Free Republic

President Trump brings razor sharp instincts to the political picture, and nowhere was it more obvious than in his appearance in Bakersfield, California, signing a bill to clean up the junk-science federal "research" on water for the parched Central Valley, and better still, ordering the feds to give California's Central Valley farmers the water for their farms that they already paid for.  According to Politico: “What they're doing to your state is a disgrace," Trump said. "After decades of failure and delays in ensuring critical water rights for the people of the state, we are determined to finally get your problems solved." The...

Gov. Jerry Brown’s plans for massive water tunnels have yet to win approval, but a report shows California already is planning to take up to 300 farms to acquire land for the project. A 160-page report prepared by state contractors lays out plans to move rapidly to eminent domain to acquire land for two 30-mile-long tunnels. The tunnels would help ferry water from Northern and Central California to Southern California. …

There's much more to California's drought than lack of rain. California is currently in the grip of one of the worst droughts in state history. Gov. Jerry Brown has signed an executive order that imposes water restrictions on residents, businesses, and farms across the state. While the state is clearly experiencing this drought, the extreme weather shortages are an ongoing and man-made human tragedy—one that has been brought on by overzealous liberal environmentalists who continue to devalue the lives and livelihoods of California residents in pursuit of their own agenda. It comes down to this: which do we think is...

California Gov. Jerry Brown had some sharp words for environmentalist critics of his proposed Sacramento River water tunnels. On Wednesday, Brown told critics of his $15 billion plan to “shut up, because you don’t know what the hell you’re talking about,” according to the AP. Brown’s office told Sacramento Bee blog Capitol Alert that the governor’s remarks were made in “jest.” But the sharp rebuke highlights the tension surrounding the pricey project, which would send water from the northern part of the state south by using a pair of underground water tunnels to divert water around the Sacramento-San Joaquin River...

When Daniel Wilson learned earlier this year that the state of California wants to bulldoze his family's pear orchard to build a giant Sacramento River water diversion, he and his brother were making a major new investment in the crop. Located near the town of Hood, in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the orchard has grown Bartlett pears for 50 years as the foundation of the family farm. But Bartletts are not as marketable as they once were. So the brothers were grafting thousands of trees to grow new pear varieties – Bosc and River Maid Red – to ensure viable...