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Environment

Local Agencies Shirk Groundwater Accountability

February 28, 2021 By Eric Caine 7 Comments

Stanislaus River

Local experts on water and water use like Vance Kennedy were apoplectic when farmers planted almonds and walnuts in the foothills of eastern Stanislaus County, where one of the last viable aquifers in the San Joaquin Valley provided enough groundwater for tens of thousands of acres of trees. “That aquifer should be saved for use in an emergency,” said Kennedy, a retired hydrologist formerly with U.S. Geological Survey. Today, obeying […]

Filed Under: Environment Tagged With: Almond Orchards eastern Stanislaus County, Eastern Stanislaus County groundwater, San Joaquin Valley groundwater, Sustainable Groundwater Management Act

Court Ruling on Water Challenges Valley Water Districts

October 9, 2020 By Ronda Lucas 5 Comments

Oakdale Irrigation District Board of Directors March, 2020

Water in California has always presented unique challenges. Along with these challenges come opportunities for those with enough leadership, vision, courage and determination to conquer them. Our forefathers recognized this reality and helped create a fertile paradise, the world’s bread basket, when they rose to the challenge of harnessing and managing water in a way that protected the environment and developed irrigated agriculture in California’s Great Valley. Today, our water leaders have […]

Filed Under: Environment Tagged With: Oakdale Irrigation District, Oakdale Irrigation District sphere of influence, Oakdale Irrigation District water sales

Lawsuit Forces Reckoning on Groundwater Authorities

March 22, 2020 By Eric Caine 1 Comment

Groundwater flow charty

In a suit listing dozens of defendants, including Groundwater Sustainability Agencies for the Oakdale Irrigation District, Stanislaus County, and the cities of Stockton, Lodi, and Manteca, the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance  (CSPA) has alleged that in adopting their Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP), the various agencies and authorities involved failed to follow procedures required by California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) which was signed into law September 16, 2014. More critically, […]

Filed Under: Environment Tagged With: Eastern Stanislaus County groundwater, ground water Stanislaus County, Oakdale Irrigation District water sales

Coronavirus? Just Chase it Around Town

March 19, 2020 By Eric Caine 2 Comments

Imagine some of the most vulnerable residents in your town being chased from place to place during a pandemic. Imagine that their only access to hygiene is public restrooms, back alleys, and the great outdoors. Fanciful as it may sound, that’s exactly the case with members of Modesto’s homeless population who didn’t make it into the county’s new 182 bed shelter on 9th and D Streets in Modesto. When the […]

Filed Under: Environment, History Tagged With: Homelessness and Poverty in Stanislaus County, Homelessness in Modesto, Homelessness in the San Joaquin Valley

Another OID Water Scheme Revealed

March 12, 2020 By Eric Caine 5 Comments

Oakdale Irrigation District Board of Directors

At least three of Oakdale Irrigation District’s (OID) directors seemed reluctant to pursue local water sales during their March 3 meeting. Though they had committed to develop a plan for delivering water to local buyers outside the district the last July, directors Herman Doornenbal, Brad DeBoer, and Tom Orvis seemed to be having second thoughts about following through on the program. When audience members reminded the board some had spent […]

Filed Under: Environment Tagged With: Oakdale Irrigation District water sales

OID: Still Gambling with Its Water Rights

March 6, 2020 By Eric Caine 4 Comments

Unsustainable Pumping Graphic

Last July, the Oakdale Irrigation District (OID) Board of Directors agreed to develop a five year plan to deliver water to farmers outside district boundaries but within its sphere of influence. Based on the board’s decision, several farmers who had petitioned for water began making good on their promises to provide infrastructure necessary for the deliveries. In some cases, hundreds of thousands of dollars were spent. Then, just last Tuesday, […]

Filed Under: Environment Tagged With: Linda Santos Oakdale Irrigation District, Oakdale Irrigation District water sales

Homeless: Time to Focus on Accountability

March 4, 2020 By Eric Caine 2 Comments

Alan Davis downtown Modesto

The sign on J Street reads, “Cruising Prohibited.” Below that,  “Loitering Prohibited, 6pm to 6am.” Another warns, “This area is under video surveillance.” It’s very doubtful Alan Davis, the amputee across the street, ever reads the signs, even though he’d haunted downtown Modesto for months before being taken by volunteers to the Modesto Outdoor Emergency Shelter (MOES) last fall, where he had a tent, a bed, and routine checkups of […]

Filed Under: Environment Tagged With: Alan Davis homeless, Homelessness and Poverty in Stanislaus County, Homelessness in Modesto, Homelessness in the San Joaquin Valley

Del Puerto Canyon: The Birds, the Flowers, the Dam

February 6, 2020 By Eric Caine 10 Comments

Immature Golden Eagle Del Puerto Canyon by Jim Gain

Modesto’s Jim Gain, in addition to being among the Valley’s most accomplished naturalists, is also one of our finest wildlife and nature photographers. A member of the Stanislaus Audubon Society’s Board of Directors, Gain has been documenting bird life in the Valley for over thirty years. Over the decades, he’s been especially drawn to Del Puerto Canyon, in part because its diverse habitats almost always offer wonder, and frequently produce […]

Filed Under: Environment Tagged With: Del Puerto Canyon, Del Puerto Canyon dam

Del Puerto Canyon: Then and Now, a Controversy

February 5, 2020 By Elias Funez 23 Comments

Along Del Puerto Canyon by Elias Funez

Nestled among the rolling hills of Northern California’s Diablo Range, along the western edge of the San Joaquin Valley, lies the narrow entrance to a unique canyon long known for its geological, biological, archaeological and paleontological significance. Of late, however, Del Puerto Canyon is becoming better known for some very fast- tracked and heretofore little-known plans to build a 260 foot high dam and reservoir in an area with unstable […]

Filed Under: Environment

Will Mistletoe Destroy Modesto’s Urban Forest?

February 5, 2020 By Babette Wagner 4 Comments

Mayor Ted Brandvold wants more money to hire police officers and most agree our police force is understaffed. Nonetheless, many concerned citizens fear Brandvold will divert funds and continue to neglect Modesto’s urban forest, once a symbol of pride that has now become a financial liability. With her typical keen insight and concern for the city, Babette Wagner wonders whether the spread of destructive mistletoe will add even more costs […]

Filed Under: Environment Tagged With: Modesto's urban forest

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Off The Wire

Californians: Here's why your housing costs are so high
Californians: Here’s why your housing costs are so high
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www.voanews.com
Half of Republicans believe false accounts of deadly U.S. Capitol riot-Reuters/Ipsos poll
Half of Republicans believe false accounts of deadly U.S. Capitol riot-Reuters/Ipsos poll
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www.reuters.com
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www.theguardian.com
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Perspective | Five myths about poverty
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Los Angeles police clash with protesters in fight to evict major homeless encampment
Los Angeles police clash with protesters in fight to evict major homeless encampment
Echo Park Lake site has become a battleground in the city’s worsening housing and homelessness crisis during the pandemic
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PO Box 156
Downtown Bear Postal
1509 K Street
Modesto, CA 95354

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The Valley Citizen
PO Box 156
Downtown Bear Postal
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Modesto, CA 95354

Email us at:
thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

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