Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/550940
NICKUT—THEASSOCIATEDPRESSFILE Denise Hurst shows the drought-tolerant garden she planted with the help of a city program in Long Beach. ByMichaelR.Blood and Emily Swanson TheAssociatedPress LOS ANGELES Whenwater gets scarce and the govern- ment slaps restrictions on its use, who should be first in line at the spigot? Farm- ers, according to an Associ- ated Press-GfK poll. The national survey provides a glimpse into how Americans think wa- ter should be managed at a time when abnormally dry weather has afflicted swaths of the country, and water shortages in some states have led to conflict over who should get water and how much. Two-thirds of Americans believe water is a limited re- source that can be depleted if people use too much, the poll found, and 70 percent believe that government should restrict how much residents and businesses use when drought takes hold. When asked to rate the importance of competing needs when water is scarce, 74 percent said agriculture should be a top or high priority, followed by resi- dential needs (66 percent), wildlife and ecosystems (54 percent) and business and industry (42 percent). To Cheryl Hendricks in parched California, it's sim- ple: To put food on the ta- ble "we rely on agriculture." "It's getting kind of seri- ous when you are not giv- ing water to people who are producing food," said Hen- dricks, 63, of Rancho Cu- camonga, about 40 miles east of downtown Los An- geles. She and her husband are taking shorter showers and removing lawn in response to California's four-year drought, but for growers and ranchers "it's more im- portant for them to have it." The poll's findings ap- pear to run against criti- cism of farming practices that demand vast amounts of water. In California, for example, agriculture ac- counts for 80 percent of all water drawn from rivers, streams and the ground. Producing California's al- mond crop consumes more water than all the shower- ing, dish-washing and other indoor household water use of the state's 39 million peo- ple. The drought has been acute in California, where rainfall has dipped to re- cord lows, reservoirs are de- pleted and state regulators have ordered conservation from cities, businesses and agriculture. Some commu- nities have been given nine months to cut their use by 36 percent compared to 2013 levels. Nevada's Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the country, is hovering near its historic low water mark and residents in the Las Vegas area have lim- its on lawn watering. In Oakridge in western Ore- gon, a community well is 23 feet below normal and re- strictions prevent residents from washing cars and fill- ing swimming pools. "We need to take care of people first — and food," said William Clarke-Jes- simy, 33, from Queens, New York, who thinks homes and agriculture should be favored for water rights. He's watched prices spike for California fresh fruits and vegetables in his local markets, and he worries about friends and family in the San Francisco area who are living with the scarcity of water, with no relief in sight. "It's really scary," he said. "They need to find ways to deal with the drought on a long-term basis. I don't think a lot of people realize how bad it really is." Earlier this month, the House passed Republican- backed legislation designed to bring more water to Cali- fornia's farm belt. According to the survey, Republicans are slightly more likely than Democrats to call water for agriculture a top priority, 81 percent to 74 percent, respectively. Democrats were more likely than Republicans to see wa- ter for wildlife and ecosys- tems as a top need, 61 per- cent to 49 percent. The poll also found most Americans — nearly 80 per- cent — think government should limit developers to building only in places with an adequate, long-term wa- ter supply. The advocacy group Food & Water Watch has urged Gov. Jerry Brown to place a moratorium on groundwa- ter use for irrigating crops in some parts of the heav- ily farmed San Joaquin Valley. California director Adam Scow said the poll's findings reflect that people value food production but the group believes "we sim- ply don't have the water" to support crops in some drought stricken regions. Poll:Americansfavorfarmers an d fo od d ur in g dr ou gh t WATER MANAGEMENT By Sudhin Thanawala The Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO Abortion rights advocates locked in a public relations battle with abortion opponents over videos of Planned Parent- hood leaders discussing the use of aborted fetuses got some good news from two courts in California. A federal judge in San Francisco on Friday blocked the release of any record- ings made at meetings of an abortion providers' as- sociation by the anti-abor- tion group the Center for Medical Progress. Earlier in the week, a Los Angeles County judge issued a temporary restraining or- der blocking the center from releasinganyvideoofleaders of StemExpress, a California company that provides fetal tissue to researchers. In one of the videos the group previously released, a woman identified as a for- mer StemExpress phleboto- mistdescribesdrawingblood and dissecting dead fetuses. The videos have ignited passions on both sides of the abortion debate and sparked apotentialshowdowninCon- gress, where Republicans are increasingly focused on cut- ting off funding for Planned Parenthood. On Friday, Judge William Orrick in San Francisco is- sued a temporary restrain- ing order against the cen- ter that had been requested hours earlier by the Na- tional Abortion Federation. Orrick said absent a tem- porary restraining order, the federation would likely suffer irreparable injury "in the form of harassment, in- timidation, violence, inva- sion of privacy, and injury to reputation." The National Abortion Federation sued in federal court, alleging that the Cen- ter for Medical Progress in- filtrated its meetings and recorded its members. The group said release of any audio or video would put members in danger. DavidDaleiden,aleaderof the Center for Medical Prog- ress who is also named in the suit, said in a statement that Planned Parenthood and its allies were trying to silence thegroupandsuppressinves- tigative journalism. The center has released several secretly recorded videos that have riled anti-abortion activists, in- cluding one Thursday of a Planned Parenthood doctor in Colorado. It has accused Planned Parenthood of sell- ing fetal tissue for profit, which is illegal. The undercover video released Thursday shows Dr. Savita Ginde, vice pres- ident of Denver-based Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, discuss- ing prices of aborted fetal remains, the center says. Planned Parenthood is- sued a statement calling the video "misleading and deceptively edited." In Friday's lawsuit, the National Abortion Federa- tion alleges that the center created a fake company to get into the federation's an- nual meetings in 2014 and 2015 and then recorded its members with the goal of smearing abortion-rights supporters. John Nockleby, a profes- sor at Loyola Law School, said California privacy law is stricter than some other states. PLANNED PARENTHOOD Abortion-rights supporters get help from California courts in video fight RUNNINGS ROOFING and CONSTRUCTION SheetMetalRoofing ResidentialCommercial • Composition • Shingle • Single Ply Membrane ServingTehamaCounty 530-527-5789 530-209-5367 NoMoney Down! 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