Delta Stewardship Council to Release Final Report

The Delta Stewardship Council (DSC) will be conducting a hearing on January 11, 2013, in Sacramento to accept public comments regarding the final draft of the new Delta Plan. In 2009, the California Legislature passed the Delta Reform Act (Act) to address the decline of the Delta system and disputes regarding water supply and environmental degradation. The DSC, a multi-stakeholder group, was tasked with leading that effort and developing a legally enforceable plan.
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2013-2014 Legislative Session

The 2013-2014 Legislative Session officially began on Monday, January 7, 2013. With the independent Legislative Analyst estimating that the California budget deficit will be much smaller through the end of the next fiscal year than what the State faced in 2012 – about $1.9 billion estimated in 2013, compared to $15.7 billion in 2012 -- legislators and the Governor have turned their attention away from the budget crisis and toward a more robust policy agenda.
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LAO Releases Report on CA Energy Efficiency Programs

The Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) recently determined that California maintains over a dozen major programs that are intended to support the development of energy efficiency and alternative energy in the state. Funded primarily through utility rates, the LAO has estimated that over the past 10 to 15 years, the state has spent a combined total of roughly $15 billion on such efforts. Despite the decline in the economy and a sluggish California recovery, the state will not only continue to spend a significant amount of money funding these programs, but the funding will likely increase substantially given the added dollars from the state’s cap-and-trade auction and the passage of Proposition 39 by voters in 2012.
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California is Largest Producer of Lemons in United States

Lemon trees were initially grown by the Spaniards in California in the mid 1700s. The commercial lemon industry in California began shortly after the gold rush of 1849 when many prospectors and minors developed scurvy due to lack of fresh fruits and vegetables. The few lemons that were available sold for very high prices because many of the Forty-niners knew that daily rations of lemon juice prevented scurvy. By 1880, the production of lemons was well established in southern California. Shortly thereafter, the growth of the industry was stimulated greatly by the construction of the transcontinental railway system which made it possible to ship the fruit to populous eastern cities.

Today, California is the largest producer of lemons in the United States, producing over 90 percent of total production. Of the total production of lemons in California, approximately a third is processed into lemon juice, fresh, canned, concentrated and frozen, or dehydrated and powdered, which is primarily used for lemonade, in carbonated beverages, or other drinks.

The United States ranks fifth in the world in lemon production behind India, Argentina, Spain and Iran.