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A Stunning Look At California’s Historic Drought – From The Air
A Stunning Look At California’s Historic Drought – From The Air
“Ugly brown rings where waves used to lap at the shore. Dry docks lying on desiccated silt. Barren boat ramps. Trickles of water.” Those are just some of the disturbing images California’s Department of Water Resources team saw in an aerial tour of Northern California’s Folsom Lake, Lake Oroville and Shasta reservoirs released this week…
The dramatic aerial views timelapsed from just a year ago show the level of devastation already… and it’s not about to get any better…
Click image below for interactive gallery…
California Regulators Slap Farmers With Record $1.5 Million “Water-Taking” Fine
California Regulators Slap Farmers With Record $1.5 Million “Water-Taking” Fine
As AP reports, the State Water Resources Control Board said the Byron-Bethany Irrigation District in Tracy illegally took water from a pumping plant even after it was warned there wasn’t enough water legally available.
The move by the board was the first against an individual or district with claims to water that are more than a century-old, known as senior water rights holders.The action reflects the rising severity of California’s four-year drought that has prompted the state to demand cutbacks from those historically sheltered from mandatory conservation.
The Byron-Bethany district serves farmers in three counties in the agriculture-rich Central Valley and a residential community of 12,000 people relying on water rights dating to 1914.
District general manager Rick Gilmore said he did not know a penalty was coming and wasn’t aware of the details.
“Perhaps the state water resources control board is not taking into account we purchased supplemental supplies,” he said.
Several irrigation districts have filed unresolved legal challenges to stop the curtailments demanded by the state.
Among them is the West Side Irrigation District, which claimed a victory in a ruling last week by a Sacramento judge who said the state’s initial order to stop pumping amounted to an unconstitutional violation of due process rights by not allowing hearings on the cuts.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
California Water Wars Escalate: State Changes Law, Orders Farmers To Stop Pumping
California Water Wars Escalate: State Changes Law, Orders Farmers To Stop Pumping
“In the water world, the pre-1914 rights were considered to be gold,” exclaimed one water attorney, but as AP reports, it appears that ‘gold’ is being tested as California water regulators flexed their muscles by ordering a group of farmers to stop pumping from a branch of the San Joaquin River amid an escalating battle over how much power the state has to protect waterways that are drying up in the drought. As usual, governments do what they want with one almond farmer raging “I’ve made investments as a farmer based on the rule of law…Now, somebody’s changing the law that we depend on.” This is not abiout toi get any better as NBCNews reports, this drought is of historic proportions – the worst in over 100 years.
The current drought has averaged a reading of -3.67 over the last three years, nearly twice as bad as the second-driest stretch since 1900, which occurred in 1959.
Other studies using PDSI data drawn from tree-ring observations reaching even further back in time reveal similar findings. One such study from University of Minnesota and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute researchers showed the current drought is California’s worst in at least 1,200 years.
And as AP reports, regulatords are changing the laws to address the problems…
The State Water Resources Control Board issued the cease and desist order Thursday against an irrigation district in California’s agriculture-rich Central Valley that it said had failed to obey a previous warning to stop pumping. Hefty fines could follow.The action against the West Side Irrigation District in Tracy could be the first of many as farmers, cities and corporations dig in to protect water rights that were secured long before people began flooding the West and have remained all but immune from mandatory curtailments.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Why Energy Efficiency is the Cheapest Form of Energy
Why Energy Efficiency is the Cheapest Form of Energy
For a subject that more often than not draws blank stares at dinner parties, energy efficiency has an uncanny ability to provoke controversy among analysts and policy makers alike.
The latest study to dispute its benefits has once again ignited a debate between those who question the value of federal and state subsidies for efficiency programs, which they argue, have questionable returns. Leaving aside the highly technical debate over modeling efficiency – and the more personal friction between engineers and economists – the policy implications are significant.
Energy efficiency is widely considered the most important energy source today, with positive effects ranging from lower energy costs, to boosting the local economy, to improved health outcomes and social wellbeing. Nowhere is this more true than in the state of California.
The controversial paper, published in June, posits that the costs of implementing the U.S. Weatherization Assistance Program outweigh the benefits in terms of efficiency savings. The findings have been disputed by the Natural Resources Defense Council and Illinois Institute of Technology, among others.
More broadly, however, it once again brings into question the value and purpose of energy efficiency programs in the United States. In California, the state that has arguably had the most success with increasing energy efficiency, the debate continues. Since 1975, California’s energy use has essentially plateaued, while consumption per capita in the rest of the United States has almost doubled. It is widely accepted that California’s energy efficiency programs are at least partly responsible.
(Click to enlarge)
Opponents dispute the extent to which the benefits can be attributed to green policies and programs that have spanned everything from fuel efficiency standards, to appliance ratings, to weatherization, to simply better communicating the importance of energy savings to Californians. In a 2008study, Stanford economists found that only 23% of the difference between California’s energy use and the U.S. as a whole was attributable to policy. Still, if this is to be considered the lower end of the range, it remains a significant figure.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Santa Cruz County Votes to Cease Doing Business with Five TBTF Mega Banks
Santa Cruz County Votes to Cease Doing Business with Five TBTF Mega Banks
This is impressive. Very, very impressive.
It appears that Ryan Coonerty, the Supervisor of the Third District of Santa Cruz County, wrote a letter back in June to the rest of the Board of Supervisors, in which he bravely pleaded the county cease business operations with five of the TBTF Wall Street Mega Banks. Why you ask? Well, because they are criminal felons. Considering Eric Holder refused to punish them (see: Cronyism Pays – Eric “Too Big to Jail” Holder Triumphantly Returns to His Prior Corporate Law Firm Job), someone has to take a stand.
Here are a few choice excerpts from the letter:
The banks have agreed to plead guilty to felony charges of conspiring to manipulate the price of U.S. dollars and euros exchanged in the foreign currency exchange spot market… The behavior of these banks is offensive and signals a Wall Street culture in which several big banks broke the law even after years of strong criticism and increased regulation following the economic crisis.
“There seems to be no limit to the greed in some our nation’s largest banks. I believe it is critical that the County only work with the most trustworthy institutions as we invest and protect the public’s tax dollars. Santa Cruz County should not be involved with those who rigged the world’s biggest financial markets.
It is important that we send a message that if you want to do business with the County, you need to play by the rules. Therefore I recommend that the Board direct that the County’s investment policy be modified to reflect that the County of Santa Cruz will not do new business with these felonious financial institutions for a period of five years and further that the County unwind existing relationships with these five banks to the greatest extent feasible.”
Incredibly, the board went ahead and voted in favor of Mr. Coonerty’s proposal. AllGov reports that:
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Minority, Low-Income Communities Bear Disproportionate Share Of Risk From Oil Trains In California
People of color and low-income communities are bearing a disproportionate burden of risk from dangerous oil trains rolling through California, according to a new report by ForestEthics and Communities for a Better Environment.
Called “Crude Injustice On The Rails,” the report found that 80 percent of the 5.5 million Californians with homes in the oil train blast zone — the one-mile region around train tracks that would need to be evacuated in the event of an oil train derailment, explosion and fire — live in communities with predominantly minority, low-income or non-English speaking households.
Nine of California’s 10 largest cities that have oil train routes running through them have an even higher rate of “discriminatory impact,” the authors of the report found. In those cities, 82–100 percent of people living in the blast zone are in what they call “environmental justice communities.”
“In California you are 33 percent more likely to live in the blast zone if you live in a nonwhite, low income, or non-English speaking household,” Matt Krogh, ForestEthics extreme oil campaign director and one of the authors of the report, said in a statement.
New oil-by-rail rules inadequate
The Obama Administration released new oil-by-rail regulations in May that were heavily criticized as inadequate because the industry had too much influence over the final rules, which would not stop more incidents like the oil train derailment in North Dakota in May that led to an explosion and fire that burned for days. That was the fifth accident of its kind in theUS so far this year.
Massive fireballs and raging infernos often accompany oil train accidents because of the highly volatile Bakken crude they frequently carry. Yet, as Justin Mikulka wrote here on DeSmog, the US Department of Transportation’s new regulations are so weak as to be little more than “a guidebook for the oil and rail industries to continue doing business as usual when it comes to moving explosive Bakken crude oil by rail.”
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Water Wars Crush California Wineries: “Whoever Has The Longest Straw Wins”
Water Wars Crush California Wineries: “Whoever Has The Longest Straw Wins”
Eerily reminiscent of the determinedly evil oil baron from the movie ‘There Will Be Blood’, Reuters reports the growing tensions amid California’s drought-stricken wineries are boiling over: “There is way too much demand. I blame a lot of vineyards like other people do… It’s a matter of who has the longest straw at the bottom of the bucket.” No one should worry though, because the government is here to help – with a new water management agency…
Between 1990 and 2014, harvested wine grape acreage in the growing region around Paso Robles nearly quintupled to 37,408 acres, as vintners discovered that the area’s rolling hills, rocky soil and mild climate were perfect for coaxing rich, sultry flavors from red wine grapes. But, as Reuters reports, in the last few years, California’s ongoing drought has hit the region hard, reducing grape yields and depleting the vast aquifer that most of the area’s vineyards and rural residents rely on as their sole source of water other than rain.
Across the region, residential and vineyard wells have gone dry.Those who can afford to – including a number of large wineries and growers – have drilled ever-deeper wells, igniting tensions and leading some to question whether Paso Robles’ burgeoning wine industry is sustainable.“All of our water is being turned purple and shipped out of here in green glass,” said Cam Berlogar, who delivers water, cuts custom lumber and sells classic truck parts in the Paso Robles-area community of Creston.
“There are a lot of farmers who are going to have to farm with a hell of a lot less water.”
But, spurred by the drought, California Governor Jerry Brown last year signed a package of bills requiring groundwater-dependent areas to establish local water sustainability agencies by 2017. The agencies will then have between three and five years to adopt water management plans, and then another two decades to implement those plans.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
California Has Never Experienced A Water Crisis Of This Magnitude – And The Worst Is Yet To Come
California Has Never Experienced A Water Crisis Of This Magnitude – And The Worst Is Yet To Come
Things have never been this dry for this long in the recorded history of the state of California, and this has created an unprecedented water crisis. At this point, 1,900 wells have already gone completely dry in California, and some communities are not receiving any more water at all. As you read this article, 100 percent of the state is in some stage of drought, and there has been so little precipitation this year that some young children have never actually seen rain. This is already the worst multi-year drought in the history of the state of California, but this may only be just the beginning. Scientists tell us that the amount of rain that California received during the 20th century was highly unusual. In fact, they tell us that it was the wettest century for the state in at least 1000 years. Now that things are returning to “normal”, the state is completely and total unprepared for it. California has never experienced a water crisis of this magnitude, and other states in the western half of the nation are starting to really suffer as well. In the end, we could very well be headed for the worst water crisis this country has ever seen.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Beyond the Perfect Drought: California’s Real Water Crisis
Beyond the Perfect Drought: California’s Real Water Crisis
The record-breaking drought in California is not chiefly the result of low precipitation. Three factors – rising temperatures, groundwater depletion, and a shrinking Colorado River – mean the most populous U.S. state will face decades of water shortages and must adapt.
The current drought afflicting California is indeed historic, but not because of the low precipitation totals. In fact, in terms of overall precipitation and spring snowpack, the past three years are not record-breakers, according to weather data for the past century. Similarly, paleoclimate studies show that the current drought is not exceptional given the natural variations in precipitation of the past seven centuries. Nor can it be confidently said that the current drought bears the unequivocal imprint of climate change
driven by increasing greenhouse gases, since the low precipitation is well within the bounds of natural variability.
All this being said, it is also clear that this drought is exceptional and should be seen as an historical turning point. Indeed, California is moving into new — and worrisome — territory for three reasons: rising heat, which causes increased evaporation; the continuing depletion of groundwater supplies; and growing water shortages on the Colorado River, the main external source of water for Southern California.
A decade ago, I first wrote about California and the “perfect drought.” Now, unless bold steps are taken to deal with a growing water crisis, California may be facing a future of perfect droughts.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
California Water Wars Escalate: Government Orders Massive Supply Cuts To Most Senior Rights Holders
California Water Wars Escalate: Government Orders Massive Supply Cuts To Most Senior Rights Holders
Just two weeks after California’s farmers – with the most senior water rights – offered to cut their own water use by 25% (in an attempt to front-run more draconian government-imposed measures), AP reports that the California government has – just as we predicted – ignored any efforts at self-preservation and ordered the largest cuts on record to farmers holding some of the state’s strongest water rights. While frackers and big energy remain exempt from the restrictions, Caren Trgovcich, chief deputy director of the water board, explains,“we are now at the point where demand in our system is outstripping supply for even the most senior water rights holders.”
With “the whole damn state out of water,” AP reports State water officials told more than a hundred senior rights holders in California’s Sacramento, San Joaquin and delta watersheds to stop pumping from those waterways.
The move by the State Water Resources Control Board marked the first time that the state has forced large numbers of holders of senior-water rights to curtail use. Those rights holders include water districts that serve thousands of farmers and others.
The move shows California is sparing fewer and fewer users in the push to cut back on water using during the state’s four-year drought.
“We are now at the point where demand in our system is outstripping supply for even the most senior water rights holders,” Caren Trgovcich, chief deputy director of the water board.
The order applies to farmers and others whose rights to water were staked more than a century ago. Many farmers holding those senior-water rights contend the state has no authority to order cuts.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
What Does California Gov. Jerry Brown Know about the Next Crash and Recession that We Don’t?
What Does California Gov. Jerry Brown Know about the Next Crash and Recession that We Don’t?
California was America’s Greece in 2009. It had excellent wine and olive oil. But tax revenues were collapsing. The deficit ballooned. Its credit rating was cut to the lowest of any state in the US. It couldn’t borrow at reasonable rates. And when, under Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, it couldn’t pay its bills with real money, it sent fancy-looking IOUs to its suppliers.
Today, California is flush with money. The economy in the coastal areas has bounced back. Unemployment, while still high in some areas, continues to drop. The budget is on its second annual “surplus” in a row. Capital gains taxes from the booming tech sector, the soaring stock market, the white-hot property sector, and all kinds of other investment activities, on top of some “temporary” tax increases, triggered a flood of revenues – $6.7 billion more than Brown’s office had estimated just in January.
OK, no one can figure out how to deal with the unfunded pension and healthcare liabilities. But what the heck, lawmakers at the Democratic stronghold are now fighting over how to spend the “surplus.” They’ve got till June 15 to figure it out and pass a budget or their pay will be docked.
Gov. Jerry Brown, sworn in for his fourth and final term in January – he’d served two terms in the 1970s – is putting his stamp of frugality on the budget, trying to stem the flood of spending proposals. But lawmakers need to be reelected, votes need to be bought, special interests need to be satisfied, and so the money needs to flow.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Why the Colorado River Basin Crisis is No Surprise
Why the Colorado River Basin Crisis is No Surprise
Perhaps you have heard how urgent it is for the upper basin states to take water from the Colorado River before those “Californians use it all up?” This us-versus-them attitude, as a justification to take more water from a finite system, will obviously not solve the regional water predicament. Later on, I will explain that scientists from California demonstrated early leadership to create equitable water solutions for everybody.
California’s surface and groundwater allotment from the Colorado River Basin is limited to 4.4 million acre-feet per year and 70 percent of this water is used to grow food and fiber in the Imperial and Coachella Irrigation Districts, which is largely exported. However, it might surprise you to know that the state of Arizona uses as much surface water from the Colorado River system, and if you include the water that Arizona consumes from the water supply underneath the Colorado River Basin, then it exceeds California’s consumption by about 3.5 million acre-feet per year.
Here is the inventory of Arizona’s surface water: The estimated natural flow of the Gila River through Arizona is about 1.8 million acre-feet. The state of New Mexico will use a portion of this surface water, but Arizona consumes the lion’s share and the river bed is dry long before it ever reaches the Colorado River. This includes the flow of the Little Colorado River in Arizona, which is 138,000 acre-feet. Again, New Mexico will use a portion of this water supply and Arizona dominates the rest.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
The California Water Shortage: A Case for Aesthetic Ecosystem and Ecological Design
The California Water Shortage: A Case for Aesthetic Ecosystem and Ecological Design
A reservoir showing the effect of drought conditions in California
In recent news, there has been significant coverage of California’s struggle with its below average precipitation in the past several years. Yes, they call it a drought.
Governor Jerry Brown and California State Water Resources Control Board have come forward with restrictions on water use, primarily in urban and suburban areas.
People are ripping up lawns.
Landscape designers are drooling (not too much) over the opportunity to redesign so many areas for better water conservation. Many are replacing lawns with cookie-cutter designed ‘xeriscapes’ or ‘desertscapes’ such as this one.
Urbanites are pitted against agrarians saying the other is more responsible.
One recent interview on NPR highlights cemetery caretakers wondering “if cemeteries, particularly for veterans, shouldn’t play by different rules than, say, a suburban lawn”?
And now, there’s a struggle between allowing salmon to spawn and the ability of Bay area residents to drink water that doesn’t taste funky.
This is where I follow up with saying, ‘The end is near!’
OK so perhaps I’m making light of the situation a bit. This is a serious situation. But we have gotten ourselves into this mess. We have been deliberately diminishing our water resources in the western US for a long time.
It’s just that the thought of water scarcity is a bit more evident now.
The good news? We’ve gotten ourselves into this mess, and we can get ourselves out. But it won’t be easy and it won’t be painless. Those in California are already beginning to feel the pain.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Paul & Elizabeth Kaiser: Sustainable Farming 2.0
Paul & Elizabeth Kaiser: Sustainable Farming 2.0
Here at Peak Prosperity, we’re continuously on the hunt for new models that offer promise for a better future. These tend to be models of stewardship and sustainability, which contrast starkly with society’s current focus on resource consumption and exploitation.
The farming model being pioneered at Singing Frogs Farm, a small micro-farm in northern California is one such example of doing things “right”. Developed over years of combining bio-intensive land/forestry management theory with empirical trial & error, the farming practices at Singing Frogs have produced astounding results.
First off and most important, no tilling of any kind is done to the soil. No pesticide/herbicide/fungicide sprays (organic or otherwise) are used. And the only fertilizer used is natural compost.
These practices result in a build-up of nutrient-dense, highly bio-rich topsoil. Where most farms have less than 12 inches of ‘alive’ topsoil in which they can grow things, Singing Frogs’ extends to a depth over 4 feet(!).
This high-carbon layer of soil retains much more water than conventional topsoil, requiring much less irrigation than used at most farms (a very important factor given the historic drought the West is suffering).
All these advantages combine to enable Singing Frogs Farm to produce 5-7 harvests per year on their land, vs the 1-2 harvest average of other farms. And since the annual crop yield is so much higher, so is the revenue. Most other farms in northern California average $14,000 in gross revenue per acre. Singing Frogs grosses nearly $100,000 per acre — a stunning 5x more.
On this week’s podcast, we’re joined by the husband-and-wife team behind Singing Frogs Farm, Paul and Elizabeth Kaiser, who are eager to help other food producers understand the science behind their success, and to replicate and improve upon it wherever possible.
…click on the above link to listen to the podcast…
