Dr. Horacio Ferriz is Stanislaus County’s geologist. Here is Part II of his interview with The Valley Citizen. Valley Citizen: Could you explain “mass balance” in layman’s terms? Dr. Ferriz: Mass balance is a fancy word to say that what comes in has to be the same as what goes out, plus/minus changes in storage. Imagine that the groundwater basin is like two stacked warehouses. Each warehouse is half full […]
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County Geologist on Foothills Groundwater: Part I
The Valley Citizen is committed to bringing as much science as possible to the ongoing dialogue about water in the San Joaquin Valley. Stanislaus County’s resident geologist is an internationally acclaimed consultant on geohydrology and geology. Dr. Horacio Ferriz also teaches a wide range of courses at California State University, Stanislaus. He has an earned PhD from Stanford University. Dr. Ferriz generously offered the following interview via email. Valley Citizen: […]
Supervisors Issue Blank Check to Water Miners
Tuesday, June 10, Stanislaus County Supervisors issued a blank check to water miners. Of those present, only Supervisor Jim DeMartini seemed willing to speak candidly about the process. “This is like squirting water on the outhouse when your house is burning down,” he said. DeMartini was referring to the Stanislaus Water Advisory Committee’s (SWAC) seventeen point “action plan.” To many, the plan seems dedicated to avoiding groundwater problems rather than […]
Election Post-Mortem
No surprises in Tuesday’s regional election—unless you count Dave Lopez going over the 40% mark in votes. Ordinarily, incumbent Supervisors garner over 60% of votes cast, so Lopez’s showing was a bit stronger than could have been expected. Though Lopez doubtless benefitted from name recognition attained as a two term Modesto City Councilman, incumbent Dick Monteith easily beat back the challenge. Monteith may have lost a few votes because of […]
Committees, Water, and Wood Colony
Over the years, local government s within Stanislaus County have formed countless committees. A committee or a study can be a great smokescreen to hide decision making in government. What a committee accomplishes will depend on what politicians want the outcome to be. Sometimes when Valley politicians want to avoid public input, they form a committee. The committee report may be predetermined when committee members are told what the […]
Water Advisory Committee Wastes Time and Money
If your accountant told you to keep spending money until you found out how much you had, you’d fire your accountant. But insanity about money doesn’t translate to insanity about water. Spending without knowing how much you have is the rule with groundwater in California, and that’s why the state is over drafted almost everywhere. Up until recently, one of the few places that still had plenty of groundwater was […]
Want Water? Here’s a Better Alternative to Tunnels
Governor Jerry Brown proposes to build two tunnels under the San Joaquin River Delta at a cost of billions of dollars. The tunnels’ sole purpose would be to move water. They would have no effect on storage capacity. We’ve already advocated desalinization plants to make water instead of building tunnels to move water. There’s also a better way to control floods and store water in the Great Valley. In 1846, you could […]
Valley Schools Have Child Safety Problems
On March 26th, a child died in front of a Modesto school when he ran in front of a bus. A few years ago, another child was hit in front of a school when he was run over by his own father’s car. At another school, a child on a bicycle was hit by a car. These accidents should not be happening.Every school day in valley communities, a mad rush of traffic occurs before and after each session. Large numbers of parents ferry their children as close […]
Johnston’s Exit: New Era for the Bee?
Publisher Eric Johnston has left the Modesto Bee. His departure marks the end of an era. Though still demonized as a “liberal” newspaper by tea-soaked locals, under Johnston, Mark Vaschè, and Judy Sly, the once moderate Bee veered sharply right. Jeff Denham and Kristin Olsen became political darlings and the Chamber of Commerce became the go-to authority for the final word on local issues. Vaschè was known to dislike confrontation, […]
Marsh Survives Wood Colony Brickbats
Jake Wenger probably uttered the wisest words at Saturday’s town hall meeting in Wood Colony when he said, “It’s much easier to have a discussion with a clean slate.” Unfortunately for Garrad Marsh, he entered the Hart-Ransom school gymnasium with plenty of history on the “slate.” Many in the audience were still steaming from Marsh’s attempt to annex Salida, and others were furious that he and the Modesto City […]