Growing Returns

Selected tag(s): El Niño

These reforms can unclog California’s water market and help the environment

By Ann Hayden / Bio / Published: May 4, 2016

California has a long tradition of conflict over water. But after five years of drought and an El Niño that failed to live up to its “Godzilla” hype, the conflict has become a crisis. How will the state adjust to a changing climate, increasing demands and prolonged periods of water scarcity?

That’s the question my colleagues and I set out to answer in Better Access. Healthier Environment. Prosperous Communities: Recommendations for Reforming California’s Water Market.

We analyzed the state’s existing market and offered a set of policy reforms to improve the efficiency, accessibility and transparency of the market so that cities, rural communities and ecosystems can benefit without altering existing water rights.

We realize that it will take a portfolio of strategies to increase the state’s resiliency in the face of a growing population and increasingly severe weather. But markets have an especially important role in leveling what has become an uneven playing field. Read More »

Posted in Uncategorized / Also tagged AB 2304, agriculture, california, central valley, climate change, disadvantaged communities, drought, ecosystems, environment, environmental defense fund, environmental justice, farmers, regulations, resiliency, The California Water Market Exchange Act, water management, water markets, water transfers, water use, western water, wildlife | Comments are closed

Monarchs still need milkweed, and farmers are growing it

By David Wolfe / Bio / Published: May 3, 2016

Rain builds over a field near Lubbock, Texas. Photo credit: Flickr user Craig O’Neal

I am watching the rain pour down outside my window as I write this blog. El Niño is once again giving central and north Texas a good drenching, which has brought with it some severe and deadly flood conditions. But the rains are a welcome sight to Texas farmers and ranchers who have become all too used to drought and wildfire conditions. And they aren’t the only ones benefitting from the heavy rains.

All this wet weather has resulted in a spectacular display of spring wildflowers, including vast expanses of milkweed and nectar plants that the iconic North American monarch butterflies need to survive and thrive.

Recent headlines suggest that milkweed loss is just one of several threats to monarch populations, with drought, habitat fragmentation and reduced availability of nectar plants also influencing the species’ decline. In reality, all of these threats are interconnected in a recipe that could spell disaster for the monarch. Read More »

Posted in Climate Resilience, Habitat Exchange, Wildlife Protection / Also tagged conservation credits, Corn Belt, ecosystems, environmental defense fund, Environmental Incentives, farmers, golden cheeked warbler, habitat conservation, habitat exchange, habitat fragmentation, milkweed, monarch butterflies, Monarch Lab, Partnerships, ranchers, revenue, Shield Ranch, Texas, University of Minnesota | Read 2 Responses

Walnut grower Craig McNamara on water banking, hedgerows, and the birds and the bees

By Eric Holst / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: September 24, 2015

Craig McNamara on his farm in Winters, California.

Craig McNamara embodies agricultural leadership in California. He has farmed a 450-acre organic walnut orchard in Winters, California for the past 35 years. He’s been an innovator in implementing conservation practices on his land that both enhance wildlife and benefit his farming operation. He’s also the president of the California State Board of Food and Agriculture, and an influential sustainable agriculture educator.

I’ve known Craig for about 10 years and have had the honor of serving with him on the State Board for the last two. I spoke with him about how he integrates farming with ecology and his plan for dealing with potential El Niño rains. Read More »

Posted in Wildlife Protection / Also tagged california, California State Board of Food and Agriculture, conservation, craig mcnamara, drought, ecosystems, fertilizer, hedgerows, sustainable agriculture, water banking, water use, western water, wildlife | Comments are closed

Why a “Godzilla” El Niño won’t end California’s drought

By Ilissa Ocko / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: September 9, 2015

The original version of this post appeared on EDF’s Voices blog.

An El Niño advisory is now official, and scientists suggest there is a greater than a 90-percent chance that it will arrive this winter.

They also believe the developing El Niño could become one of the most powerful on record – rivaling its 1997-98 predecessor, which sent California twice as much rain and the Sierra Nevada double the snowpack it usually gets.

So news of another El Niño may sound like a blessing for California farmers, who help make the state the world’s eighth-largest economy, as they suffer through the worst drought in more than a millennium. Read More »

Posted in Climate Resilience / Also tagged aquifers, california, Climate, drought, ecosystems, farmers, greenhouse gas emissions, Sierra Nevada, water use, western water | Comments are closed