Ground water overdrafting is about to create a massive crisis in the State. The Central Valley is sinking—roads crumbling, homes with large cracks, schools in danger—all because the Governor and Democrats refused to build more dams, so water would be available, instead of being forced to use groundwater. Salmon salvation is causing the Valley to sink.
““By this time next year, 21 critically over-drafted groundwater basins in California must submit plans to the state’s Department of Water Resources for how to bring their basins back into balance. With this major deadline looming, it’s crunch time for water managers and their consultants – some of whom will begin releasing draft plans in the next six to eight months seeking required public comments.
CalPERS, high housing costs, high taxes, failed government education, lack of public safety—all serious problems. The sinking of whole towns, like Arbuckle and the Central Valley is going to be a long time problem, costing much more than solving the economic problems caused by Sacramento.
BLOG ROUND-UP: Critically over-drafted groundwater basins
Mavens Notebook, 2/5/19
The clock is ticking for groundwater managers in California’s most over-drafted basins: Christina Babbit writes, “By this time next year, 21 critically over-drafted groundwater basins in California must submit plans to the state’s Department of Water Resources for how to bring their basins back into balance. With this major deadline looming, it’s crunch time for water managers and their consultants – some of whom will begin releasing draft plans in the next six to eight months seeking required public comments. The Jan. 31, 2020, deadline was set by the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), which the California Legislature approved in 2014. ... ” Read more from the Growing Returns blog here: The clock is ticking for groundwater managers in California’s most over-drafted basins
Improving conditions for salmon in the Sacramento River basin: “Several new projects and various functional flow arrangements were implemented this year in the Sacramento River Basin to promote salmon recovery as part of the Sacramento Valley Salmon Recovery Program. The numerous projects and flow arrangements that have been completed since 2000 to benefit salmon and other species of fish are chronicled in the document: Improving Conditions for Salmon, which can be viewed by clicking below. This includes more than 150 projects and arrangements. … ” Read more from the Northern California Water Association blog here: Improving conditions for salmon in the Sacramento River basin
Fall 2019, University of Arizona Press – Science Be Dammed: How Ignoring Inconvenient Science Drained the Colorado River, by Eric Kuhn and John Fleck: John Fleck writes, “USGS hydrologist Eugene Clyde LaRue’s December 1925 testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Irrigation and Reclamation set my storyteller’s nerves tingling. It was a critical moment in the history of the West, as Congress deliberated turning the abstract water allocation rules of the Colorado River Compact into appropriations and concrete. Y’all probably know the conventional telling of the story of the allocation of the Colorado River’s waters, a story I told this way myself in what I now call “my last book“. … ” Read more from the Inkstain blog here: Fall 2019, University of Arizona Press – Science Be Dammed: How Ignoring Inconvenient Science Drained the Colorado River, by Eric Kuhn and John Fleck
The path to Colorado River collaboration is narrow, but we remain on it: John Fleck writes, “Amid the Sturm und Drang of Arizona’s struggle to find a path to reduce its Colorado River water use in the face of a federal ultimatum, I lost sight of an important point. With last week’s legislative approval, Arizona has now agreed to a plan that could eventually reduce the Central Arizona Project’s flow of Colorado River water into the valleys of Tucson and Phoenix by nearly half from current levels. Voluntarily. Without litigation. Without even reaching the first mandatory shortage declaration. There’s still important stuff remaining, most notably some sort of a Salton Sea fix to ensure that the communities around the lake are less burdened by the externalities associated with water use reductions there. … ” Read more from the Inkstain Blog here: The path to Colorado River collaboration is narrow, but we remain on it
Judges should not let bureaucrats dictate the meaning of the law: Anthony Francios writes, “This week we filed this amicus brief on behalf of our Clean Water Act clients, the Sacketts and Duarte Nursery, in the Supreme Court of the United States in the case of Kisor v. Wilkie. In this case, the Supreme Court is considering whether to end the decades long practice of federal judges allowing executive agency bureaucrats to preclusively determine what their regulations mean, known as Auer deference. We argue that the Court should overturn Auer. The federal judiciary has the sole constitutional responsibility to interpret statutes and regulations. This serves as a necessary check and balance on both the Congress and the President. These checks and balances, part of the Constitution’s separation of powers, are designed to protect individual liberty from overpowerful government officials. ... ” Read more from the Pacific Legal Foundation here: Judges should not let bureaucrats dictate the meaning of the law
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