There’s nothing like a job as general manager of one our local water districts to give a person a rosy outlook. Seems like only yesterday Allen Short, then riding high as General Manager of the Modesto Irrigation District (MID), was touting a sale of “excess water” to the City of San Francisco. This was just prior to his exit from the MID, a departure expedited by public outcry against […]
Environment
Elected Officials Need to Speak Out on 132 Expansion, by Rhett Calkins
In “How Would the New 132 Freeway Affect Wood Colony,” Bruce Frohman wrote that plans to change the route of 132 are “gaining momentum.” People need to ask, “Gaining momentum to do what? Introduce sprawl out to Dakota? Introduce another major intersection to reduce momentum on an already jammed-up Carpenter Rd? Is this something we can be proud of?” Look at where they plan to take the 132 west project: […]
Jackman, Wenger, and Kennedy Propose Urban Boundaries
Wood Colony’s Jake Wenger has joined Denny Jackman and Vance Kennedy in proposing an initiative that would establish firm growth boundaries around the city of Modesto. The proposal may be a sign that Jackman and others have given up on trying to work with the Modesto City Council and Chamber of Commerce on plans to direct growth away from prime farmland. This won’t be the first time Jackman has put […]
Are the People Ready to Take Their Water Back?
On March 6, in what was called “a victory for environmentalists, sport fishers, Delta farmers and State Water Project taxpayers,” a judge ruled that the state Department of Water Resources provided an insufficient environmental review of impacts of the Kern Water Bank. Though it’s gotten little local attention, the short history of the Kern Water Bank (KWB) recounts one of the biggest water scandals in recent times. In essence, the KWB […]
Why Should Stanislaus County Groundwater Be Different?
Editor’s note: If you have a bucket of water that is one foot deep and you use one inch of water a day, it takes twelve days to empty the bucket. Most people understand this concept at a very early age. Especially over the last fifty years, many aquifers around the United States have become so depleted it’s no longer feasible to use them for irrigating farmland. Even parts of […]
Best Way to Save Wood Colony? Urban Limits
When Vance Kennedy called the soil north and west of Modesto “a national treasure,” he was speaking from the perspective of an award-winning scientist who has studied soil and water all his life. Kennedy is also a small-scale farmer—he farms eight acres of citrus on the famous “sandy loam” soil north of Modesto. Realtors and developers like to cite figures that show farm acreage is increasing, and they’re right if […]
A Scheme to Throw Good Water After Bad
Leave it to a crisis to bring out the worst in those who helped bring it about. Led by Devin Nunes, three San Joaquin Valley Republicans are trying to overturn legislation that restored flows to the San Joaquin River after over two decades of litigation. Never mind that a wide consensus of scientific opinion agrees that restored flows are necessary for the survival of San Joaquin Valley salmon runs. Never […]
Award-Winning Scientist: Our Water Policy is “Insanity”
Once when he was asked why he’s so involved in public issues, Vance Kennedy replied, “It’s my way of paying back for the opportunities I was given in public service. When I was with the [U.S. Geological] Survey (USGS), I got to do a lot of research, and I’ve always been thankful for the opportunity.” It could probably be argued that Kennedy’s work alone gave the public plenty of payback. […]
Great Valley or New Dustbowl?
News item: On January 17, 2014, California Governor Jerry Brown declared a drought emergency. In 1846, one could book passage on a river boat between San Francisco and Bakersfield. In that year, the San Joaquin Valley had numerous lakes and marshes. The water table was at the surface in many of the lower parts of the valley. In the fall and winter, great flights of waterfowl darkened the sky. For thousands of years, Native Americans had […]
What Science Says About Wood Colony Soil
One of Vance Kennedy’s first jobs for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) was a study of “sediment transport” in streams throughout the state of Georgia. He probably got the job because of his degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and because he was the first student ever in the first course ever in the subject of Applied Geochemistry. When you study the streams and sediments of an […]