San Joaquin Valley – California Globe

Ringside: Observations as a New Water Year Begins

October 8, 2026 4:00 pmOctober 8, 2026 4:01 pm

For water users and water watchers, October 1st was New Year’s Day. It’s a good time to step back and comment on where we’re headed with water policy and water projects. There is no single variable that affects how much...

T.W.G. Cigars is a New Crop for the San Joaquin Valley

September 30, 2026 7:00 amSeptember 30, 2026 7:01 am

California’s San Joaquin Valley is a world powerhouse of agriculture. It’s also facing a combination of factors coming together to reduce its water supplies. One solution for growers is changing the crops grown. Timothy Wayne Greene may have the answer. Greene...

Ringside: El Nino Emergency Planning Must Include Dredging the Delta

September 24, 2026 6:00 amSeptember 24, 2026 6:01 am

On September 21, Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency due to the “strong and likely historic El Nino event in the Pacific Ocean.” The timing of the announcement is in response to the latest predictions from the National...

Ringside: Without Sediment Removal in the Delta, Catastrophic Flooding is Coming to California

August 27, 2026 8:14 amAugust 27, 2026 8:14 am

In the cities and farms immediately south of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the worst flooding of the 20th century happened in 1997. Several days of unrelenting rain pummeled the slopes of the Sierras, and with the snow line unusually high at...

Ringside: Reversing California’s Policies of Scarcity

January 8, 2026 3:55 amJanuary 8, 2026 3:56 am

A new year has begun, and here in California, 2026 promises to deliver challenges that may at last transform the state’s energy and water policies. Let’s begin with a quick look at California’s current water policies in action. The last month...

Ringside: Will Advocates for More Water Supply Projects Find Unity?

December 11, 2025 9:00 amDecember 11, 2025 9:01 am

There’s only one way to restore reliable water allocations to farmers, avoid turning our cities into rationed “xeriscaped” heat islands, and cope with whatever the climate ultimately delivers. That’s to build more infrastructure to safely and sustainably produce millions of...

Ringside: Politically Viable Water Supply Projects

November 27, 2025 6:30 amNovember 27, 2025 6:31 am

A few years ago I was involved in an effort to qualify a ballot initiative, the “Water Infrastructure Funding Act.” While we failed to gather sufficient signatures to get it onto the November 2022 state ballot, if it had been...