VND surveyors visit a feed store in San Bernardino County.

CDFA and the USDA are continuing their joint project to eradicate a recent outbreak of virulent Newcastle disease (VND) in Southern California. Detections have occurred at a small number of properties in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties.

The project includes extensive outreach to bird owners and feed stores with tips on signs of the disease.

Please remember that there is no cure for VND. It is important that all commercial and non-commercial poultry owners maintain effective barriers to protect against the risk of the disease. Biosecurity tips for commercial poultry owners can be found here. For Backyard and non-commercial poultry owners, biosecurity tips can be found here.

Survey crews are distributing information in English and Spanish.

Checking birds for signs of disease.

From the Sacramento Bee

By CDFA Secretary Karen Ross and California State Water Resources Control Board Chair Felicia Marcus 

When we read about drinking water problems like those in Flint, Mich., it’s easy to think that would never happen here. But the unfortunate fact is that many local water systems in California are failing to provide safe drinking water to their customers through no fault of their own.

In roughly 300 communities, from Trinidad to Tulare and Riverside to Oceanside, tap water has tested high for arsenic, nitrates, uranium and other chemicals that can cause learning disabilities, miscarriages, birth defects, and cancer. Right now, hundreds of thousands of Californians lack access to clean water for drinking, bathing and cooking. Children and the elderly are at the highest risk.

Since California passed the Human Right to Water Act in 2012, the state has made some important strides to address this crisis. Using funds from Proposition 1 and other sources, we have provided hundreds of millions of dollars in grants and loans to help build new water treatment plants and other infrastructure in disadvantaged communities. And we’ve consolidated smaller systems in communities like East Porterville, where clean water now flows into hundreds of homes that were without it.

But despite years of effort, we still face a fundamental problem that stops us from helping many Californians. Many smaller water systems lack adequate resources to pay for ongoing operations and maintenance of modern treatment facilities. Bond funds and loans can’t be used to cover these costs, but without these resources, small systems don’t qualify for the funding that is available to cover the capital costs of these projects.

It is a Catch-22 that has created a world of water “haves” and “have nots” in the fifth largest economy in the world.

The Legislature has an opportunity to end this crisis once and for all. The governor’s proposed budget includes a new Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund created from fees on fertilizer, dairies and livestock, and a fee of less than a dollar a month assessed on water bills. A bipartisan and diverse alliance of farmers, disadvantaged communities, public health advocates and water systems supports the proposal – as do the vast majority of Californians according to a recent Water Foundation poll.

The new fund will create a modest state safety net to cover urgently needed updates to out-of-compliance water systems. It will facilitate the consolidation of small, financially struggling water systems with larger, more stable ones or with a group of communities that can find an economy of scale. And most critical, it will help cover ongoing water treatment costs, providing the last piece of the puzzle for small systems that are currently unable to get grants and loans and hire qualified managers.

Some people argue general fund dollars or enforcement fines should cover these costs. Let’s be clear: Existing funds would not provide the kind of multi-year funding guarantee needed to secure capital financing and maintain critical water infrastructure 24 hours a day. The proposed dedicated funding source will not compete with other general fund needs and will provide the state with essential infrastructure investment and public health protection over time.

Using fees to pay for the state’s basic needs makes good sense. We fund rural internet broadband service through fees on our cell phone bills and low-income heating and cooling assistance through fees on our gas and electric bills. The proposed drinking water fee of less than a dollar a month has the same clear connection to addressing a critical need – and costs even less.

As public servants, it is our job to champion the concerns of ordinary Californians and deliver life’s basic necessities. That is why we are urging members of California Legislature to approve the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund this session.

Every month we fail to provide this funding is another month too many California families have to choose between buying bottled water and taking their chances with toxic taps. California can do better, but we need the right tools to do so.

Link to article

Bird owners in Southern California are responding to outreach provided over the past several days related to virulent Newcastle disease (VND), and have started reporting sick birds. VND has now been confirmed in a number of flocks of backyard birds in San Bernardino County. CDFA is working closely with USDA to respond to these findings, and is investigating any potential links between these cases and a case recently identified in Los Angeles County.

Bird owners are urged to practice biosecurity to help protect their birds from VND and other infectious diseases. These include simple steps like washing hands and scrubbing boots before and after entering a poultry area; cleaning and disinfecting tires and equipment before moving them off the property; and isolating any birds returning from shows for 30 days before placing them with the rest of the flock.

In addition to practicing good biosecurity, all bird owners should report sick birds or unusual bird deaths to California’s Sick Bird Hotline at 866-922-BIRD (2473).

California agencies combatting the spread of invasive quagga and zebra mussels remind boaters to remain cautious over Memorial Day weekend.

Quagga and zebra mussels are invasive freshwater mussels native to Eurasia. They multiply quickly, encrust watercraft and infrastructure, alter water quality and the aquatic food web and ultimately impact native and sport fish communities. These mussels spread from one waterbody to another by attaching to watercraft, equipment and nearly anything that has been in an infested waterbody.

Invisible to the naked eye, microscopic juveniles are spread from infested waterbodies by water that is entrapped in boat engines, bilges, live-wells and buckets. Quagga mussels have infested 33 waterways in Southern California and zebra mussels have infested two waterways in San Benito County.

To prevent the spread of these mussels and other aquatic invasive species, people launching vessels at any waterbody are subject to watercraft inspections and are strongly encouraged to clean, drain and dry their motorized and non-motorized boats, including personal watercraft, and any equipment that contacts the water before and after use.

Boaters are urged to take the following steps both before traveling to and before leaving a waterbody to prevent spreading invasive mussels, improve the efficiency of the inspection experience and safeguard California waterways:

• CLEAN — inspect exposed surfaces and remove all plants and organisms,
• DRAIN — all water, including water contained in lower outboard units, live-wells and bait buckets, and
• DRY — allow the watercraft to thoroughly dry between launches. Watercraft should be kept dry for at least five days in warm weather and up to 30 days in cool weather.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) has developed a brief video demonstrating the ease of implementing the clean, drain and dry prevention method, which can be viewed at www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaeAIPLoK-k. In addition, a detailed guide to cleaning vessels of invasive mussels is available on the CDFW’s webpage at https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/filehandler.ashx?documentid=4957&inline. Additional information is available on the Division of Boating and Waterways (DBW) website at http://dbw.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=28996.

Travelers are also advised to be prepared for inspections at California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) Border Protection Stations. Over the past nine years, more than 1 million watercraft entering California have been inspected at the Border Protection Stations. Inspections, which can also be conducted by CDFW and California State Parks, include a check of boats and personal watercraft, as well as trailers and all onboard items. Contaminated vessels and equipment are subject to decontamination, rejection, quarantine or impoundment.

Quagga and zebra mussels can attach to and damage virtually any submerged surface. They can:

• Ruin a boat engine by blocking the cooling system and causing it to overheat
• Jam a boat’s steering equipment, putting occupants and others at risk
• Require frequent scraping and repainting of boat hulls
• Colonize all underwater substrates such as boat ramps, docks, lines and other underwater surfaces, causing them to require constant cleaning
• Impose large expenses to owners

A multi-agency effort that includes CDFW, DBW, CDFA and the California Department of Water Resources has been leading an outreach campaign to alert the public to the quagga and zebra mussel threats. A toll-free hotline, (866) 440-9530, is available for those seeking information on quagga or zebra mussels.

By Frank Lopez

A new study commissioned by the Citrus Research Board (CRB) values the total economic impact of California’s citrus industry at $7.117 billion.

Bruce Babcock, Ph.D., a professor in the School of Public Policy at the University of California, Riverside, conducted the research and his findings quantified the impact of citrus on the state economy.

“California citrus is a major contributor to the economic value of the state’s agricultural sector and is much larger than just the value of its sales,” Babcock said. “Estimated full-time equivalent California citrus jobs totaled 21,674 in 2016-17, and estimated wages paid by the industry during that same timeframe totaled $452 million.”

According to Babcock, the California citrus industry added $1.695 billion to the state’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2016.

Babcock found that for the years of 2016-17, the total direct value of California citrus production was $3.389 billion. Economic activity from related business that supplied materials and services to the citrus industry generated an additional $1.263 billion, and on top of that, $2.464 billion in economic activity generated by household spending income that they received from California’s industry brought the total economic impact to $7.117 billion.

The study revealed that 79 percent of the state’s citrus was packed for the fresh market and 21 percent was processed in 2016-17, a big significance, as fresh market fruit is valued higher than processed fruit.

California Citrus Mutual President Joel Nelsen commented that the report sheds some positive news about the state but insists that farmers and growers should be cautious of a deadly crop disease epidemic.

“This enthusiasm must be tempered by the fact that huanglongbing (HLB) can destroy all this in a matter of a year if the partnerships that exist between the industry and government cannot thwart the spread of this insidious disease,” Nelsen said. “Reading how that would affect our family farmers, employees and the state is sobering.”

The study also looked into the possible impact of a potential 20 percent reduction in California citrus or yield, or a combination of both, from increased costs related to government regulations, and crop diseases.

According to Babcock, such a reduction could cost 7,350 jobs and reduce California’s GDP by $501 million in direct, indirect and induced impacts.

Link to story