No matter what you have read or seen so far on California’s historic Central Valley drought, you probably haven’t been touched by it as much as you will be by the following video from the New Yorker.
Terribly sad.
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3 Billion Gallons Of Fracking Wastewater Pumped Into Clean California Aquifiers: “Errors Were Made” State Admits | Zero Hedge
Dear California readers: if you drank tapwater this morning (or at any point in the past few weeks/months), you may be in luck as you no longer need to buy oil to lubricate your engine: just use your blood, and think of the cost-savings. That’s the good news.
Also, the bad news, because as the California’s Department of Conservation’s Chief Deputy Director, Jason Marshall, told NBC Bay Area, California state officials allowed oil and gas companies to pump up to 3 billion gallons (call it 70 million barrels) of oil fracking-contaminated waste water into formerly clean aquifiers, aquifiers which at least on paper are supposed to be off-limits to that kind of activity, and are protected by the government’s EPA – an agency which, it appears, was richly compensated by the same oil and gas companies to look elsewhere.
And the scariest words of admission one can ever hear from a government apparatchik: “In multiple different places of the permitting process an error could have been made.”
Because nothing short of a full-blown disaster prompts the use of the dreaded passive voice. And what was unsaid is that the “biggest error that was made” is that someone caught California regulators screwing over the taxpayers just so a few oil majors could save their shareholders a few billion dollars in overhead fees.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
California – A Food Powerhouse in Peril | Erico Matias Tavares | LinkedIn
California – A Food Powerhouse in Peril | Erico Matias Tavares | LinkedIn.
Now in its third year, the drought in California has forced local farmers to switch their water use from rivers and reservoirs, which are at historic low levels, to underground sources. This has mitigated substantial production losses, but given that underground reservoirs take a long time to replenish, if the drought continues the food situation in California might get much more dicey.
Food export data provided by the US Department of Agriculture for 2012, that is, before the current drought started to bite, can provide a sense of what is at stake. [Note: while a State’s actual agricultural export value cannot be measured directly, the USDA provides estimates per major food variety based on farm cash-receipts data]. The following table shows the crops where California was ranked either #1 or #2 based on 2012 export values:
Source: USDA.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
“It’s Very Extreme” – Drought & Drug Cartels Drain California’s Aquifers At Record Rate | Zero Hedge
“It’s Very Extreme” – Drought & Drug Cartels Drain California’s Aquifers At Record Rate | Zero Hedge.
“If there’s no water for people to live, and you don’t have the basic necessities of life, your population is going to leave,” warns the emergency services manager of one California town, warning that as the drought continues (and is not set to ease anytime soon), “you could see the economy of this area just decimated.” But as farmers face the catastrophe with “water levels dropping at an incredibly rapid rate in some places – like 100 ft a year – 10 times expected,” there is another drain on the dry state’s water sources. As The FT reports, “Marijuana cultivation is the biggest drought-related crime we’re facing right now,” with up to 80 million gallons of water per day stolen by heavily armed marijuana cartels.
…click on the link above to read the rest of the article…
Fracking Ban Ballot Initiatives Intensify » EcoWatch
Fracking Ban Ballot Initiatives Intensify » EcoWatch.
County ballot issues to ban fracking could have a large impact outside those counties. And the campaign money being spent on both sides—but primarily by big energy companies—shows how much is at stake.
The highest profile and most contentious ban is the one on the ballot in Denton, Texas, north of Dallas, located in the heart of the Barnett shale region. Citizen groups, concerned about their families’ health and safety and frustrated by the city’s failure to enact any restrictions on fracking, gathered enough signatures to force city council to vote on the ban in July. After the council voted against it, the issue went to the November ballot. The battle has positioned the industry-backed group Denton Taxpayers for a Strong Economy against the community group Denton Drilling Awareness Group/Frack Free Denton. The Denton Chamber of Commerce and the Denton County Republican Party have come out against the ban.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
California on the Brink: 14 Rural Communities Are Now Facing Water Depletion | The Daily Sheeple
California on the Brink: 14 Rural Communities Are Now Facing Water Depletion | The Daily Sheeple.
Nestled in the mountains of California, is the infamous tourist destination of Bodie. Once a thriving gold mining town, it is now an empty shell of its former self. As soon as the gold depleted in the early 20th century, the town faced decades of decline that it would never recover from.
By the early 1960′s, the last handful of residents left the town. They leaving behind an eerie scene, filled with crumbling homes and businesses amidst a desolate landscape. However, gold isn’t essential to living. If the Western drought continues on its current course, then we have dozens of ghost towns to look forward to in the near future.
So far the drought in California has been relentless. Where I live in the Bay Area, we’ve had our first rain of the year today, if you could call it that. More like a fine mist. Normally we’ve gotten at least one rainy day by this time of year, but it’s looking like this winter is going to be just as bad as last year.
The people living in the rural parts of the central valley are getting hit the hardest. A total of 14 communities throughout the state are on the edge of water depletion. For now they’ve been able to keep the situation under control by allocating water from neighboring communities, but how much longer can they continue to do so?
…click on the link above to read the rest of the article…
