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Pursuing truth toward justice

The Valley Citizen

Pursuing truth toward justice
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Vance Kennedy

Dr. Kennedy: Water and Drought in the Valley

May 2, 2015 By Vance Kennedy 2 Comments

Dr. Vance Kennedy

Dr. Vance Kennedy has received the Distinguished Service Award from the Environmental Protection Agency for his work with the U.S. Geological Survey. Now in his nineties, Dr. Kennedy maintains an active interest in water and land use issues in California and especially in the San Joaquin Valley. The following essay represents some of his latest thoughts on water and the drought. The immediate problem posed by the drought is to […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured Tagged With: San Joaquin Valley aquifer, San Joaquin Valley groundwater, Vance Kennedy

Can the State Reverse Downward Trend of Groundwater Supplies?

November 13, 2014 By Eric Caine Leave a Comment

“Why not do a mass balance?” said Vance Kennedy. “It’s unsustainable on the face of it.” Kennedy was speaking during a question and answer session with Doreen, “DeDe,” D’Adamo, a member of California’s State Water Resources Control Board. D’Adamo was in Oakdale last Wednesday to meet with members of the Stanislaus Water Coalition, a group concerned with groundwater issues in eastern Stanislaus County. Kennedy, a retired U.S. Geological Survey hydrologist, […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured Tagged With: eastern Stanislaus County almond orchards, Stanislaus County groundwater, Steve Knell, Terry Withrow Supervisor, Vance Kennedy

Dr. Kennedy’s Groundwater Remedy

October 27, 2014 By Eric Caine 2 Comments

Stanislaus County Supervisors probably breathed a sigh of relief when the Modesto Bee chose not to report Dr. Vance Kennedy’s comments at their October 21 board meeting. As an award-winning hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, Kennedy accumulated a career’s worth of on-the ground experience to go along with his academic credentials. At ninety-one years of age, he remains current with research in his field, especially research involving groundwater. A […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured Tagged With: Almond Orchards eastern Stanislaus County, Stanislaus County groundwater, Vance Kennedy

Water Grab in the Foothills? Yes!

July 16, 2014 By Eric Caine Leave a Comment

Dr. Vance Kennedy

Dr. Vance Kennedy is a long time champion of farmers and farmland. Along with Wood Colony’s Jake Wenger and Modesto’s Denny Jackman, Dr. Kennedy is sponsoring an urban limits initiative that would protect prime farmland around Modesto. Like many Valley citizens, Dr. Kennedy is alarmed at intensive groundwater mining in the foothills of eastern Stanislaus County. His background as an award-winning hydrologist enables him to offer authoritative analysis of the […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured Tagged With: Almond Orchards eastern Stanislaus County, San Joaquin Valley groundwater, Stanislaus County groundwater, Vance Kennedy

Supervisors Issue Blank Check to Water Miners

June 11, 2014 By Eric Caine Leave a Comment

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 […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured Tagged With: groundwater in Stanislaus County, Jim DeMartini, Stanislaus Water Advisory Committee, Vance Kennedy

Award-Winning Scientist: Our Water Policy is “Insanity”

January 20, 2014 By Eric Caine Leave a Comment

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. […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured Tagged With: California groundwater, San Joaquin Valley groundwater, Stanislaus County groundwater, Vance Kennedy

What Science Says About Wood Colony Soil

January 12, 2014 By Bruce Frohman Leave a Comment

Dr. Vance Kennedy

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 […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured Tagged With: sandy loam soil, Vance Kennedy, Vance Kennedy hydrologist, Wood Colony Modesto

Giant Sucking Sound Threatens Stanislaus County Aquifer

May 24, 2013 By Eric Caine 2 Comments

No one knows where the rumor started, and so far no one’s been able to confirm it—the story around Stanislaus County is that the aquifer has started flowing uphill. Implausible as it may seem, the tale is based on growing awareness of just how many giant pumps are operating twenty-four hours a day in the eastern portion of the County. Over the last decade or so, land that once featured […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured Tagged With: eastern Stanislaus County, Stanislaus County aquifer, Stanislaus County groundwater, Vance Kennedy

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Off The Wire

California faces catastrophic flood dangers ? and a need to invest billions in protection
California faces catastrophic flood dangers and a need to invest billions in protection
A new state plan for the Central Valley calls for spending as much as $30 billion over 30 years to prepare for the dangers.
www.latimes.com
Oakland will get millions for the ?inhumane? crisis at one huge homeless encampment. Officials say it?s not enough
Oakland will get millions for the “inhumane” crisis at one huge homeless encampment. Officials say it’s not enough
Gavin Newsom’s administration has awarded Oakland a $4.7 million grant to come up with…
www.sfchronicle.com
Alaska?s Fisheries Are Collapsing. This Congresswoman Is Taking on the Industry She Says Is to Blame.
Alaska’s Fisheries Are Collapsing. This Congresswoman Is Taking on the Industry She Says Is to Blame.
Mary Peltola won her election by campaigning on a platform to save the state’s prized fisheries. A powerful fishing lobby is standing in her way.
www.politico.com
Jimmy Carter's final foe: A parasitic worm that preyed on millions in Africa and Asia
Jimmy Carter’s final foe: A parasitic worm that preyed on millions in Africa and Asia
One of former President Carter’s biggest hopes is wiping out an infectious parasitic disease that’s plagued humans for millennia. How close is he?
www.latimes.com
Climate Extremes Threaten California?s Central Valley Songbirds - Eos
Climate Extremes Threaten California’s Central Valley Songbirds – Eos
A “nestbox highway” in California’s Central Valley is guiding songbirds to safe nesting sites and giving scientists a peek at fledgling success in a changing climate.
eos.org
Alaska Republican touts benefits of children being abused to death
Alaska Republican touts benefits of children being abused to death
Republican David Eastman suggested the death of child abuse victims could be a “cost savings” to wider society.
www.newsweek.com
Editorial: Newsom's drought order amid wet winter threatens iconic California species
Editorial: Newsom’s drought order amid wet winter threatens iconic California species
Gov. Gavin Newsom has effectively ended environmental regulations protecting California rivers and migratory fish by extending drought-year waivers.
www.latimes.com
Two-thirds of McPherson Square homeless remain on street, D.C. says
Two-thirds of McPherson Square homeless remain on street, D.C. says
As of Thursday, just two of the more than 70 residents of McPherson Square had been placed in permanent D.C. housing.
www.washingtonpost.com
More Building Won?t Make Housing Affordable
More Building Won’t Make Housing Affordable
America’s housing crisis has reached unfathomable proportions. But new construction isn’t enough to solve it.
newrepublic.com
Why YIMBYs are about to sue the daylights out of cities across the Bay Area
Why YIMBYs are about to sue the daylights out of cities across the Bay Area
Housing advocates are about to deliver a message to the Bay Area: Comply with state…
www.sfchronicle.com
At the heart of Colorado River crisis, the mighty 'Law of the River' holds sway
At the heart of Colorado River crisis, the mighty ‘Law of the River’ holds sway
At the heart of tensions over water allotments from the Colorado River is a complex set of agreements and decrees known as the ‘Law of the River.’
www.latimes.com
Biden restores roadless protection to the Tongass, North America's largest rainforest
Biden restores roadless protection to the Tongass, North America’s largest rainforest
The Tongass National Forest in Alaska, a focus of political battles over old-growth logging and road-building in forests for decades, has received new protection from the Biden administration.
theconversation.com

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PO Box 156
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The Valley Citizen
PO Box 156
Downtown Bear Postal
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Email us at:
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