After a wet start to December, including more than a half-inch of rain Sunday, the Fresno area is expected to dry out. But watch out for fog. The forecast from the National Weather Service-Hanford calls for little or no rain. That may change over the weekend, especially over the Sierra...
Incoming Storms Bring Ski Area Hope for Thanksgiving Week Opening
The Thanksgiving week storm that's projected to drop Fresno's first measurable rainfall could also bring heavy snow to the Southern Sierra mountains. Forecasters at the National Weather Service office in Hanford say a "strong and wet storm" will reach Central California Tuesday night and continue through Friday. Listen to this...
Walters: Westlands Contract Shakes the Waterscape
California’s perpetual, uber-complex conflict over water progresses much like the tectonic plates that grind against one another beneath its surface. Periodically, as subterranean friction increases, there’s a sudden movement that we call an earthquake — sometimes imperceptibly small, but occasionally large enough to disrupt and endanger life at the surface....
Farmers Don’t Need to Read the Science. We Are Living It.
[aggregation-styles] The New York Times Subscription FIREBAUGH, Calif. — Many farmers probably haven’t read the new report from the United Nations warning of threats to the global food supply from climate change and land misuse. But we don’t need to read the science — we’re living it. Here in the...
Valley Is Diverse, Invisible, and Most Productive Ag Region in U.S.
California’s San Joaquin Valley is often dismissed as small and rural. To the contrary, it’s a massive area of farms, ranches, small towns, and growing cities, emblematic of the American West as a blend of Old West values and New West technology. It’s also historically distinctive as one of the...
Lessons Learned by Picking Cantaloupes in San Joaquin Valley
It’s cantaloupe season in the San Joaquin Valley, a time that takes me back to a summer during high school when I picked melons in Huron for farming pioneer Russell Giffen. I didn’t know Giffen. I was merely one of thousands of high school and college students who picked crops...
California Shouldn't Ignore Hydropower in Climate Change Fight
Is the cleanest, greenest electricity in the world green enough for California? For years, the people of the northern San Joaquin Valley have been trying to get hydropower recognized for what it is: the original source of clean electricity. Our efforts have been stymied by people who feel entitled to...
More Rain, Snow, and Flooding Headed Our Way
First, the San Joaquin Valley floor will get wet Friday night, Saturday and possibly on Sunday. Then, it will get drenched Tuesday and Wednesday. And, up in the mountains, more snow is on the way. That's the latest from the National Weather Service Hanford station. "Expect some snow to melt...
Walters: Is San Joaquin Valley California's Poor Stepchild?
Technically, California’s San Joaquin Valley – the drainage plain of the San Joaquin River – begins a few miles south of Sacramento and ends a few miles south of Fresno. However, in political and economic terms, it stretches even further south to the Tehachapi Mountains, south of Bakersfield. The 300-mile-long...
Can the Valley Balance People, Water, Ag, and Environment?
The San Joaquin Valley can overcome big challenges facing agriculture, the environment, and rural public health if major stakeholders embrace creative solutions to relieve stress on its water system. However, forging agreement on these solutions won't be easy as they will involve significant changes in land use and water management. And...