stream," he said.
The big question is whether the oscillation will be strong enough to affect the state's weather this winter, Goldstein said.
Last winter, there was a very strong La Nina -- a period of strong winds and unusually cold sea-surface temperatures -- and while the oscillations were present, they weren't strong enough to overcome the global weather pattern.
A strong La Nina will form an amplified high pressure system over the Pacific and blocks storms from coming in, he said. Storms are forced north to find a path around or must punch through the weather wall, but many don't pack enough force.
The result is dry winters.
But a strong La Nina isn't expected this winter, Goldstein said.
"Most of the folks at the climate predication center say conditions will be near neutral or slightly La Nina this year," Goldstein said
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The Madden-Julian Oscillation remains "a big maybe," but Goldstein said we might start to see storms hit
"The situation with La Nina and the situation with the
But don't break out the umbrellas yet. If La Nina strengthens and persistent low-pressure systems develop in western
"The last thing we want is a really, really dry winter," Goldstein said.
How much rain does the state need to alleviate its prevailing dry conditions?
"A near-normal year would stop the bleeding, so to speak," he said. "We would need an above-normal year to reverse the trends of previous years."
Goldstein said meteorologists are keeping careful watch on weather patterns and will revise predictions needed.
But Californians who desire a rainy weather pattern have reason to remain hopeful.
"It seems likely this year will turn out different than last year," Goldstein said. #
http://www.sacbee.com/latest/story/1337967.html
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