Impending federal budget cuts -- known as sequestration -- might delay the reopening of Tioga Road in Yosemite National Park this spring, the National Park Service says.

If the road remains closed too long, hordes of Yosemite tourists can't drive out 9,945-foot Tioga Pass to Lee Vining, Bridgeport and Mammoth Lakes. That could take a bite out of the tourist business along the Eastern Sierra.

Tioga Road, the key east-west artery in this part of the Sierra, is closed after the first significant snow in autumn. Often, it reopens by Memorial Day -- after the snow is plowed by federal workers.

On big snowfall years, such as 2011, 2005 and 1998, the plows are working well into June. But this is not one of those years.

The Sierra snowpack is 62% of average right now. Yosemite's high country might have a little more, but there's not enough to worry about high snow drifts in early June.

If the Sierra is hit with late March and April snowstorms, it could get a little complicated. But if the spring melt gets going early, a delay from the sequestration might not be a big problem.

Safety is a big issue in plowing, largely because of a death in mid-June 1995. A worker was killed when his bulldozer was crushed by a huge slab of ice that broke loose and slid down the slippery granite at Olmsted Point in the high country.

Since then, there has been an abundance of caution.

Fertilizer fee for research

A state report last month suggested a farm fertilizer fee to help California fix drinking-water problems, especially in rural towns around the San Joaquin Valley.

I wrote about it, but I should have added that there already is a fertilizer fee in California. The existing fee funds research, however, not dirty-water cleanup.

The money goes to the Fertilizer Research and Education Program in the California Department of Food and Agriculture. Last year, Assembly Bill 2174 from Assembly Member Luis Alejo, D-Salinas, made the money available for research on more efficient application of fertilizers.

It would not provide near enough money for the cleanup. The analysis on the fund last year showed it would be worth about $1 million.

The state needs $36 million a year to address drinking water problems.

The report from the state Water Resources Control Board last month focused on nitrate contamination, which comes from fertilizers, animal waste, septic systems and sewage treatment plants.

It mentioned a study released last year by the University of California at Davis, which said the problem threatens well water for 250,000 people from Fresno to Bakersfield. Nitrates can cause a potentially fatal blood disease in infants.

Grants and loans through the state for water cleanup have not panned out in some towns. The residents can't afford to pay back loans or maintain treatment facilities.

Another funding source is needed, say leaders of the state Water Resources Control Board, which did the report. I have not seen any legislation yet to raise the funding.