The state water board is asking the Legislature for a $16 million loan to finance its reviews of groundwater management plans.
Last year the board put two subbasins on probation, triggering the effected groundwater agencies to pay board fees. Yet the Kings County Farm Bureau challenged the Tulare Lake decision. A county judge then issued a temporary injunction, blocking the board from collecting fees until at least spring 2026.
Now the board needs to pay about two dozen staff working on the reviews or face delays in probationary hearings. It had anticipated a two-year delay due to the lag time in collecting fees under the act.
Adding more to the workload is the fact that the status of groundwater basins can change at any time, making workload and fees unpredictable. That happened in November, when the board hit the brakes on the Kaweah Subbasin’s pending probation.
Take note: The Kern County Subbasin is up for a probationary hearing on Feb. 20. But the situation is still evolving, according to board member Dorene D’Adamo.
She shared with the North Coast water board this week “some very encouraging news.” The basin has been meeting with staff and plans to submit improvements to the plan soon.
Meanwhile: When asked about Trump administration “theatrics,” D’Adamo shared concerns about losing potentially billions in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding for drinking water and wastewater projects.
Ross got the message on regulatory costs
CDFA Secretary Karen Ross stressed the importance of collaboration and referred to a pending report on regulatory alignment in response to a new study showing a dramatic cost burden on growers.
In a statement to Agri-Pulse, Ross said the ag community must partner with academics and the supply chain to advance science and technology solutions to boost California’s competitiveness. She pointed to automation for increasing efficiencies and workforce development for upskilling workers to adapt to changing production practices.
Ross plans to release a report later this year on its project with CalEPA and the state water board to evaluate reporting costs and identify opportunities to improve reporting processes and technologies.
Shasta dumps flood flows
The Bureau of Reclamation and the Department of Water Resources are taking advantage of recent storms to coordinate flood flow releases from Lake Shasta.
Reclamation is throttling up the flows to 60,000 cubic-feet-per-second tonight, after idling at around 7,000 cfs for the last month. The action is in response to a massive amount of rainwater running into the reservoir, causing it to rise more than 22 feet in the past week.
DWR is seizing on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s executive order and the storm flex provisions in its Delta pumping permit to boost storage. The department anticipates that roughly doubling the pumping to 3,000 cfs will deliver an additional 16,000 acre-feet of water.
USDA: Program review waiting on Rollins
USDA officials are defending a freeze on funding that has snagged several programs. In a statement to Agri-Pulse, the department says the Trump administration “rightfully has asked for a comprehensive review of all contracts, work, and personnel across all federal agencies. Anything that violates the President’s Executive Orders will be subject for review.”
The statement came in response to congressional Democrats’ demands that USDA justify its freeze on payments.
The USDA statement says those lawmakers will get a response “once Brooke Rollins is confirmed and has the opportunity to analyze these reviews.” Rollins is waiting on Senate confirmation to take over as ag secretary.
By the way: House Agriculture Chair Glenn “GT" Thompson, R-Pa., said it’s logical to give the incoming secretary time to evaluate everything they are responsible for.
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“We’ve got a new president, a president who’s made a promise and quite frankly we need secretaries … confirmed in the Senate so that they can step in and do their job,” Thompson said. “You would want your cabinet secretary to have the opportunity of a fresh start.”
Duvall: Federal government must honor climate-smart ag contracts
The president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, Zippy Duvall, is calling on the Trump administration to honor its funding commitments for climate-smart agriculture projects.
“If there are signed contracts and our farmers have started the process of implementing those contracts, we want to make sure that the federal government stands behind those contracts,” Duvall told Agri-Pulse.
“Don't leave our farmers out high and dry,” he added.
Agri-Pulse reported this week that the Trump administration has already suspended payments to some projects, potentially leaving farmers without reimbursement for work they had already done.
USAID staff being gutted
The U.S. Agency for International Development is being slashed to under 300 employees, according to a former USAID official, Atul Gawande. Just 12 people will be left in Africa, he says. The agency currently has about 10,000 direct-hire employees. Virtually all USAID staff were to be put on administrative leave starting today.
It remains unclear what will happen to food aid programs. An estimated $340 million worth of food has been left in limbo because of the gutting of the USAID staff and suspension of aid.
Judge pauses federal buyout offer
A federal judge paused a buyout offer made by the Trump administration to federal employees, scheduling arguments for Monday. The offer came last week in an email titled “Fork in the Road,” the same subject line billionaire and DOGE leader Elon Musk used after he bought Twitter.
More than 40,000 employees had accepted the offer as Thursday, according to the White House. There was no breakdown by department and agency. According to the Partnership for Public Service, 38% of USDA employees were eligible for retirement at the end of 2023. Some 63% of USDA employees in the senior executive service were eligible for retirement.
Dems see some shared trade priorities with Trump’s USTR pick
Senate Democrats left a confirmation hearing for Trump’s pick for a top trade position convinced that there is ample alignment over trade issues. But they were unimpressed by Jamieson Greer’s defense of “erratic and chaotic” tariff policies.
“I think he's given pretty good answers,” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., told Agri-Pulse after Greer’s confirmation hearing for U.S. Trade Representative.
Similarly, Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., said she shares many of Greer’s trade views. “But he's going to be working for an administration that is currently suggesting that blanket tariffs are a way of raising revenue,” Smith added. “There's no common ground there.”
In his hearing, Greer defended Trump’s tariff threats on Mexico and Canada and echoed the president’s view that tariffs can be a tool to boost government revenues.
Final word:
“We need to really step back and streamline these processes so we can make California investable again.” – Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher, on the California Environmental Quality Act stalling housing and commercial development.
Gallagher and Senate Republican Leader Brian Jones took part in a discussion Thursday with the Public Policy Institute of California.
