Key players in California water confront drought, fish and more at Modesto summit [Modesto Bee]
A key message emerged when California water leaders gathered in Modesto: Stop grumbling about drought, and get cracking on real fixes. Rep. Josh Harder, D-Turlock, convened the Thursday afternoon summit at the Stanislaus County Farm Bureau. Several speakers called for new reservoirs and groundwater recharge to hold wet-year surpluses for use in dry times like 2021….About 50 people gathered in the L Street conference room. They included Karen Ross, food and agricultural secretary for Gov. Gavin Newsom, and two members of a powerful state water board….Ross mentioned some good news – $5.3 billion for water upgrades in the new state budget. It’s part of a surplus of about $76 billion for the fiscal year that started July 1.
Modesto summit takes on drought, other state water issues | Modesto Bee (modbee.com)
How the drought is affecting California’s crops [Los Angeles Times]
Late last week, Gov. Gavin Newson formally urged all Californians to reduce their water use by 15 percent. It’s not a mandate, but it underscores the harsh new reality we’re facing….“What matters for agriculture is: How much money do you make with the water?” she said. “One of the reasons people single out almonds is because they’re widespread on the landscape.” It is true that the demand for almonds exploded just as the last drought was gripping California, Hanak said. However, the rise of the almond as a signature California crop hints at bigger trends….Whatever happens, the consequences will be felt not just in California’s $50 billion agricultural sector, but also in the nation’s food supply. California, as Somini noted, supplies two-thirds of the country’s fruits and nuts and more than a third of America’s vegetables.
How the Drought Is Affecting California’s Crops – The New York Times (nytimes.com)
Wildfires rage as US West grapples with heat wave, drought [Associated Press]
Firefighters were working in extreme temperatures across the U.S. West and struggling to contain wildfires, the largest burning in California and Oregon, as another heat wave baked the region, straining power grids. The largest wildfire of the year in California — the Beckwourth Complex — was raging along the Nevada state line and has burned about 134 square miles (348 square kilometers) as state regulators asked consumers to voluntarily “conserve as much electricity as possible” to avoid any outages starting Monday afternoon. In Oregon, the Bootleg Fire exploded to 224 square miles (580 square kilometers) as it raced through heavy timber in the Fremont-Winema National Forest, near the Klamath County town of Sprague River. The fire disrupted service on three transmission lines providing up to 5,500 megawatts of electricity to neighboring California.
Wildfires rage as US West grapples with heat wave, drought (apnews.com)
Opinion: Fighting wildfires requires even more tribal, local and state coordination [Inland Valley Daily Bulletin]
Wilderness-adjacent residents throughout California are bracing for the threat of another dangerous wildfire season. Nowhere is this more acutely felt than by tribal members on Native American reservations, most of which are located within the state’s wilderness regions. Wildfires tear across districts and jurisdictions which is why there is a coordinated, statewide effort among firefighting and public safety agencies. The San Manuel Fire Department, which stands among the top 1% of departments nationwide, not only protects our tribe, but we bring aid to neighbor cities and statewide when needed. Since 2003, we have handled nearly 50,000 calls with 35% being off our reservation. But it wasn’t always this way and communities didn’t always coordinate fire response. For much of its history, San Manuel, like many tribal communities across the state, was “out of sight and out of mind” to emergency responders despite being directly in the path of annual wildfires.
Fighting wildfires requires even more tribal, local and state coordination – Daily Bulletin
Editorial: We should have the right to fix our own stuff [Los Angeles Times]
They don’t make ’em like they used to. This oft-uttered complaint about modern products may be a cliché, but it’s largely accurate. Not long ago, most consumer goods and business products were analog and easily repaired with parts that were widely available. But, increasingly, all but the most basic appliances, electronics, medical devices and vehicles are constructed with some digital components. Even some cat litter boxes have microchips! That wouldn’t be a cause for concern if these products were as easy to repair as, say, a flat tire. But they are not. It’s often costly and time-consuming (or even straight-up impossible) for consumers to have their malfunctioning goods fixed because of the various legal, digital and physical barriers that manufacturers use to keep consumers from doing DIY repairs or using independent repair shops….This is unfair, not to mention extremely wasteful and environmentally destructive. Everyone should have the absolute right to fix the stuff they’ve purchased, including the digital components within.
Editorial: We should have the right to fix our own stuff – Los Angeles Times (latimes.com)
Commentary: California says water is a human right. Our politicians need to act like it. [CalMatters]
California has a long history of treating public water as a commodity instead of a human right and entrusting it to industries that fail to manage it responsibly. Water is a public trust resource that needs protection. The federal Water Affordability, Transparency, Equity and Reliability (WATER) Act would put water systems back in the hands of the people who depend on it for life and livelihood. This bill would set aside $35 billion annually to shore up drinking and wastewater systems. It would ensure no one lacks access to water because they can’t afford it. With a federal budget reconciliation package in the works, S. 611 needs the support of Californians and our lawmakers. U.S. Sens. Alex Padilla and Dianne Feinstein and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, all Democrats, must co-sponsor this critical legislation and shepherd it into law….Mega-dairies and other concentrated animal feeding operations suck up 142 million gallons of water every day to maintain livestock and clean their industrial-scale facilities. Central Valley counties have the highest concentration of mega-dairies and rank among the highest in the state for social vulnerability — a rating the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention use to measure how well a community can withstand stressors like pollution or water scarcity without serious negative consequences to public health. Like oil drilling, industrial dairies strain communities already under water stress.
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