Governor’s Office News Release

WHAT TO KNOW: Governor Newsom signed an executive order to streamline levee repairs and debris removal to help local communities recover from flooding and prepare for the next wet season. This is the latest in a series of actions to protect communities and conserve water from record rain and snowfall.
 
SACRAMENTO – In anticipation of another possible wet season with record rain and snowfall, Governor Gavin Newsom today signed an executive order that will expedite critical work like levee repairs and debris removal to help protect and prepare communities.

A copy of the executive order can be found here.

WHY IT IS NEEDED: This year’s historic winter storms damaged levees and left debris in river channels that exacerbate the risk of flooding next winter – damaged levees provide less protection from high water flows, and debris and vegetation within river channels reduce capacity to move high water flows.
 
WHAT IT WILL DO: By acting now, the executive order allows affected communities to accelerate work to restore levee function and river channel capacity degraded by last winter’s storms and floods. More specifically, the executive order:

• Streamlines public agencies’ emergency levee repair and debris removal work to address this past winter’s storms and prepare for next winter;
• Applies to emergency levee repair and debris clearing impacted by this past winter’s storms, including: the San Joaquin River and tributaries, the Tulare Lake Basin and tributaries, the Salinas River and tributaries, the Pajaro River and tributaries, and other coastal streams between the Pajaro River and the Ventura River;
• Suspends certain laws, regulations, and criteria in existing orders – conditioned on agencies complying with specified environmental and resource protection requirements – for emergency levee repair and debris removal projects. Suspensions include:
  • Lake and streambed alteration agreement laws and regulations implemented by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife;
  • Limiting provisions in State Water Board water quality certifications that would otherwise limit circumstances under which a public agency could rely on emergency regional general permits issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers;
  • Waste discharge requirements laws and regulations implemented by the Water Boards for projects that do not require an Army Corps of Engineers emergency permit;
  • The California Environmental Quality Act.
• Includes a number of common-sense conditions to protect the environment and natural resources, drawn from the existing regulatory expertise at the Department of Fish and Wildlife, Department of Water Resources, and the Water Boards.

HOW WE GOT HERE: This action builds on the series of measures Governor Newsom has taken to protect communities from flooding while replenishing California’s groundwater and storage. 

• Proclaimed a state of emergency in January mobilizing state government ahead of the winter storms, proclaimed a state of emergency in 53 counties to support response and recovery efforts, and activated the National Guard to support disaster response and relief;
• At the Governor’s request, President Biden issued a Presidential Emergency Declaration and a Presidential Major Disaster Declaration to bolster state and local recovery efforts; 
• Executive orders to expedite emergency flood preparation and response activities in the Tulare Lake Basin and San Joaquin River Basin, such as floodwater diversion, debris removal, and levee repairs;
• Visited the Tulare Lake Basin to see flooding impacts firsthand, meet with community leaders, and emphasize the state’s commitment to supporting the counties impacted by flooding.
• Announced $17.2 million to fortify the Corcoran Levee, protecting critical infrastructure, correctional and medical facilities, and more;
• Committed over $500 million in the 2023-24 state budget to support flood response and projects to protect communities from future floods;
• Executive orders in February and March to capture rain and floodwater for groundwater recharge, reservoir storage, and more.

Leveraging the more than $8.6 billion committed by Governor Newsom and the Legislature in the last two budget cycles to build water resilience, the state is continuing to take aggressive action to prepare for the impacts of climate-driven extremes in weather on the state’s water supplies.

Link to news release

Santa Barbara County now has a mobile resource center for farmworkers known as Proyecto Campesino. It’s an office on wheels that provides support to farmworkers and their employers by bringing resources to the agricultural community.

The mobile resource center is a specially-designed van painted with bright images of farmworkers from local fields. This is the first month the county is deploying the van.

Cesar Guerrero is the Program Coordinator. He said the van will move around the county meeting farmworkers and their families in convenient locations, whether that’s near local shops or parks or out in the fields.

“What we’re going to do is connect them with the resources that can provide the services for them whether that’s medical assistance, financial assistance, education, things like that,” Guerrero said.

The van has computers, internet access, printers, and a multilingual staff.

“We will service people in English, Spanish, and Mixteco. We also have a contract with an agency that can provide various types of dialects as well,” he said.

The office-on-wheels is equipped with a large screen, folding chairs, and a retractable sunshade – ideal for larger training and information sessions. Guerrero said his team will work with farmworkers and their employers to plan and schedule visits.

They’re also ready to assist with emergencies and natural disasters.

“For example, in a flood, people obviously need the necessities like food, shelter, all that stuff. We’ll definitely set up shop at one of the emergency stations,” Guerrero said.

The Farmworker Resource Center is part of the Santa Barbara County Department of Social Services. Guerrero said the van will serve the entire county, and they expect to reach about 8,000 families in the first year.

Link to story

CDFA Secretary Karen Ross (center in photo) met chefs from around the world–and an international sommelier–as they began an agritourism tour of California this week.

The tour is sponsored by California Grown and program partners and is intended to introduce the delegation to producers and culinary experts to develop stronger connections to California foods, wines, and culinary destinations.

The visitors are from Singapore, Dubai, Turkey, South Africa, Hong Kong, South Korea, China and India, and they plan to utilize ingredients they learn about during the tour for recipes to be published in a coffee table-style cookbook that will be used as a protocol gift by US embassies around the world.

The tour is in partnership with the USDA’s Foreign Agriculture Service as part of “My Food Story with a Fork and the Road,” celebrating the diversity of U.S. food, agriculture, farmers, producers, and cuisine.

CDFA’s Office of Environmental Farming and Innovation is currently accepting grant applications from commercial dairies and livestock operations for manure management projects.  

Individual grant applicants can receive up to $2.85 million in awards per project. The awards would fund the installation of equipment and implementation of practices that result in long-term methane emissions reductions and maximize environmental co-benefits. The application deadline is 5 PM PT on Monday, August 28, 2023. 

CDFA is offering grants for the Alternative Manure Management Program (AMMP) and the Dairy Digester Research and Development Program (DDRDP). The programs are both are supported by funding from the Budget Act of 2022, with $48 million appropriated for livestock methane reduction and an additional $20 million specifically for AMMP through the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. AMMP will make approximately $20.9 million available, and DDRDP approximately $11.4 million available for 2023 awards, with remaining funds available in a subsequent solicitation expected in 2024. 

New this year — the Dairy Plus Program offers the opportunity to amplify the reach and scope of traditional AMMP and DDRDP projects through contributions from the USDA Partnerships for Climate Smart Commodities program. CDFA and the California Dairy Research Foundation joined forces to secure funding for this program, which will reduce greenhouse gas emissions while expanding markets for climate-smart commodities. Dairy Plus will fund advanced manure management practices that reduce GHG emissions and address nutrient surpluses.

New AMMP and DDRDP applicants and previous AMMP and DDRDP recipients with completed projects are all eligible to apply to the Dairy Plus Program. 

Prospective applicants can find individual program details below:  

• Alternative Manure Management Program (AMMP)  
  Applications are due Monday, August 28, 2023, by 5:00 PM PT. Detailed information is available at www.cdfa.ca.gov/oefi/AMMP. 
• Dairy Digester Research and Development Program (DDRDP)  
  Applications are due Monday, August 28, 2023, by 5:00 PM PT. Detailed information is available at www.cdfa.ca.gov/oefi/ddrdp.  
• Dairy Plus Program 
  Applications are due Monday, August 28, 2023, by 5:00 PM PT. Detailed information is available at https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/oefi/dairyplus/. 

Since 2015, CDFA’s dairy and livestock methane programs have funded 271 incentive projects that will result in the reduction of more than 24.3 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MMTCO2e) once completed through their expected minimum lifetime. This is equivalent to removing a total of 5.4 million gasoline-powered cars from the road. 

As Smart Irrigation Month reaches its conclusion, CDFA is profiling innovative water-saving approaches at a Central Valley almond orchard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmlrllZ1Bwc

CDFA facilitates water-efficiency improvements through its State Water Efficiency and Enhancement Program, or SWEEP.

Agriculture interests from around the world gathered in Rome this week for a United Nations Food Systems Summit. The topics included reducing food waste, which, as shown in this video, can be a key element in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

https://youtu.be/ison6lQozDU

CDFA teamed up with the San Bernardino County Fire Department over a series of weekends in May, June and July to intercept illegal fireworks at the Mountain Pass Border Station (I-15).

The effort resulted in more than three-tons (6,133 lbs) being confiscated, the great majority intended for destinations in Southern California. Drivers of the vehicles were cited.

The team was on the lookout for items not classified as “safe and sane” by the California State Fire Marshal, and confiscated items were handed over to the Fire Marshal for disposal.

California’s Border Protection Stations (BPS) are the first line of defense in California’s pest exclusion efforts, and stations occasionally partner with other government agencies to focus on types of contraband outside of agriculture, like illegal fireworks.

Funding to expand capacity for processing, aggregation and distribution of agricultural products to create more and better markets for producers.

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_EfxQW3xVQxONCQgcq6z_Jg#/registration

As part of CDFA’s work to facilitate stewardship of water and natural resources, the agency is pleased to discuss recent developments in the Nitrogen and Irrigation Initiative.

A three-year, collaborative effort between CDFA’s Fertilizer Research and Education Program, UC Agriculture and Natural Resources, and UC Davis, the initiative is supporting research at seven UC Cooperative Extension (UCCE) county offices.

The objective is to assist farms and ranches of all sizes through educational materials, on-farm trials, training events, and grower consultations aimed at establishing nutrient management and irrigation practices that produce fruits, nuts or vegetables without the overuse of fertilizer or water.

Significant milestones in the first quarter of 2023 included field staff training in conjunction with the UCCE Climate Smart Agriculture and Small Farms Community Edu­cation programs. Staff visited two Fresno County Asian vegetable operations to learn more about their irrigation systems and toured UCCE research fields.

Another milestone was the initiative’s first Stakeholder Advisory Group meeting. The group includes wa­ter coalitions, commodity organizations, resource conser­vation districts, Certified Crop Advisors, and environmental organizations. The purpose of the group is to enhance communication be­tween program partners and organi­zations that work directly with farmers and ranchers.

For more information, visit the UCANR Nitrogen and Irrigation Initiative webpage.