Agriculture

‘Trump Taxes’ would be paid by American consumers on Mexican goods

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Anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist, the founder and president of Americans for Tax Reform, said on Friday that “tariffs are taxes” … “They’re taxes on American consumers and producers who use imported products. We need to get those tariffs down as quickly as we can.” Grover Norquist urges Trump to get rid of trade tariffs, calling them taxes on … Read more

It’s not just California … Washington declares a drought emergency

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It’s not just California. The governor of Washington declared a drought emergency on Friday, but is not imposing mandatory water-use restrictions on urban residential areas. Washington Governor Declares Drought Emergency:

Gov. Jay Inslee declared a statewide drought emergency for Washington on Friday, with mountain snowpack at 16 percent of average and water levels in rivers and streams drying to a trickle not seen since the 1950s. He said that residents should also be prepared for an early and active fire season that could reach higher elevations in the Cascade and Olympic mountain ranges, where many spots are already completely clear of snow.

“We’re seeing things happen at this time of year we just have never seen before,” Mr. Inslee said in a news conference.

SNOTEL-Washington

But he said that unlike other drought-stricken parts of the West, especially California, the problem here in the nation’s northwest corner falls primarily on agriculture and wildlife. The large metropolitan water systems serving Seattle and other cities on the state’s western edge, where most people live, are largely in good shape, with rainwater-based reservoirs and no immediate plans for water-use restrictions.

“Rain has been normal,” Mr. Inslee said. “What we lack has been snow.”

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Climate change, drought, agriculture and food security

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LakeMeadChuck Cullom, Central Arizona Project’s Colorado River program manager,  said the drought “isn’t a crisis for Arizona, but it’s really a signal that all users in the basin need to address the long-term imbalance between supply and demand.” Risks of CAP shortages next year hit 33% .

Lisa Atkins, board president of the Central Arizona Project says Arizona is well prepared for a shortage, and not in a crisis. What if a falling Lake Mead triggers water cuts? “In a Tier 1 shortage, with the exception of an increase in CAP water rates, Arizona’s cities, towns, industries, mines and tribes using CAP water will not be affected.”

CAP Message: we’re not in a crisis. Just ignore what is happening in California.

Despite mandatory water conservation measures being imposed by California last month, California water conservation remains lackluster with 3.6% cut in March:

Californians cut their water consumption by 3.6% in March compared with the same period in 2013, the State Water Resources Control Board reported Tuesday.

The cut in water use represented a slight improvement from a dismal 2.8% figure for February, but is still far short of the statewide 25% mandatory water-use reduction required by Gov. Jerry Brown’s April 1 executive order.

The board reported that cumulative water savings since last summer totaled only 8.6%.

“We need to do more,” water board staff scientist Max Gomberg said.

California actually is in a crisis right now — mandatory water conservation measures — and still Californians will not respond as if it is a crisis by reducing their water usage. So what kind of public response do you think you are creating when CAP tells Arizonans that this is not a crisis?

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