Dry spell: Ventura County struggles to refill from Santa Clara River
Farms, industries and municipalities in Ventura County could see a severe reduction in the amount of water they receive from the Santa Clara River watershed and sharply higher prices if a pair of environmental challenges are successful, a top groundwater manager said Nov. 16.
Tony Morgan, groundwater department manager for the United Water Conservation District, said at a symposium in Santa Paula that the district is unlikely to be able to supply anywhere near the water this year that it has in the past because of prolonged dry weather.
Ventura County leaders call for immigration reform
Business and agriculture leaders speaking at a Nov. 8 economic forecast hosted by the California Lutheran University Center for Economic Research and Forecasting put forth a vocal call for immigration reform amid a deepening farm-labor shortage.
McGraths honored at conservation awards
Ventura County’s McGrath family took home top honors at the fourth annual Resource Conservation District awards, in a program that was bittersweet for one of the region’s top farming families. Phil McGrath, a farmer who embraced organics and the farm-to-table movement when others still focused on conventionally-grown crops and global markets, was the winner of Read More →
Tracking liquid assets: Groundswell creates Web-based water maps
Santa Barbara-based Groundswell Technologies makes Web-based software that can integrate data from any source — whether it’s a cutting-edge sensor connected via satellites or historical records — and generate “heat maps” of water supply or contamination on demand. The key is leveraging powerful computers in the cloud to handle lots of data and generate reports that used to take weeks in a matter of seconds.
Water woes: Publishing of nitrate data at issue
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Pumpkin patches are gourd mines: Specialty growers cash in on seasonal squash
The Golden State is No. 2 in the nation for pumpkins and last year produced about 93,500 tons of the crop on roughly 505,000 acres. Much of the crop is earmarked for commercial purposes and shipped out of state, but the growth of community-based pumpkin patches has accelerated over the past decade, according to California Farm Bureau Federation spokesperson Dave Kranz.
