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California groundwater law

Merrill Goodall: Water Monopolies and the Public Interest

September 2, 2021 By Trudy Wischemann 8 Comments

Friant Kern Canal near Lindsay

“The lands have no value without water.  If the water rights fall into the hands of irrigating companies and … individual owners, … eventually the monopoly of water rights will be an intolerable burden to the people…. The question for legislators to solve is to devise some practical means by which water rights may be distributed among individual farmers and water monopolies prevented.” John Wesley Powell, Report on the Arid […]

Filed Under: Environment Tagged With: California groundwater law, California Water Project, California water shortage, Dry wells San Joaquin Valley, mining groundwater

Draining the Last Great Aquifer: a Group Project

December 8, 2019 By Eric Caine 8 Comments

California map of critically overdrafted groundwater basins

Environmentalists who had high hopes Gavin Newsom would lead the way to sustainable water use in the San Joaquin Valley are waking up to the knowledge that the new governor isn’t going to be any more effective than the old governor. Sustainability is just too big a lift. Even before Newsom took office, the terms of the water debate were morphing from “sustainability” to “voluntary agreements.” Not long after, sustainability […]

Filed Under: Environment Tagged With: California groundwater law, Eastern Stanislaus County groundwater, San Joaquin Valley groundwater, Sustainable Groundwater Management Act

Water: “We farm, you pay.” Subsidence and Socialism in the Valley

March 25, 2019 By Eric Caine 9 Comments

Among the more persistent mythologies of the American west, few are as enduring and erroneous as those about water, especially here in the San Joaquin Valley. The one consistent element in all of them is that no matter what’s wrong, “It’s all government’s fault.” So it is that when California became the last state in the nation to regulate groundwater, the cry went up that water shortages are, “All the […]

Filed Under: Environment Tagged With: California groundwater, California groundwater law, Eastern Stanislaus County groundwater, groundwater Stanislaus County

Groundwater Extraction Needs Oversight Now, Says Kennedy

July 4, 2017 By admin 4 Comments

Dr. Vance Kennedy

Dr. Vance Kennedy is a retired research hydrologist, with degrees in chemical engineering, geochemistry, and geology. There are hundreds of deep wells in the foothills east of the San Joaquin Valley, especially in Stanislaus and Merced Counties. They are depleting the general water table at an alarming rate. When that water table drops by several hundred feet, no one will be able to live there who relies on groundwater because […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured Tagged With: California groundwater law, eastern Stanislaus County almond orchards, Eastern Stanislaus County groundwater, mining groundwater

Supervisor Dodges Hot (Ground)Water

September 19, 2014 By Eric Caine Leave a Comment

Two things were crystal clear after Stanislaus County Supervisor Bill O’Brien met with members of the Stanislaus Water Coalition last Wednesday in Oakdale. One, Supervisor O’Brien wants no part in regulating water use in Stanislaus County. And two, members of the Stanislaus Water Coalition agree that the state’s 2040 deadline to achieve groundwater sustainability is far too distant to prevent serious and lasting harm from ongoing overdrafting of groundwater. A […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured Tagged With: Almond Orchards eastern Stanislaus County, California groundwater law, Stanislaus County groundwater

Why California Groundwater Policy Must Change

April 24, 2014 By Eric Caine 1 Comment

It’s often said that California is the only state that doesn’t regulate groundwater, but that’s not exactly true. In California, one rule always applies. Though unwritten, it exists in the form of dogma more powerful than words graven in stone: Any official, at any level, whenever speaking of groundwater, must assert emphatically that local control is the best of all possible alternatives. No matter that history, science, and current realities […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured Tagged With: California groundwater law, San Joaquin Valley groundwater

More California Water Bills Coming Due Soon

June 17, 2013 By Eric Caine Leave a Comment

  Maybe the rumors were true. Maybe the Stanislaus aquifer really is flowing uphill. That’s one explanation for what’s going on near Hughson and Denair, where people’s wells have suddenly started running dry. Both towns are considerably downslope from the thousands of acres of new orchards on Stanislaus County’s east side. That’s where powerful pumps have been spreading millions upon millions of gallons of groundwater on what was once arid […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured Tagged With: California groundwater law, Stanislaus County aquifer, Stanislaus County groundwater

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Off The Wire

Warren: Voters Must Elect Dems In Midterms Who Would Nix Filibuster To Codify Roe
Warren: Voters Must Elect Dems In Midterms Who Would Nix Filibuster To Codify Roe
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) on Sunday said she views the midterm elections…
talkingpointsmemo.com
A Farmer’s Quest to Beat California’s Waves of Drought and Deluge
A Farmer’s Quest to Beat California’s Waves of Drought and Deluge
Don Cameron went all in on a trickle-down survival tactic. It could help save America’s agricultural heartland—even if he doesn’t survive the new water war.
www.wired.com
Ten Ways Billionaires Avoid Taxes On An Epic Scale
Ten Ways Billionaires Avoid Taxes On An Epic Scale
This article first appeared at ProPublica. ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative…
talkingpointsmemo.com
A South Texan?s Wild, Life-affirming Quest to Break a National Birding Record
A South Texan’s Wild, Life-affirming Quest to Break a National Birding Record
When she began her year-long bird-spotting adventure, Tiffany Kersten was lost and lonely. She ended up achieving a major milestone and finding her way.
www.texasmonthly.com
Ron Johnson tried to hand fake elector info to Mike Pence on Jan. 6, panel reveals
Ron Johnson tried to hand fake elector info to Mike Pence on Jan. 6, panel reveals
A top aide said the Wisconsin Republican senator wanted to give Pence the list of pro-Trump electors as he prepared to certify the 2020 election.
www.politico.com
Raffensperger says he wishes Fox News carried every Jan. 6 hearing
Raffensperger says he wishes Fox News carried every Jan. 6 hearing
“I think it would have helped our party heal, given [people] more facts.”
www.axios.com
'Not safe anymore': Portland confronts the limits of its support for homeless services
‘Not safe anymore’: Portland confronts the limits of its support for homeless services
Homeless encampments now spill well beyond Portland’s downtown core, dividing a city that has invested liberally in support services.
www.latimes.com
Republicans Will Do It Again
Republicans Will Do It Again
They have not been chastened by the revelations of the January 6 committee.
nymag.com
Birdman
Birdman
Bird Brother: A Falconer’s Journey and the Healing Power of Wildlife
www.earthisland.org
The Potato Roll Empire Bankrolling Christian Nationalist Doug Mastriano
The Potato Roll Empire Bankrolling Christian Nationalist Doug Mastriano
The Martins were bit players in politics, until they put Doug Mastriano one step away from becoming Pennsylvania’s next governor.
nymag.com
Roger Stone and Michael Flynn under fire over rallies ‘distorting Christianity’
Roger Stone and Michael Flynn under fire over rallies ‘distorting Christianity’
Prominent Christian leaders accuse Trump allies of spreading misinformation about election and Covid, while distorting Christian teachings at ReAwaken America events
www.theguardian.com
Major water cutbacks loom as shrinking Colorado River nears 'moment of reckoning'
Major water cutbacks loom as shrinking Colorado River nears ‘moment of reckoning’
As the Colorado River water shortage worsens, major cutbacks are needed to reduce most perilous risks, a federal official tells senators.
www.latimes.com
Trump Scammed Supporters Out of $250 Million for Nonexistent Fraud Fund
Trump Scammed Supporters Out of $250 Million for Nonexistent Fraud Fund
Supporters who thought they were donating to “election integrity” instead saw some of their money funneled to Trump hotels
www.rollingstone.com

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Downtown Bear Postal
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