The stinging Vespa mandarinia can grow as large as 2-1/2 inches (6.35 cm) in length and is native to Southeast Asia, China and Taiwan.

According to British Columbia’s agriculture ministry, a nest was found and destroyed last August at Nanaimo on Vancouver Island, and a single specimen of the hornet was found in November on the B.C. mainland, at White Rock.

On the U.S. side of the border, individual specimens were found in December near Blaine, Wash., just south of White Rock, according to Sven-Erik Spichiger, managing entomologist at the Washington state agriculture department.

Those findings indicate a “probability” that nesting hornets are overwintering in the area, the province said in March, noting wooded habitat offers suitable nesting grounds.

The “murder hornet” presents a danger to agriculture and the apiary industry, Spichiger said, because the insect is known to attack honeybees, with a few of the hornets capable of wiping out an entire hive in hours.

“The hornets enter a ‘slaughter phase’ where they kill bees by decapitating them. They then defend the hive as their own, taking the brood to feed their own young,” according to the Washington state department of agriculture website.

“Pollination is a huge part of agriculture and the agricultural systems we have here in the United States. And so if this were to become well-established and then start spreading, it could be pretty catastrophic,” Spichiger said.

Also. if provoked, “an Asian giant hornet can sting you multiple times and deliver larger doses of venom just because of the size of them. The venom itself is fairly toxic and creates localized necrosis around the wound so you’ll see melting flesh around the wound,” he told Reuters.

“What we’re told from the literature is that most people can survive one or two stings,” he said. “But if you sustain multiple stings, the necrosis and the venom will actually start getting into your bloodstream and will start working on your organs. And multiple stings could literally be fatal.”

Scientists don’t know for sure how the murder hornet made its way to the region. The most likely scenario is that it arrived on a container ship. Intentional transport of the bug into the United States would violate federal law.

Following the discovery of the first hornet, a web page set up by Washington state agriculture officials to report additional sightings of the insect has received several hundred reports, Spichiger said.

British Columbia’s agriculture ministry also wants people in the region who may have seen Asian giant hornets to report sightings to the Invasive Species Council of B.C., with photos if possible.

The ministry noted several large insects common to the region — such as yellow jackets, bald faced hornets, elm sawflies and horntail wasps — could be mistaken for Asian giant hornets.

While Asian giant hornets do not generally target people, pets or large livestock, they can attack when threatened or if their nest is disturbed.

“We really don’t want any private citizen trying to mess with an Asian giant hornet nest. Typical beekeeping attire will simply not protect you. The stinger on this insect is six millimeters long and will go readily through most clothes,” Spichiger said.

— Reporting for Reuters by Omar Younis; writing by Dan Whitcomb. Includes files from Glacier FarmMedia Network staff.

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So-called riparian growers in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta who participate in the program have agreed to either reduce water diversions by 25 per cent or fallow one-quarter of their land, the State Water Resources Control Board said.

Riparian land borders natural waterways such as rivers or streams and growers with such farmland in the delta are among those with some of California’s most senior water rights.

“This proposal helps Delta growers manage the risk of potentially deeper curtailment, while ensuring significant water conservation efforts in this fourth year of drought,” State Water Board chair Felicia Marcus said.

“It allows participating growers to share in the sacrifice that people throughout the state are facing because of the severe drought, while protecting their economic well-being by giving them some certainty regarding exercise of the State Water Board’s enforcement discretion at the beginning of the planting season,” she said.

The agreement comes as the board is considering curtailing water diversions to senior water rights holders in California for the first time since the late 1970s.

California is entering its fourth year of a devastating drought that has prompted Governor Jerry Brown to impose the state’s first-ever mandatory cutbacks in urban water use, up to 36 per cent in some communities.

California grows nearly half of all U.S. fruits and vegetables, mostly in the Central Valley, and ranks as the top farm state by annual value of agricultural products.

— Reporting for Reuters by Dan Whitcomb; additional reporting for Reuters by Lisa Baertlein.

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The storm, also known as a “Pineapple Express” because it results from a ribbon of moist air moving across the southern Pacific Ocean was forecast to dump as much as 25 cm of rain in coastal mountains.

National Weather Service meteorologist Austin Cross said more than 7.5 cm of rain had been already recorded in the hills of western Sonoma County by early afternoon on Friday.

Flash flood advisories were issued for Sonoma, Napa and Marin counties and authorities were also concerned about the potential for mudslides in hillsides left scarred by wildfires. High winds knocked down trees and caused scattered power outages.

According to Pacific Gas and Electric, some 24,000 homes and businesses had been impacted across the Bay Area since the storm hit, although power had been restored to most customers by mid-afternoon.

Cross said heavy rains were expected to fall throughout the day on Friday and then again on Sunday after a brief lull on Saturday.

Forecasters say that while the soaking that the storm will deliver to northern California will provide a small measure of relief to the drought-stricken state, it was not expected to make a significant impact, in part because the warm weather system would not add to mountain snow packs.

The multi-year record drought has prompted California officials to sharply reduce water supplies to farmers and impose strict conservation measures statewide.

Brian Fuchs, a climatologist with the U.S. Drought Monitor, said experts were optimistic when California was hit with several strong storm systems in December but those hopes largely evaporated when January saw very little precipitation.

January is typically the state’s wettest month, he said, with little rain falling between mid-April and December.

Fuchs said the intensity of the drought was lessened in some areas, including Marin County, after December’s rains and that a small section of the state, on the eastern edge of San Bernardino County, was no longer considered to be in a drought.

“It’s one little corner of the state, a desert region that had more precipitation than they usually do and that was enough,” he said, adding that it would not make a significant impact on the larger crisis.

— Dan Whitcomb is a Reuters correspondent based in Los Angeles.

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Agricultural specialists with U.S. Customs and Border Protection found an adult khapra beetle, eight larvae and a shed skin in a shipment of Indian rice from Saudi Arabia last week, spokesman Jaime Ruiz said.

The khapra beetle, which is native to India and not currently established in the U.S., is considered one of the most destructive pests of grain products and seeds.

“It is endemic to several countries and the reason it is very dangerous is that its life cycle is very long and it goes into all kinds of food grains,” Naveeda Mirza, agriculture program manager for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, told Reuters.

“It has several dormant stages. It can go dormant for a long time and then become active again. It’s very, very hard to get rid of and that’s why it’s very dangerous,” Mirza said. “It is one of the top 10 most dangerous pests not established here.”

The khapra beetle can also survive for long periods of time without food and is resistant to insecticides and fumigants.

The rice was found in a box of food and personal effects being sent from one person to another, Mirza said.

The shipment was immediately quarantined and safeguarded, then destroyed under U.S. Customs and Border Protection supervision, Mirza said.

According to a U.S. Department of Agriculture website, in 1953 an extensive infestation of khapra beetle was found in California, prompting a massive eradication effort.

Last March, Customs and Border Protection officials in Detroit found a khapra beetle in a shipment of tile from China.

— Dan Whitcomb writes for Reuters from Los Angeles.

— The “Editors’ Picks” feature highlights eyebrow-raising and unusual-yet-true news from the world of farming, as gleaned from various sources by the editorial staff of the Farm Business Communications division.

CLARIFICATION FROM SOURCE, Jan. 6: The original version of this article incorrectly stated a khapra beetle had been found in Detroit in a load of tile from China “earlier this year.” 

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“We have pushed the Bay-Delta system to the brink of collapse and saving it – and the jobs that depend on it – is going to require increased co-operation among all interests.”

Federal limits on water that can be pumped out of a major river delta for California farmers are scientifically justified, a much-anticipated report said March 19, a finding hailed by environmentalists in the state’s epic water wars.

But the National Academy of Sciences stopped short of handing a decisive victory to environmental interests over agricultural interests. The academy said further study was required and that threats to Chinook salmon, delta smelt and other endangered fish were not entirely caused by the pumping.

“The Academy of Sciences report clearly validates the biological opinions,” Ann Hayden, a senior water resource analyst for the Environmental Defense Fund, said of regulations devised under court order by federal wildlife biologists and issued in late 2008.

“It’s time to stop pitting the economic interests of farmers against fishermen and move forward to find solutions,” Hayden said. “We have pushed the Bay-Delta system to the brink of collapse and saving it – and the jobs that depend on it – is going to require increased cooperation among all interests.”

A spokesman for the California Farm Bureau Federation said the report showed the need for “better justification of water restrictions” and that there were flaws in the Endangered Species Act.

THREE-YEAR DROUGHT

“We believe the government must do a better job of managing the delta pumps, to make more water available for people while still protecting the fish,” said Paul Wenger, president of the California Farm Bureau Federation.

Wenger also singled out the study’s conclusion that a number of factors, including sewage treatment plants and non-native fish, represented a threat to the protected species.

The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is at the centre of California’s long-running tug of war over water, which has become increasingly testy during a three-year drought that

led to rationing, higher charges for water and mandatory conservation measures across the state.

Dramatic cutbacks in water deliveries by the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation and state Water Resources Department have idled thousands of farm workers and large swaths of farmland. The crisis prompted U. S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat, to propose easing the environmental restrictions to allow the pumping of more water for growers.

Feinstein came under fire from environmental activists, fishing groups and even members of her own party. She dropped the plan

after state and federal agencies, citing a series of strong winter storms that may signal the end of the drought, announced they would supply farms considerably more water this year than last.

Lawmakers have said they would await the National Academy of Sciences report, which was ordered by the Obama administration, before making further policy decisions.

On Tuesday, U. S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said irrigation districts south of the delta, which represent farmers on the west side of the state’s fertile Central Valley, will get 25 per cent of their contracted water allotment from the Bureau of Reclamation, up from just five per cent in February.

The increase was issued ahead of schedule and comes at a critical time for the Central Valley, one of the country’s most bountiful agricultural regions. California, the No. 1 farm state, produces more than half the fruits, vegetables and nuts grown in the United States.

The state water agency also boosted its allocation for all users to 15 per cent, up from five per cent last year.

The state supplies more than 25 million people and more than 750,000 acres (300,000 hectares) of farmland with water from the delta.

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The announcements came as welcome news in the nation’s No. 1 farm state, where dramatic cutbacks in water deliveries by the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation and the state Water Resources Department had idled thousands of farm workers and 300,000 acres (121,400 hectares) of cropland.

Shortages have also forced cities and counties to ration water, raise rates and impose strict mandatory conservation measures that turned lawns brown and left cars unwashed.

WINTER STORMS

But a series of strong winter storms that could mark the end of a three-year drought has left several feet of snow on the Sierra Nevada mountain range that serves as California’s principal source of surface water.

In light of that deluge, this year the Bureau of Reclamation will supply most California users with 100 per cent of the water they are contracted to receive, U. S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said.

Irrigation districts south of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, which represent farmers on the west side of the state’s Central Valley, would get 30 per cent of their allotment, or three times more than last year.

The Central Valley is one of the country’s most important agricultural regions, and the state produces more than half of the fruits, vegetables and nuts grown in the United States.

Separately, California officials said they were increasing the amount of water they expected to deliver from the State Water Project this year from five to 15 per cent of normal.

If average precipitation continues for the rest of the winter, a California Department of Water Resources spokesman said, the state’s final allocation for the year could rise to 35 to 45 per cent of requested amounts.

NOT OUT OF THE WOODS

“This is an important step for California and San Joaquin Valley farmers,” Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said in a written statement.

“I raised this critical issue during my meeting with President Obama recently, and am very glad to see this action from his administration…,” he said. “Now we must direct our attention to the long-term improvement of our water infrastructure to avoid these year-to-year uncertainties.”

Meanwhile state water officials said that California’s long struggle to supply its people with water was not over.

“After three years of drought conditions and a number of mandated pumping restrictions, even a wet year won’t get us out of the woods,” Department of Water Resources director Mark Cowin said. “We need increased conservation, a more reliable water delivery system and a comprehensive solution for California’s water crisis.”

EASE RESTRICTIONS

The dire straits of Central Valley farmers had prompted U. S. Senator Dianne Feinstein to draft legislation that would ease environmental restrictions to allow more water to be pumped out of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta for growers – a plan the lawmaker said she would now drop.

“I will watch this situation very carefully and I am placing my proposed amendment on hold,” Feinstein said in a statement released through her office. “However, I reserve the right to bring it back should it become necessary.”

Feinstein’s plan would have temporarily loosened Endangered Species Act rules designed to protect salmon and smelt and it became the latest flashpoint in California’s long-running water wars – infuriating fishing groups, environmentalists and even members of the powerful Democrat’s own party.

FISHERY COLLAPSE

Opponents had charged that the senator’s plan could ultimately lead to the extinction of Sacramento River salmon and the collapse of the Pacific Coast fishing industry.

The state supplies more than 25 million people and over 750,000 acres (300,000 hectares) of farmland with water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, which is fed by rainfall and snowmelt run-off from the Sierra Nevadas.

California water officials say the series of storms that have clobbered the normally sunny state have left snowpack at above-normal levels, but they have so far stopped short of calling an official end to the drought.

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Feinstein’s plan would ease Endangered Species Act restrictions to allow more water to be pumped out of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta for growers in the state’s Central Valley.

Dramatic cutbacks in irrigation supplies this year alone from both California and federal water projects have idled about 23,000 farm workers and 300,000 acres of cropland in America’s No. 1 farm state.

Feinstein’s proposal has quickly become a flashpoint in the state’s epic and long-running water wars as opponents say it could ultimately lead to the extinction of Sacramento River salmon and eliminate up to 23,000 jobs in the Pacific coast fishing industry.

“I have been working with federal and state officials, as well as congressmen Jim Costa and Dennis Cardoza and key water stakeholders… to find a solution which will enable the water supply equivalent of a 40 per cent water allocation for south of Delta agriculture in a normal or above-average year,” Feinstein said in a statement released through her office.

“As I have said previously, we are exploring every possible option to achieve the water flexibility that would make this legislation unnecessary,” she said. “I will be working intensively on this issue over the next few days in the hopes of realizing such a solution.”

REBUKED BY DEMOCRATIC LAWMAKERS

The statement may signal a retrenchment by Feinstein, one day after a group of Democratic legislators sent her a letter asking her to drop her draft legislation and the powerful senator’s rebuke by members of her own party underscores the incendiary nature of California’s water politics.

California’s Central Valley is one of the country’s most important agricultural regions. The state’s farmers produce more than half the fruit, vegetables and nuts grown in the United States.

Feinstein has released few details of her proposal, which may be attached as an amendment to a federal jobs bill. But she said it would grant Central Valley farmers up to 40 per cent of their federal water allocation for two years.

Irrigation districts contract with the state and federal governments to deliver a certain amount of water to them each year. But shortages have recently kept them from getting their full allotments. Most farmers got just 10 per cent of their contracted allocations in 2009 and could get less this year.

The cutbacks were forced by water shortages stemming from a three-year statewide drought and delta pumping restrictions imposed to protect imperiled salmon and smelt populations.

A string of Pacific storms this winter has dumped several feet of snow on the mountain ranges that feed California’s reservoirs, but officials have not declared the drought over.

The state supplies more than 25 million people and over 750,000 acres (300,000 hectares) of farmland with water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, fed by rainfall and snowmelt runoff from the Sierra Nevada mountains.

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Feinstein has infuriated environmental activists, fishing groups and even fellow California Democrats by drafting federal legislation that would allow more water to be pumped out of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta for growers in the state’s Central Valley.

Drastic cutbacks in irrigation supplies this year alone from both state and federal water projects have idled about 23,000 farm workers and 300,000 acres (121,400 hectares) of cropland, according to University of California at Davis researchers.

“I believe we need a fair compromise that will respect the Endangered Species Act while recognizing the fact that people in California’s breadbasket face complete economic ruin without help,” Feinstein said in a statement.

California farmers produce more than half the fruit, vegetables and nuts grown in the United States.

The senator has not released details, but she said it would grant farmers in the state’s agricultural heartland up to 40 per cent of their federal water allocation for two years.

Irrigation districts contract with the state and federal governments to deliver a certain amount of water to them each year. But shortages have recently kept them from getting their full allotments. Most farmers got just 10 per cent of their contracted allocation in 2009 and could get less this year.

The cutbacks were forced by water shortages stemming from a three-year statewide drought and delta pumping restrictions imposed to protect imperiled salmon and smelt populations.

FISHERMEN UPSET

Fishing groups say draining the delta is the main reason for a crash in salmon populations that may force closure of the state’s commercial

salmon fishery for a third straight year, and that Feinstein’s plan would worsen the situation.

“She’s basically saying, ‘I’m going to go ahead and give these big water guys … the water and screw the coast,’” said Zeke Grader, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations.

Grader said the collapse of the salmon fishery has put 23,000 people out of work and cost $1 billion in the commercial and recreational fishing industries of California and Oregon.

Meanwhi le environmental groups warn that the bill could destabilize California’s long-term water supply by damaging the delta’s fragile ecosystem.

The state supplies more than 25 million people and over 750,000 acres (300,000 hectares) of farmland with water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, fed by rainfall and snow-melt run-off from the Sierra Nevada mountains.

Water fight: An aerial view of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta in California is shown in this April 15, 2009 file photograph. California has been deluged with rain and snow this winter, but its epic tug of war over water rages on, this time in the form of a plan by U. S. Senator Dianne Feinstein to divert more water to the state’s farmers.

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