California newspaper urges Senate rejection of USDA ‘anti-science blowhard’
President Trump's chief political operative at USDA, Sam Clovis, is unqualified to serve as undersecretary for research and should be rejected by the Senate, said the editorial board of the San Jose Mercury-News. At nearly the same time the newspaper labeled Clovis as "an anti-science blowhard," 22 U.S. farm groups asked the Senate Agriculture Committee for swift confirmation of Clovis, a co-chair of Trump's presidential campaign.
California curtails senior water rights, court fight possible
The State Water Resources Board ordered a reduction in water allotments to some of California's most senior rights holders, who have been assured of unlimited water from waterways for more than a century, said the San Jose Mercury News.
Interior-No irrigation water for Central Valley for second year
The Interior Department says there will be no irrigation water for most farmers in California's Central Valley for the second year in a row, calling it "an unprecedented situation."