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March 27, 2024, 12:55:24 pm Mark says: Shocked Shocked Shocked Shocked  When Hamas spokesman Abu Ubaida began a speech marking the 100th day of the war in Gaza, one confounding yet eye-opening proclamation escaped the headlines. Listing the motives for the Palestinian militant group's Oct. 7 massacre in Israel, he accused Jews of "bringing red cows" to the Holy Land.
December 31, 2022, 10:08:58 am NilsFor1611 says: blessings
August 08, 2018, 02:38:10 am suzytr says: Hello, any good churches in the Sacto, CA area, also looking in Reno NV, thanks in advance and God Bless you Smiley
January 29, 2018, 01:21:57 am Christian40 says: It will be interesting to see what happens this year Israel being 70 years as a modern nation may 14 2018
October 17, 2017, 01:25:20 am Christian40 says: It is good to type Mark is here again!  Smiley
October 16, 2017, 03:28:18 am Christian40 says: anyone else thinking that time is accelerating now? it seems im doing days in shorter time now is time being affected in some way?
September 24, 2017, 10:45:16 pm Psalm 51:17 says: The specific rule pertaining to the national anthem is found on pages A62-63 of the league rulebook. It states: “The National Anthem must be played prior to every NFL game, and all players must be on the sideline for the National Anthem. “During the National Anthem, players on the field and bench area should stand at attention, face the flag, hold helmets in their left hand, and refrain from talking. The home team should ensure that the American flag is in good condition. It should be pointed out to players and coaches that we continue to be judged by the public in this area of respect for the flag and our country. Failure to be on the field by the start of the National Anthem may result in discipline, such as fines, suspensions, and/or the forfeiture of draft choice(s) for violations of the above, including first offenses.”
September 20, 2017, 04:32:32 am Christian40 says: "The most popular Hepatitis B vaccine is nothing short of a witch’s brew including aluminum, formaldehyde, yeast, amino acids, and soy. Aluminum is a known neurotoxin that destroys cellular metabolism and function. Hundreds of studies link to the ravaging effects of aluminum. The other proteins and formaldehyde serve to activate the immune system and open up the blood-brain barrier. This is NOT a good thing."
http://www.naturalnews.com/2017-08-11-new-fda-approved-hepatitis-b-vaccine-found-to-increase-heart-attack-risk-by-700.html
September 19, 2017, 03:59:21 am Christian40 says: bbc international did a video about there street preaching they are good witnesses
September 14, 2017, 08:06:04 am Psalm 51:17 says: bro Mark Hunter on YT has some good, edifying stuff too.
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« Reply #60 on: September 04, 2014, 01:44:53 pm »

http://www.naturalnews.com/046734_extreme_drought_California_water_collapse.html
9/4/14
Drought apocalypse begins in California as wells run dry

NaturalNews) Water wells in central California have begun to run dry, reports the LA Times. (1) "Extreme drought conditions have become so harsh for the Central Valley community of East Porterville [that] many of its residents dependent on their own wells have run out of water."

Tulare County has confirmed their wells have run out of water, and so far hundreds of homes have no running water.

According to the LA Times, rumors are also spreading that Child Protective Services officials will begin taking children away from families who have no running water, although the county claims the rumor is false.

It begins: the collapse of California's water aquifers
With this news, it is now official that the collapse of California's water aquifers has begun. With each passing month and year, more and more wells will run dry across the state as California plummets into the desert conditions from which it once sprang.

Extreme drought now covers 82% of California, according to the National Drought Mitigation Center. (2) Fifty-eight percent of the state is in "exceptional drought."

During the unfolding of this drought, California farmers and cities have siphoned unprecedented volumes of water out of the state's underground aquifers. This is called "fossil water" and it can take centuries to regenerate. Once this fossil water is used up, it's gone.

35-year "megadrought" may be on the way
"The southwestern United States has fifty percent change of suffering a 'megadrought' that lasts 35 years," reports the Daily Mail. (3)

"They say global warming has meant the chance of a decade long drought is at least 50 percent, and the chances of a 'megadrought' – one that lasts up to 35 years – ranges from 20 to 50 percent over the next century."

One scientist is quoted in the story as saying, "This will be worse than anything seen during the last 2,000 years and would pose unprecedented challenges to water resources in the region."

Unless politicians become magical wizards and figure out a way to create water out of nothing, what all this really means is that cities of the American southwest will not be able to support present-day populations. A mass migration (evacuation) out of the cities will be necessary sooner or later.

California's water deficit will lead to ecological and economic collapse
In an almost perfect reflection of California's state budget deficits, the state is also running an unsustainable water deficit. It is a mathematical certainty that when you remove far more water from the aquifers than is being replenished, the amount of water remaining in those aquifers will eventually reach zero.

This "zero day" water reality is still psychologically denied by most Californians. If the reality of this situation were widely recognized, California would be experiencing a glut of real estate inventory as millions of homeowners tried to sell their properties and evacuate the state. The fact that the real estate market has not yet collapsed in California tells us that Californians are still living in a state of denial about the future of their water supply.

Even as California's water supply collapses by the day, local farmers and towns have few options other than drilling for more water. "Drill! Drill! Drill!" is the mantra of the day, creating an 18-month backlog for well drilling companies. Each new well that's drilled must seek to go deeper than the previous wells which are running dry. It's a literal race to the bottom which can only end in catastrophe.

Then again, a willful acceleration toward catastrophe is merely a sign of the times when it comes to human civilization. There is almost no area in which humans have ever achieved balance: not in fossil fuels, metals mining, fossil water exploitation, debt creation, industrial chemical contamination, ecological exploitation or even global population. It's almost as if the human race is determined to destroy itself while racing to see who can achieve self destruction first.

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« Reply #61 on: September 12, 2014, 11:27:17 pm »

http://local.msn.com/los-angeles-issues-heat-alert-as-temperatures-soar
Los Angeles issues 'heat alert' as temperatures soar

Los Angeles health officials on Friday issued a special "heat alert" for this weekend, urging residents to take special precautions with temperatures expected to soar into triple digits across the region.

9/12/14

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles health officials on Friday issued a special "heat alert" for this weekend, urging residents to take special precautions with temperatures expected to soar into triple digits across the region.

With California already baking under a record drought that has brought acute water shortages, forecasts called for temperatures to reach more than 100 degrees in downtown Los Angeles and even higher in some surrounding communities.

"Extreme heat such as this is not just an inconvenience, it can be dangerous and even deadly, but we can protect ourselves, our families and our neighbors if we take steps to remain cool and hydrated," Dr. Jeffrey Gunzenhauser, the city's interim health director, said in issuing the heat alert.

Gunzenhauser said some 60 "cooling centers" would be open at libraries, recreation centers and other community buildings throughout the weekend, offering shelter to residents suffering from what is predicted to be sweltering heat.

He cautioned residents that small children, the elderly and pets should not be left alone in homes or vehicles with no air conditioning and said schools should take precautions during sporting events.

"When temperatures are high, even a few hours of exertion may cause severe dehydration, heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke," Gunzenhauser said.

"Others who are frail or have chronic health conditions may develop serious health problems leading to death if they are exposed to high temperatures over several days," he said.

California is in its third year of a devastating drought that has forced farmers to leave fields unplanted and left communities reliant on well water with little to drink.

Mandatory conservation measures forbid actions such as letting sprinklers drench driveways and concrete walkways while watering the lawn, using a hose without a shut-off valve to wash a car and using drinkable water in fountains that do not recirculate it.

Some communities have banned residents from filling their swimming pools, and in Southern California, residents have removed 2.5 million square feet of turf from their front and back yards, replacing water-thirsty grass with drought tolerant plants and other landscaping.
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« Reply #62 on: September 16, 2014, 04:22:47 pm »

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/governor-signs-first-california-groundwater-rules-174627210.html
9/16/14

Governor signs first California groundwater rules
Governor signs bills to regulate groundwater use for first time in drought-parched California


SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- California will no longer be the last Western state with a pump-as-you-please approach to groundwater.

Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation on Tuesday overhauling the state's management of its groundwater supply, bringing it in line with other states that have long regulated their wells.

Groundwater makes up nearly 60 percent of California's water use during dry years. But it is not monitored and managed the same way as water from reservoirs and rivers.

Supporters of the legislation say the worst drought in a generation inspired them to rethink the state's hands-off approach to tapping wells, which has led to sinking land and billions of dollars in damage to aquifers, roads and canals.

"This is a big deal," Brown said at the signing ceremony in his office. "It has been known about for decades that underground water has to be managed and regulated in some way."

The package signed into law requires some local governments and water districts to begin managing their wells, and it authorizes state water agencies to intervene if necessary. It also allows for water metering and fines to monitor and enforce restrictions.

SB1168, SB1319 and AB1739 by Assemblyman Roger Dickinson, D-Sacramento, and Sen. Fran Pavley, D-Agoura Hills, passed in the final days of the legislative session over objections from Republican lawmakers and Central Valley Democrats.

The opposition was driven by agricultural interests that are increasingly dependent on pumping from wells as reservoirs dry up and government water allocations plunge in the drought. They say the legislation was rushed and punishes well-managed agencies while infringing on property rights.

"While there is legitimate concern about the over-drafting of some groundwater basins, this massive expansion of state authority will not solve the problem," said Assembly Minority Leader Connie Conway, R-Tulare.

Brown said in a signing message he would push for legislation next year to streamline resolutions in disputes over groundwater rights.

Unlike other states that treat groundwater as a shared resource, California property owners have been entitled to tap water beneath their land since the Gold Rush days.

Lawmakers supporting the groundwater overhaul say the existing system pits farmers against each other in a costly race to dig the deepest wells, resulting in depleted aquifers.

Brown cautioned that years of disagreements and arguments are ahead in regulating groundwater.

The new laws, which take effect in January, target areas where groundwater basins are being depleted faster than they are being replenished to be sustainable by 2040. It gives local land planners two years to create a groundwater sustainability agency, which in turn has up to five years to develop a plan for managing wells and pumping.

The state Water Resources Control Board would step in and develop plans for communities that fail to abide by these rules.

"It isn't all about laws and bills," Brown said. "It's about actually implementing the laws we have on the books."
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« Reply #63 on: September 21, 2014, 06:40:14 pm »

http://news.msn.com/us/some-california-wells-run-dry-amid-drought
Some California wells run dry amid drought
9/21/14

EAST PORTERVILLE, Calif. (AP) — Hundreds of domestic wells in California's drought-parched Central Valley farming region have run dry, leaving many residents to rely on donated bottles of drinking water to get by.

Girl Scouts have set up collection points while local charities are searching for money to install tanks next to homes. Officials truck in water for families in greatest need and put a large tank in front of the local firehouse for residents to fill up with water for bathing and flushing toilets.

About 290 families in East Porterville — a poor, largely Hispanic town of about 7,000 residents nestled against the Sierra Nevada foothills — have said their shallow wells are depleted. Officials say the rest of Tulare County has many more empty wells, but nobody has a precise count.

Other Central Valley counties also report pockets of homes with wells gone dry and no alternative water service.

"When you have water running in your house, everything is OK," said East Porterville resident Yolanda Serrato. "Once you don't have water, oh my goodness."

With California locked in its third year of drought and groundwater levels dropping, residents and farmers have been forced to drill deeper and deeper to find water. Lawmakers in Sacramento passed legislation to regulate groundwater pumping, which Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law this past week.

Three days later, Brown signed an executive order that provides money to buy drinking water for residents statewide whose wells have dried up, while also directing key state officials to work with counties and local agencies to find solutions for the shortages.


The State Water Resources Control Board had already allotted $500,000 to buy bottled water for East Porterville residents, said Bruce Burton of the board's Drinking Water Program.

But many East Porterville residents, like Serrato, say all they want is to get a glass of water from the kitchen sink. Her well dried up nearly two months ago, she said, making life challenging for her husband and three children.

To bathe, they each have to fill a bucket from a 300-gallon tank in the front yard, carry it inside and pour water over their heads with a cup. They've lived in their home for 21 years, she said. "It's not that easy to say, 'Let's go someplace else.' "

East Porterville sits along the Tule River, which starts high in the mountains and runs through the unincorporated town. Typically, river water permeates the sandy soil under the community, filling up wells as shallow as 30 feet deep. Not this year. Drought has caused the river to run dry, along with the wells.

Tulare County spokeswoman Denise England said East Porterville needs to get connected to the nearest water main in neighboring Porterville. That could cost more than $20 million and take up to five years, if the project didn't hit political snags, she said.

England said counting the number of dry wells is difficult because people don't come forward fearing their children will be taken away if their home lacks a safe water source, or they believe that their home would be condemned, making them homeless.

Officials have had to combat these rumors, she said, adding, "We're blindly feeling our way through this."

In the meantime, charities have stepped up. Local schools, businesses and a religious group in Cincinnati, Ohio, donated water to the community.

Elva Beltran's Porterville Area Coordinating Council has provided 46 homes with 300-gallon tanks, which are filled each week. The group has pallets of donated bottled water and stacks of blue buckets waiting to be distributed.

Beltran said every day a new family comes in seeking help. "They're hurting," she said. "We need water like we need air."

A local bank donated $50,000 to Self-Help Enterprise, so the housing nonprofit can provide more homes with water tanks.

Community development program director Paul Boyer said people have been creative, using solar bags to heat water for bathing and putting tanks in trees to increase water pressure. Boyer said it will be more difficult when it turns cold this winter.

"Families every night dream about water," Boyer said. "Every day they're thinking about how they're going to deal with water."

The well belonging to Vickie Yorba, 94, dried up in February. She now relies on a donated water tank in front of her small home that she and her late husband bought 66 years ago. A neighbor with a deeper well ran a garden hose to Yorba's home.

She is proud of how sparingly she uses water, likening it to the little used during trips she and her husband took years ago to the mountains.

"It isn't hard," she said. "Not if you know how to camp."
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« Reply #64 on: September 26, 2014, 12:56:52 am »

http://news.yahoo.com/california-burns-theres-worse-come-031054201.html
California burns -- and there's worse to come
9/25/14

Los Angeles (AFP) - Wildfires are nothing new in California. But in the third year of a historic drought, the tinder-dry western US state is battling near-record numbers of blazes.

And the normal fire season has only just begun.

Nearly 7,500 firefighters are currently struggling to douse the so-called King Fire east of Sacramento which has forced almost 3,000 people to evacuate as it rages across an area bigger than the city of Las Vegas.

But while this is fairly typical for an ordinary year, it is far from the first of the season.

"Already this year California responded to nearly 5,000 wildires, where in an average year that number would be closer to 3,900," said Daniel Berlant of California's Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or CalFire.

"There has been a significant increase in fire activity due to the fact that conditions are so dry from the drought," he told AFP, noting that "historically, California experiences its largest and most damaging wildfires in the fall months.

"So we're just now getting to the peak of fire season."


Blazes have been erupting for months. In May, thousands of residents had to leave their homes due to a surge of fires which triggered the partial evacuation of a military base and a tourist amusement park.

In July and again in August wildfires forced more than 13,000 evacuation orders near California's landmark Yosemite National Park, disrupting vacations for some of the millions of tourists who visit every year from the United States and abroad.

In all there have been 1,000 more wildfires than average, and 700 more than last year, which was already the worst for a decade, according to CalFire.

"In our west, wildfire season now stretches most of the year," President Barack Obama said in a speech on climate change to the UN General Assembly earlier this week.

- Reservoirs at historic lows -

Talk of climate change certainly rings true in California, which is baking in the third straight year of an intense drought -- the worst for up to a century, according to Governor Jerry Brown.

The drought has devastated farming in the Central Valley, known as the nation's food basket, but which is struggling to grow crops and raise cattle on parched soil.

Water reservoirs are at historic lows. They are typically filled in the spring by melting snow from the Sierra Nevada mountain range. But last winter was one of the driest on record.

Most of the fires so far this year have been in the north of the state. But as the summer ends firefighters in southern California are bracing for worse to come as the real season gets under way.

After a whole summer virtually without rain, forests and canyons are as dry as they can get -- just in time for the so-called Santa Ana winds which blow down from the desert in the fall and winter.

"As we look into the next couple of months, unfortunately we do not see any significant rain... that means that conditions are only going to get drier," said CalFire's Berlant.


"As we get into October that's typically when we see Santa Ana wind events and so those strong winds, coupled with the already tinder-dry conditions, lead to an elevated fire danger," he added.

Other experts say much will depend on how soon the Santa Ana winds blow up, and how much rain falls in the critical next few months.

NASA climatologist William Patzert told the LA Times: "It's a race we run every fall: what comes first, the rains or the Santa Anas... The dice are loaded this year for Santa Anas.

"And who knows how intense or benign it will be."
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« Reply #65 on: September 26, 2014, 11:21:32 pm »

http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/california-drought-may-be-caus/34436925

California Drought May Be Cause for Mt. Shasta Mudslide
Mark Leberfinger
By Mark Leberfinger, AccuWeather.com Staff Writer
September 24, 2014; 3:15 AM ET

U.S. Forest Service officials continue to monitor a mudslide that occurred Saturday at Mt. Shasta in northern California.

The mudslide began around 3 p.m. PDT Saturday and continued through the night in Mud Creek Canyon, a Forest Service spokeswoman said in a news release.

The cause of the mudslide is believed to be due to the drought conditions which have left Mt. Shasta's glaciers exposed to the sun's heat.

"Pockets of liquid water can be held in place by glaciers; when a portion of that glacier shifts or melts, it can release water down the mountainside. These flows gather debris as they travel, creating potentially dangerous conditions for anyone traveling through the area
," Shasta-Trinity National Forest spokeswoman Andrea Capps said in the news release.

Visitors are still being asked to stay away from the Mud Creek area due to unpredictable conditions, according to an update released on Monday by the Forest Service.

The region is currently under extreme drought conditions, according to the Palmer Drought Intensity Index.

No relief is expected this fall to help alleviate the drought conditions, AccuWeather.com meteorologists have said.

The mudslide closed two roads in the area; Highway 89 remained open.

As debris continues to flow, impacts will also be seen in the lower McCloud River. Sediments from Mud Creek will likely impact water quality and fishing by creating turbidity issues in the river below Lake McCloud, Capps said.
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« Reply #66 on: September 29, 2014, 11:46:20 pm »

http://www.naturalnews.com/047061_water_rationing_California_drought.html
Water rationing hits California: limit of 50 gallons per person per day or face fines of $500
Monday, September 29, 2014

NaturalNews) Millions of Californians are about to be hit with strict water rationing -- daily "allocation" numbers that represent the maximum amount of water you're allowed to use for any purpose. Households that exceed the allocation limit will face stiff fines of hundreds of dollars per violation.

"In July, the State Water Resources Control Board passed stage one emergency regulations, giving powers to all local water agencies to fine $500 per violation," reports the San Gabriel Valley Tribune. [1]

Keep in mind that these are only "stage one" emergency regulations. Stages two and three have yet to be invoked and will only become more severe.

The amount of water each household is allowed by water districts will be determined by government employees viewing satellite imagery of private properties, then calculating how much water that property should be allowed to use.

"Using census records, aerial photography and satellite imagery, an agency can determine a property's efficient water usage," says the SGVT.

50 gallons per person, per day
In some districts, water rationing allocation is also based on the number of persons who are known to be living at each address based on U.S. Census data. The Irvine Ranch Water District allows 50 gallons of "indoor" water consumption per person in the home. As explained on the IRWD website: [3]

The indoor water allocation is 50 gallons per person per day and depends upon the number of residents in a home. Water allocated for landscape irrigation depends upon the type of home.

As the IRWD website explains, those water consumers who the government deems to be "wasteful" will be charged 160% or higher rates for water consumption. This is on top of the $500 fines for each violation, as has now been approved by the state.

The 50 gallons per person per day is the maximum allocated amount for all indoor water use, including laundry, showering, toilet flushing, drinking, washing dishes and hand washing for hygienic purposes.

According to the EPA, the average U.S. citizen currently uses 100 gallons per day, with 70 of those gallons consumed indoors. [4] The largest users of indoor water are toilets, showers and clothes washers.

Not yet called "rationing" because the word isn't socially acceptable
Interestingly, the water rationing that's about to be enforced in California isn't being called rationing. Instead, California's doublespeak wordsmiths have decided to call it an "allocation-based rate structure" (which simply means that after you hit your ration limit, you are harshly penalized for any additional consumption).

In explaining why California citizens will be heavily penalized with fines if they exceed their water rationing allocation, all sorts of elaborate doublespeak terms are now being used such as "strong price signals" and "conservation response."

Here's how the IRWD explains water rationing to its customers without using the term "rationing":

Allocation-based rate structures are the foundation of IRWD's Water Shortage Contingency Plan. This rate structure allows IRWD to quickly respond to limited supplies through strong price signals, which result in the greatest conservation response from our customers.

Translation: If we aggressively penalize people for exceeding their water allocation, they will seek to stay within the limits for the same reason that people try to avoid speeding tickets -- nobody wants to pay the fines!

Landscape watering limited to two days a week
Some California water districts are also enforcing unprecedented restrictions on water use for "outdoor watering" applications.

The Irvine Ranch Water District, for example, has publicly announced its intention to "...implement mandatory outdoor water use restrictions that restrict outdoor watering to two days a week." [2]

California homeowners being paid big bucks to remove grass in "Remove Green. Receive Green" program
The California drought is so bad that some California homeowners are even being paid cash to remove their lawns.

The IRWD Turf Removal Program advertises the slogan "Remove Green. Receive Green" and explains there is no limit to the amount of money a person can be paid under the program. [5]

What's interesting about this Turf Removal Program is that it essentially pays people to restore their yards to the way they should have been constructed in the first place. Green lawns in desert regions are one of the most idiotic things modern humans have ever come up with, with green golf courses in desert regions taking the top prize for sheer environmental stupidity.

Where it's all headed
Water conservation efforts are greatly needed in California and should be applauded. On the other hand, they only postpone the inevitable -- a mass migration out of the American southwest as the water runs out across entire regions.

Tearing up your front lawn and replacing it with agave and desert spoon plants doesn't nullify the fact that much of California is wildly overpopulated to the point of long-term non-sustainability. Even if each person in the state were restricted to just 25 gallons a day, the water would keep dropping in Lake Mead (which is already perilously close to outflow restrictions that will impact California and Arizona).

The only way the current population of Californians can live in harmony with the regional water resources is if most of the people stop taking showers, stop flushing toilets and stop doing laundry. Unfortunately, this practice is currently limited only to a few UCLA campus frat houses and hasn't yet caught on with the rest of the citizenry.

Crop yields already in a state of collapse
Honestly stated, the modern-day lifestyle that many people equate with California living simply isn't sustainable. As a result, a collapse of the water infrastructure has already begun. That's why the crop yields have also collapsed this year [6], with the Sacramento Bee reporting:

While many crops have yet to be harvested, it's clear that the drought has carved a significant hole in the economy of rural California. Farm income is down, so is employment... Economists at UC Davis say agriculture, which has been a $44 billion-a-year business in California, will suffer revenue losses and higher water costs -- a financial hit totaling $2.2 billion this year.

That financial hit is only going to get worse, and the implosion of crop production will only accelerate. "Roughly one-fourth of California's rice fields went fallow this year, about 140,000 acres worth, according to the California Rice Commission," reports the Sacramento Bee.

And the worst part is that farmers have been tapping into underground aquifers in order to grow their crops this year. But that water is irreplaceable in any human timeframe, and when it's all used up, it's gone for good. California's agriculture industry has yet to come up with a way to grow food crops without using water. Until they do, the food producing potential of the entire region is headed for accelerated collapse.

When the citizens of California truly wake up and realize where this is all headed, real estate prices will utterly collapse, leading to a collapse of local property tax revenues and the economic devastation of towns and cities. Many of those once-thriving towns will inevitably return to the desert from which they sprang.



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« Reply #67 on: October 13, 2014, 03:13:37 am »

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1013224-less-than-60-days-remaining-before-dozens-of-california-communities-run-out-of-water/
Less Than 60 Days Remaining Before Dozens of California Communities Run Out of Water
10/12/14

Chronic drought conditions throughout the West continue to wreak havoc on the general public, as well as farming operations, but in California, things are about to get much worse.

Some regions of the state are now within two months of completely running out of water, according to CBS San Francisco, which reported that communities in central and northern California could see their water supplies completely vanquished in less than 60 days.

“The areas in jeopardy include Colusa and El Dorado County. These are relatively small communities and they rely on one source of water,” the news site reported, adding, “Butte County north of Sacramento is getting hit hard.”

The water supply at the Big Bend Mobile Home Park near Oroville, which is home to some 30 families, has gotten so low that it is now turned off between 10:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m.

“Hard when you have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night,” resident Michelle Payne told the local news site. “I guess we’re not flushing.”

A single well supplies her entire community, and while there are other wells on the property, they have all gone dry.

At-Risk Towns Increasing by the Month

“There’s really nothing can you about it,” resident John Dougherty told CBS San Francisco. “I don’t water any plants… try to cut back on toilet usage… whatever we can do is what you gotta do… all we can do.”

“Pretty much anything that was alive weeks ago is dry, ‘cuz we haven’t been able to water,” added Payne.

Some area residents have taken to driving five or more miles to get drinking water from a spring box, both for their consumption and for their animals.

Statewide, the water shortages are increasing. In one month’s time, for instance, the Water Resource Board’s list of cities and towns at most risk of running out of water within two months has grown from eight to 12; the Big Bend Mobile Home Park is now on that list.

“There is some help on the way for the people here. The state just approved plans to drill a new well. It’s not clear when the work will begin,” CBS San Franscisco reported.

According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, the western drought remains widespread, with California suffering the worst of it. Nearly all of the state is either suffering “Extreme” or “Exceptional” drought; most of the state is in the “Exceptional” category, which is the worst.

The center says dry conditions in the West are affecting more than 51 million Americans, or roughly 16 percent of the population.

‘It Will Take Substantial Snowfall’

As reported by Bloomberg News, California will continue to suffer chronic drought without substantial mountain snowfall this winter; snowfall that melts in spring replenishes the state’s water systems, but there has been a dearth of snowfall in recent years.

“All eyes will be turned to the winter because it is a really critical winter, not just for California but the rest of the West and the lower Great Plains as well,” Mark Svoboda of the National Drought Mitigation Center in Lincoln, Nebraska, told Bloomberg.

“For the majority of the West, the lifeline is the snow that falls in the Rockies, the snow that falls in the Cascades and the snow that falls in the Sierra,” he added.

Kevin Werner, the western regional climate services director with the National Climatic Data Center, told Bloomberg that the Western states of Arizona and New Mexico were able to experience some relief from their drought during the recent annual monsoon season. Also, they were relieved by a great deal of rain that fell from hurricanes Norbert and Odile. But that rain did not make it far enough north to have much impact, so snowfall remains vital for California.

“Most of our water, from 80 to 90 percent of it, falls in the form of snow in the winter time,” Warner told Bloomberg.

Natural News editor Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, reported recently that, in California, some residents are now experiencing water rationing of just 50 gallons a day.
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« Reply #68 on: October 15, 2014, 11:29:39 pm »

http://news.yahoo.com/california-drought-bad-shutting-off-showers-surfers-193532804.html
California’s Drought Is So Bad, They’re Shutting Off Showers for Surfers
10/14/14

Getting out of the water at my local surf break in Pacifica, a beach town just south of San Francisco, I went to rinse off my wet suit and surfboard at the oceanfront showers, only to find this sign: “Due to the drought the available shower heads are reduced. Please limit shower time.”

Yes, you can laugh that California’s epic drought is even hitting people who spend their time in the water. Or that, finally, urban dwellers are feeling the pinch of an environmental catastrophe that has devastated the state’s farms and ranches.

Yet the move by Pacifica to shut off showers at popular surf spots is a sign that coastal cities, where the bulk of California’s population resides, are belatedly getting serious about saving water. And a new report from the California Water Resources Control Board shows that such efforts are making a difference.

For instance, the North Coast County Water District, which serves Pacifica’s 39,000 residents, has cut its water consumption 26 percent in August compared with the previous year. That means on average, each Pacifica resident used about 2,434 gallons of water in August, compared with 3,283 gallons in August 2013.

That helped California cut statewide water consumption by 11.5 percent in August, up from 7.5 percent in July, and 4 percent in June compared to the previous year, according to the report.

That still falls short of Gov. Jerry Brown’s call for a 20 percent cut in consumption. And big cities like Los Angeles aren’t exactly drying up. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power reported that water use dropped by just less than 1 percent in August, while in San Diego water consumption inched up by nearly 1 percent. (San Franciscans are water misers in comparison, reducing consumption by 8.4 percent in August over the previous year.)

Still, water use in Southern California as a whole fell 7.8 percent in August, compared with 1.6 percent in July. Southland residents have filed applications to rip out 3.8 million square feet of their water-sucking lawns in exchange for rebates. Businesses, meanwhile, have applied for rebates to retire 7.5 million square feet of turf, the water board said.

On Tuesday, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti issued an executive order requiring L.A. to cut water use 20 percent by 2017 and slash imported water 50 percent by 2024. He ordered city departments to reduce lawn watering and take other measures to cut consumption and said if Angelenos don’t voluntarily cut water use, then additional mandatory restrictions would be imposed on watering lawns, washing cars, and—gasp—filling swimming pools.

“Many more California communities are taking the drought seriously and making water conservation a priority—and residents are responding,” Felicia Marcus, chair of the state water board, said in a statement. “Increasing urban water conservation is definitely a good thing. The trend is terrific. However, while we can hope for rain, we can’t count on it, so we must keep going. Every gallon saved today postpones the need for more drastic, difficult, and expensive action should the drought continue into next year.”

In other words, California could go the way of Santa Cruz. The famed surf town 75 miles south of San Francisco does not import water and thus has enforced severe restrictions as supplies have dried up, giving each household a monthly ration of water and levying stiff penalties for exceeding that allotment.

For instance, a family of four gets 249 gallons a day—the average American uses about 100 gallons daily—and must pay $25 for every excess 748 gallons they use a month. If excess use exceeds 10 percent of the monthly allotment, the penalty jumps to $50 for every 748 gallons.

The result: Santa Cruz cut its water use nearly 30 percent in September, compared with the previous year, and consumption has fallen almost 20 percent just since May.

Needless to say, surfers can forget about showering at the beach.
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« Reply #69 on: October 20, 2014, 02:50:58 pm »

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1030249-14-california-communities-now-on-verge-of-waterless-ness-mass-migration-out-of-california-seems-imminent/
10/20/14
14 California Communities Now on Verge of Waterless-Ness; Mass Migration out of California Seems Imminent

Unless California gets some heavy rain, and soon, the state’s roughly 38 million residents will eventually be up a creek without a paddle — or without a creek, for that matter. The latest media reports indicate that some 14 communities throughout the state are now on the verge of running completely dry, and many more could join them in the coming year if conditions remain as they are.

A few months ago, the official count was 28 communities bordering on complete waterless-ness, according to the Water Resources Control Board. Those that have since dropped off the list were able to come up with a fix, at least for now. The other 14, though, face an unprecedented resource collapse that could leave thousands of Californians with no other choice but to pack their bags and head to greener pastures.

“It’s a sign of how severe this drought is,” verbalized Bruce Burton, an assistant deputy director for the board, to the Los Angeles Times about some of the drastic measures being taken. For the first time ever, the water board has begun tracking communities throughout the state that are bordering on complete water loss, a situation that has never before occurred.

Most of the communities on the brink are located in California’s Central Valley, the “food basket” of America that The New York Times (NYT) once declared to be the nation’s greatest food resource. Most of America’s carrots are grown there, as are the bulk of salad greens, almonds and citrus fruits that we all take for granted — but that could soon disappear due to the continued drought.

‘Larger, More Sophisticated Communities’ Face Total Water Depletion
In some stricken areas, water facilities have been able to secure temporary supplies from neighboring communities as they figure out longer-term solutions. In Siskiyou County near the Oregon border, the city of Montague was actually able to construct a brand-new irrigation ditch to transport water from a lake 25 miles away, replacing an old ditch that had run dry back in April.

While most of the communities facing total water depletion are relatively small in size, with only a few thousand residents each, the prospect of larger communities also becoming affected is increasingly likely. Tom Quinn, the executive director of the Association of California Water Agencies, says that, if the drought continues, many of the more iconic regions of California will suffer.

“If this drought keeps on going, some larger, more sophisticated communities are going to be in trouble next year,” he told the LA Times.

Mountains Shifting Due to Water Losses
It isn’t just that no new water is coming into California — underground aquifers and other former backup sources are also running dry. According to research published in the journal Science, the entire Western United states has lost an astounding 240 gigatons of water since 2013, an amount equivalent to 1 billion tons.

In spatial terms, this amount of water could be spread out across the entire Western U.S. in a solid 10-centimeter sheet, constituting about 63 trillion gallons, or enough to fill 75,000 football stadiums. This loss has not only altered the gravitational field of California, according to the study, but also caused mountains throughout the state to rise up out of the ground in some areas.

“100 percent of the state is in drought, with 82 percent of the land designated as in ‘extreme’ or ‘exceptional’ drought, the highest levels on the U.S. Drought Monitor scale,” explains the National Journal. “Thirty-seven million people are affected by the drought.”
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« Reply #70 on: November 17, 2014, 11:44:16 pm »

http://theweek.com/article/index/271693/californias-drought-has-reached-biblical-plague-proportions-its-time-for-a-drastic-measure
California's drought has reached Biblical-plague proportions. It's time for a drastic measure.
11/17/14

Last January, California Governor Jerry Brown declared a State of Emergency following projections of severe drought. State bureaucrats and local officials jumped into action and mandated any number of water conservation tactics. While some have been relatively successful, most will do nothing. In fact, it appears that despite the drought, water use may have actually increased in the past year.

So, exactly how much do Californians value their decreasing supply of drinkable water? According to the California Water Service Company, it is valued at less than a penny per gallon. If water were plentiful, an almost-zero price would not be a problem, but under the current situation it is truly a catastrophe. The average American uses 100 gallons per day, Californians average 124, and in some regions of California up to 379 gallons per person per day. That sounds a bit outrageous for a state experiencing a drought of Biblical-plague proportions, doesn't it?

The solution to rectifying California's abysmal water conservation record might be found in California's agricultural sector. In just the past year, prices for irrigation water have risen from ten to almost 40 times last year's price. Those who have the water to spare can make a sizable profit by selling it to those who need it. Thus, because the value of water has significantly increased, every gallon is a precious commodity that is not wasted.

Allowing price to ration water may be a bitter political pill to swallow, but it makes economic and environmental sense. There are examples of this economic solution working in the past. Cities like Santa Fe, Tucson, and Fort Worth allowed price signals to govern water use — the more a household used, the more expensive water was to purchase. Consumers responded by conserving water. These measures worked so well utilities were forced to stabilize the sharp drop in revenue by reconfiguring rates. That is not a bad thing — especially during a drought as austere as California's.

But won't raising prices only hurt the poor and have little effect on those who have the money to afford it anyways?

Charging more for water need not create undue hardship for poor or lower middle class families. Establish a minimal per capita water use level and then charge progressive water rates so that any extra water used is billed at a higher rate. This allows consumers to choose if they are willing to pay for an extra long shower, to water their lawn, or to wash their car.

(The Hamilton Project/The Conversation US)

This solution would not even require much change in the way water is already billed. Typically, water usage is billed at three tiers of usage. For example, in Bakersfield, the price of water is as follows: $1.66 per 100 cubic feet of water for the first 1,300 cubic feet used, $1.80 per 100 cubic feet of water for the next 2,100 cubic feet used, and $2.09 for every 100 cubic feet of water used after that (a cubic foot of water is roughly 7.48 gallons).

That's only a difference of 43 cents from the basic rate to the charge for unlimited use. Why not increase the price of the second and third tiers by a dollar — or two or three for that matter? Doing so would have little effect on a family that expends the effort to conserve.

(The Hamilton Project/The Conversation US)

Take an average family of four, each using 100 gallons of water per person per day. Over the course of a month this family would use about 1,600 cubic feet of water. The first tier could be raised to 1,600 cubic feet and the second and third tiers adjusted accordingly. A simple adjustment of the water bill would ensure that any family, regardless of economic status, would be able to afford a comfortable level of water while being charged for any water usage above and beyond that base amount. This approach is fair to those struggling financially, but it also puts pressure on everyone to conserve a scarce resource.

Raise the price of water. Signal to consumers that it is a valuable and precious resource. Let consumers make their own decisions on how they allocate their resources in using, or conserving, water.
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« Reply #71 on: December 02, 2014, 08:19:31 pm »

http://news.yahoo.com/california-falls-short-water-conservation-goals-234611605.html
California falls short of water conservation goals
12/2/14

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The three-year drought gripping California has shrunk reservoirs, rivers, creeks and snowpack while leaving residents drawing heavily on underground aquifers to water everything from lawns to crops.

Farmers account for about 80 percent of water used in the state, but Gov. Jerry Brown has asked California households to save water as well. Here's a look at how it's going and what the problems are.

Q: How are California residents doing when it comes to meeting the state's goal for reducing water use?

A: Not as well as hoped. Gov. Jerry Brown in January declared a drought emergency, and asked Californians to cut residential water use by 20 percent. The latest figures released Tuesday by the state show that Californians managed to reduce their daily water use by only 6.7 percent in October compared to the same period last year. The closest the state's 38 million people have come to meeting the 20 percent goal was in August, when water use was down 11.6 percent year-on-year. Still, the state Water Resources Control Board said Tuesday that Californians have saved 90 billion gallons since June — enough water for 1.2 million people for a year.

Q: Why are Californians falling so short?

A: Water board officials said they're trying to figure out if the usage was caused by a lack of awareness about the drought; not enough enforcement of conservation guidelines; this year's hotter weather; or something else. Board members threw out ideas Tuesday ranging from asking the state Transportation Department to post stronger messages about the drought on flashing highway advisory signs, to looking at whether more penalties should be imposed on big water users.

Water board officials say some of the key problem areas are affluent communities in Southern California, where rainfall is always short but residents love their green lawns, golf courses and swimming pools. Californians in the south coast region managed to cut water consumption by only 1.4 percent in October, the weakest showing in the state.

Q: It's raining in California now, so why still worry about saving water?

A: California officials say the state would need 150 percent of its normal annual rainfall to recover from drought. As of this autumn, the state had marked its driest three years on record, the federal government's National Climactic Data Center said. Storms so far this rainy season have brought parts of the state closer to normal rainfall for this point in the year. But the most important reservoirs contain just 39 percent to 60 percent of normal water levels. The snowpack in the Sierra Nevada, one of the most critical sources for state water year-round, is also lagging. Before the Tuesday storms, the southern Sierra had gotten just 47 percent of its normal rain and snow so far, and the northern Sierra 79 percent.

Q: How hard is the drought hitting California?

A: Poorer, rural communities in the agricultural Central Valley are feeling some of the sharpest impacts. Hundreds of wells have gone dry as water tables recede, leaving families to rely on trucked-in water or even water collected for them by Girl Scouts. Some farmers say they've had to spend thousands of dollars more to dig deeper well or buy water, and some have seen almond and pistachio trees or other orchards shrivel. The drought has been hard on wildlife as well. State and federal officials last month, for example, said low water in creeks meant one kind of coho salmon in Northern California was apparently unable to breed at all this year. The officials had to move all year-old cohos in that creek to a hatchery to try to save the species.
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« Reply #72 on: December 16, 2014, 06:36:56 pm »

http://news.yahoo.com/california-needs-11-trillion-gallons-water-nasa-210803436.html
California needs 11 trillion gallons of water: NASA
12/16/14

Miami (AFP) - California needs 11 trillion gallons of water to recover from its three-year drought, the US space agency said Tuesday after studying water resources by using satellite data.

The first of its kind calculation of how much groundwater would end the drought was led by Jay Famiglietti of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California and based on observations from NASA's Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment satellites.

California has experienced rainstorms in recent days but, while welcome, scientists warn that they are not enough to end the drought.

"It takes years to get into a drought of this severity, and it will likely take many more big storms, and years, to crawl out of it," said Famiglietti.

"Spaceborne and airborne measurements of Earth's changing shape, surface height and gravity field now allow us to measure and analyze key features of droughts better than ever before, including determining precisely when they begin and end and what their magnitude is at any moment in time.

"That's an incredible advance and something that would be impossible using only ground-based observations."

The more than 40-trillion-liter volume is a huge quantity of water, larger, for example, than the total amount held behind China's historic Three Gorges Dam.

The entire southwestern United States is far drier than normal, with groundwater levels across the region in the lowest two to 10 percent since 1949, scientists said.

Meanwhile, other NASA satellite data showed that so far this year, the snowpack in California's Sierra Nevada range is only half previous estimates.

"The 2014 snowpack was one of the three lowest on record and the worst since 1977, when California's population was half what it is now," said Airborne Snow Observatory principal investigator Tom Painter.

"Besides resulting in less snow water, the dramatic reduction in snow extent contributes to warming our climate by allowing the ground to absorb more sunlight.

"This reduces soil moisture, which makes it harder to get water from the snow into reservoirs once it does start snowing again."
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« Reply #73 on: January 01, 2015, 05:49:11 pm »

http://news.yahoo.com/california-droughts-could-dangerous-ripple-effects-194910410.html
12/31/14
California Droughts Could Have Dangerous Ripple Effects

Epic droughts like the one gripping California for three years now may become more frequent in the future due to climate change, according to new research.

This will not only strain the drinking-water supplies for California's 38 million people, but will also induce a cascade of other hazards — including fires, floods and poor water quality — as populations continue to grow statewide, scientists say.

Despite heavy rains this month, 78 percent of California is still experiencing either exceptional or extreme drought, according to the National Drought Mitigation Center. Unusually low snowfall across the state is largely to blame, scientists say. About one-third of California's water comes from snowmelt in the Sierra Nevada mountains, which stretch through the eastern part of the state for nearly 400 miles (644 kilometers).

"All this rain is great," Nina Oakley, a scientist with the Desert Research Institute in Nevada, told Live Science at the annual American Geophysical Union meeting earlier this month. "But really, the snow in the Sierra is what we are after for a good year to help bring us out of drought." [Video: California Drought Map Time-Lapse Shows Distressing Trend]

In April 2014, when the year's snowpack should have been at its peak, the California Department of Water Resources reported that levels were at only 18 percent of the average for that time of the year. One of the reasons snowpack was so low this year, Oakley said, was that California's winter temperatures have been increasing in recent years, resulting in less snow and earlier melting times in the spring.

This trend toward less snowpack is projected to continue this century as some climate models suggest that minimum winter temperatures will continue to increase across the state, Oakley said.

"And as we continue to have warmer temperatures and get less snowpack, it's going to have a big impact on California's water supply," Oakley said.

Fires blazing

Drier conditions are also priming California's forests for larger and more frequent fires, especially along the fringes of urban areas, where more people are coming to the forests for recreation, according to Alicia Kinoshita, a professor at San Diego State University. Visitors to the forest may smoke, or make bonfires.

Aside from the direct dangers fires pose to the people and property in their paths, they also set the stage for compounding hazards in the future, including landslides, floods and poor water quality, scientists say.

For example, burnt plant material leaves a waxy residue on forest floors that is relatively waterproof, causing storm runoff to then flow over a forest floor without seeping into the ground, Kinoshita said.

"If you pour water on it, it will run right off like a parking-lot effect," Kinoshita told Live Science. This can lead to floods, or landslides, because the burnt tree roots just below the waxy  layer offer poor support for topsoil, she said.

The waxy coating lasts for only about a year, but even rapid regrowth of vegetation after stormy periods can worsen the threat of fires if drought conditions return soon after, Kinoshita said.

"It's a good thing that we are getting all this rain, but there is this whole dynamic of, you get a lot of rain, then you get all this vegetation and then you get more fuel for the fires," Kinoshita said.

Dirty water

As forest fires singe the root systems of California's trees and weaken their ability to hold on to soil, California's water quality will also suffer as more soil gets into the drinking-water supply, said Tim Kuhn, a hydrologist for Yosemite National Park. Without ground cover to shield soil, rain droplets directly contact soil particles and mobilize heavy metals that can contaminate water, Kuhn told Live Science. Loose soil can also increases the turbidity, or cloudiness, of water, forcing water-treatment facilities to work harder to supply clean water and potentially shut down for a period during particularly large fires. [Yosemite Rim Fire Photos]

"Turbidity is a really big challenge because that's really fine sediment, and so it takes forever for that to settle out," Kuhn told Live Science. "It becomes a real treatment issue."

What to do

As both water stress and populations increase in the future, Californians will have no choice but to adapt and decrease their reliance on water, Oakley told Live Science. For the state's agriculture industry, this could mean cutting production of water-intensive crops, such as almonds and other tree nuts. For the public, this could mean installing water-saving appliances in homes, Oakley said.

Oakley pointed to the example of Brisbane, Australia — a drought-prone city where every private home now has low-flow toilets, and many water taps are automated to prevent unnecessary flow — as a good model of what Californians could strive for in adapting to drought.

"We have always had these drought cycles, and they are going to continue to happen," Oakley said. "And so what we really need to do with the increase in population is adapt." 
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« Reply #74 on: January 02, 2015, 01:22:29 pm »

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/01/01/california-chicken-cage-size-law-expected-to-increase-egg-prices/?intcmp=latestnews
1/1/15
California's chicken-cage size law expected to increase egg prices

FRESNO, Calif. –  The new year is expected to bring rising chicken egg prices across the U.S. as California starts requiring farmers to house hens in cages with enough space to move around and stretch their wings.

The new standard backed by animal rights advocates has drawn ire nationwide because farmers in Iowa, Ohio and other states who sell eggs in California have to abide by the same requirements.

To comply, farmers have to put fewer hens into each cage or invest in revamped henhouses, passing along the expense to consumers shopping at grocery stores. California is the nation's largest consumer of eggs and imports about one-third of its supply.

Jim Dean, president and CEO of Centrum Valley Farms in Iowa and Ohio, said one of his buildings that holds 1.5 million hens is now about half full to meet California's standards, and another building may have to be completely overhauled.

Farmers like him in cold climates will have to install heaters to replace warmth formerly generated by the chickens living close together. Dean said that's something people in sunny California didn't consider.

"You're talking about millions upon millions of dollars," he said. "It's not anything that's cheap or that can be modified easily, not in the Midwest."

California voters in 2008 approved the law backed by animal rights advocates to get egg-laying hens out of cramped cages and put them by Jan. 1, 2015, in larger enclosures that give them room to stretch, turn around and flap their wings.

State legislators followed with the companion piece in 2010 requiring the out-of-state compliance.

In anticipation, egg prices have already risen, said Dave Heylen of the California Grocers Association, adding that the holiday season, cold weather across the country and increased exports to Mexico and Canada also contributed to a year-end price spike. He said he expected that supplies would remain adequate to meet demand.

Daniel Sumner, an agricultural economist at the University of California, Davis, said prices initially could rise dramatically this year but he expects them to eventually settle anywhere from 10 and 40 percent higher in California and return to their normal price elsewhere in the country.

If farmers cut back the number of chickens so they can comply with California's cage law, Sumner said that could reduce the number of eggs available.

"When there's that much uncertainty, I'm thinking there may be some disruption in the market," he said.


Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States, said he believes the costs to consumers will be minimal and worth it for the welfare of chickens, which provide enough eggs for each person to consume on average 250 a year. For decades, he said, farmers have crammed six to eight chickens in small cages without room to move.

"This is the last bastion of cage confinement in industrial ag," said Pacelle, whose organization led the reforms. Starbucks in December said it will eliminate the sale of eggs from caged hens, he said, following the lead of Burger King and Whole Foods.

The California Department of Food and Agriculture, independent of the voter initiative, implemented rules that give chickens 70 percent more room, which Pacelle said is better but not enough.

Low-income people who rely on eggs as an economical source of protein may be hurt the worst by California's cage law, says a report this week by the Egg Industry Center at Iowa State University. Anticipating a 15 percent increase, the cost of a dozen eggs could rise by 27 cents, and a family of four could pay $15.93 more a year, the report says.

California has prevailed in lawsuits, including six from major egg-producing states that argued the state is dictating market prices in other states in violation of the Commerce Clause of the Constitution. Appeals are pending.

Ken Klippen of the National Association of Egg Farmers said California's egg law, in addition to driving up the cost at the grocery store and putting pressure on egg supplies, will result in more injuries to chickens because housing them in larger pens means they are more likely to run, breaking a leg or wing.

"You're not going to help the chicken," he said. "You're not helping consumers."
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« Reply #75 on: January 16, 2015, 08:06:16 pm »

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SUPREME_COURT_TROUBLED_DELTA_SMELT?SITE=MYPSP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-01-12-17-04-12
1/12/15

Farmers in dry California decry decision involving appeals

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) -- The U.S. Supreme Court refused Monday to consider appeals by Central Valley farmers and California water districts that want to pump more water from a delta that serves as the only home of a tiny, threatened fish.

The decision lets stand a 2008 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plan to safeguard the 3-inch-long Delta smelt, a species listed as threatened in 1993 under the federal Endangered Species Act.

The plan restricts the amount of water that can be pumped out of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and sent south to Central Valley farmers and water districts.

The smelt only lives in the delta - the largest estuary on the West Coast that supplies much of California with drinking water and irrigates millions of acres of farmland.

Farmers contend that under the smelt regulations, vast amounts of water from the Sierra Nevada snow pack are sent through the delta and into the ocean, exacerbating hardships endured by the growers in the three-year drought.

Farmers say their economic interests have been ignored while officials protect the fish. Roadside signs throughout the Central Valley decry the lack of leadership while warning of a second Dust Bowl.

"I'd like to see a little more common sense put into it," said Jim Jasper, an almond farmer who appealed to the high court. "Agriculture has been overlooked."

Because of the drought and restrictions to protect smelt, Jasper said he had to cut down one-fifth of his almond trees last year. The 70-year-old farmer who runs Stewart & Jasper Orchards in Newman anticipates taking out some of his citrus crops if the drought persists.

Many farmers such as Jasper did not get any irrigation water last year from a federal system of canals and reservoirs, forcing them to rely on diminishing groundwater or rip out trees.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco last year largely upheld the previous Fish and Wildlife Service biological opinion that restrictions were needed on the use of massive pumps that move water through the state's system of canals to deliver it to farms and cities in Central and Southern California.

Katherine Poole, an attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, welcomed the Supreme Court decision on Monday. The smelt's decline signals the poor health of the massive estuary, she said, adding that a thriving delta benefits farmers and the millions of people who rely on it for drinking water.

"We need to keep this estuary healthy and functional for everybody," Poole said. "The smelt is telling us that we're not doing a good enough job of that right now."

Earthjustice attorney Trent Orr said the court's decision is a victory for the Endangered Species Act.

"Contrary to their claims, there have been no reductions in water allotment for protection of this species," Orr said. "The drought is what's causing a water shortage, not the smelt."

The ruling was no surprise to Marcia Scully, general counsel of the huge Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which supplies 19 million people with drinking water. The district is one of several that joined the appeal.

"The water agencies understood the long odds," she said, noting that the Supreme Court takes up less than 1 percent of appeals. "We will continue to work with the regulatory agencies to improve the underlying science in the delta."


The Supreme Court's decision on this aspect of the Delta smelt plan can't be appealed further, but attorney James Burling, who represents Central Valley farmers at the Pacific Legal Foundation, said he will continue to challenge the unfair application of the federal environmental law at every opportunity.

"It may take a while," he said. "But eventually we'll have other opportunities to get issues dealing with the Delta smelt back to the Supreme Court."

Burling said the smelt ruling resembles a 1978 Supreme Court decision blocking completion of a Tennessee dam that threatened the endangered snail darter fish.

Congress later amended the endangered species law to give federal authorities more flexibility to include economic and technical feasability.

However, Burling said the law is being used now to favor the smelt, without consideration of the economic hardships.
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« Reply #76 on: February 22, 2015, 07:09:59 pm »

http://www.npr.org/2015/02/22/387599629/californias-drought-exposes-long-hidden-detritus
2/22/15
California's Drought Exposes Long-Hidden Detritus

The message from park rangers, amateur metal detectors and regular fisherman at California's Lake Perris is unanimous: the water is lower than they've ever seen it.

The state's severe ongoing drought has affected everything from agriculture to urban life. Here, the impact is made visible: As the water level has dropped, sunken treasures, trash and forgotten boats have risen above the surface.

Last fall, rangers at the Lake Perris State Recreation Area and reservoir began spotting clumps of massive tractor tires peeking above the water on one section of the lake.

One park employee refers to the dozens of tires as "the serpent," because of the curving profile the tires create against the water, kind of like a Loch Ness monster made of rubber.

According to state park superintendent John Rowe, the appearance of "the serpent" — or the "tire reef," as it's more officially known — was not a surprise.

"It's been on all of our maps to begin with," Rowe says.

When Lake Perris Dam was built in the early 1970s, according to Rowe, old and worn-out tires from the heavy construction equipment were left over. So the state Department of Fish and Wildlife placed the tires in the water as a habitat for bass.

For 40 years, the tire reef fulfilled that mandate. The Riverside Press-Enterprise first reported the appearance of the tires, and local fishermen told the paper that the man-made reef had been a great fishing spot.

Under normal circumstances, the tires would sit deep under water.

"Typically, at high pool, that tire reef is under 30 feet of water, [or] 35 feet of water," says Rowe.

But the water level is now more than 40 vertical feet below normal.


The drought is not solely responsible for that dramatic drop: Problems with the dam forced the water level down about 25 feet in 2005. The drought is responsible for the remainder.

That receding water level has also revealed at least eight sunken, and forgotten, boats.

"All of the boats we're finding," Rowe says, are "well over 12 years old," and they likely went unreported at the time of sinking.

"We get a lot of boats, and a lot of trash, lawn chairs, stuff like that," says Officer Javier Garza, a ranger at Lake Perris.

Despite the drought, the recreation area remains open to boaters, fishermen and the occasional amateur metal detectorist.

Marty Gabriel, a retired truck driver, often comes down to Lake Perris with a metal detector and scoop, and has been visiting the lake since the early 1990s.

He says the drought has "cut down on the volume of people down here." But despite the expanding shoreline — which you might think is fertile territory for metal detecting — Gabriel says the treasures beneath the sand aren't that much more interesting.

He prefers the old, fuller Lake Perris.

"It is what it is," he says. "We definitely need rain, and they need to fix the dam to make this place usable again."

Dam repairs are currently underway, but park superintendent John Rowe says Lake Perris also needs the cooperation of Californians and mother nature.

"The message is conservation," he says, "and pray for rain."
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« Reply #77 on: March 13, 2015, 02:03:14 pm »

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-famiglietti-drought-california-20150313-story.html
California has about one year of water left. Will you ration now?
3/12/15

Given the historic low temperatures and snowfalls that pummeled the eastern U.S. this winter, it might be easy to overlook how devastating California's winter was as well.

As our “wet” season draws to a close, it is clear that the paltry rain and snowfall have done almost nothing to alleviate epic drought conditions. January was the driest in California since record-keeping began in 1895. Groundwater and snowpack levels are at all-time lows. We're not just up a creek without a paddle in California, we're losing the creek too.

Data from NASA satellites show that the total amount of water stored in the Sacramento and San Joaquin river basins — that is, all of the snow, river and reservoir water, water in soils and groundwater combined — was 34 million acre-feet below normal in 2014. That loss is nearly 1.5 times the capacity of Lake Mead, America's largest reservoir.

Statewide, we've been dropping more than 12 million acre-feet of total water yearly since 2011. Roughly two-thirds of these losses are attributable to groundwater pumping for agricultural irrigation in the Central Valley. Farmers have little choice but to pump more groundwater during droughts, especially when their surface water allocations have been slashed 80% to 100%. But these pumping rates are excessive and unsustainable. Wells are running dry. In some areas of the Central Valley, the land is sinking by one foot or more per year.

As difficult as it may be to face, the simple fact is that California is running out of water — and the problem started before our current drought. NASA data reveal that total water storage in California has been in steady decline since at least 2002, when satellite-based monitoring began, although groundwater depletion has been going on since the early 20th century.

Right now the state has only about one year of water supply left in its reservoirs, and our strategic backup supply, groundwater, is rapidly disappearing. California has no contingency plan for a persistent drought like this one (let alone a 20-plus-year mega-drought), except, apparently, staying in emergency mode and praying for rain.

In short, we have no paddle to navigate this crisis.

Several steps need be taken right now. First, immediate mandatory water rationing should be authorized across all of the state's water sectors, from domestic and municipal through agricultural and industrial. The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is already considering water rationing by the summer unless conditions improve. There is no need for the rest of the state to hesitate. The public is ready. A recent Field Poll showed that 94% of Californians surveyed believe that the drought is serious, and that one-third support mandatory rationing.

Second, the implementation of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act of 2014 should be accelerated. The law requires the formation of numerous, regional groundwater sustainability agencies by 2017. Then each agency must adopt a plan by 2022 and “achieve sustainability” 20 years after that. At that pace, it will be nearly 30 years before we even know what is working. By then, there may be no groundwater left to sustain.

Third, the state needs a task force of thought leaders that starts, right now, brainstorming to lay the groundwork for long-term water management strategies. Although several state task forces have been formed in response to the drought, none is focused on solving the long-term needs of a drought-prone, perennially water-stressed California.

Our state's water management is complex, but the technology and expertise exist to handle this harrowing future. It will require major changes in policy and infrastructure that could take decades to identify and act upon. Today, not tomorrow, is the time to begin.

Finally, the public must take ownership of this issue. This crisis belongs to all of us — not just to a handful of decision-makers. Water is our most important, commonly owned resource, but the public remains detached from discussions and decisions.

This process works just fine when water is in abundance. In times of crisis, however, we must demand that planning for California's water security be an honest, transparent and forward-looking process. Most important, we must make sure that there is in fact a plan.

Call me old-fashioned, but I'd like to live in a state that has a paddle so that it might also still have a creek.
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« Reply #78 on: April 01, 2015, 02:09:15 pm »

http://news.yahoo.com/drought-stricken-california-set-measure-snowpack-075412264.html
4/1/15
California governor orders mandatory water restrictions

ECHO LAKE, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Jerry Brown ordered state officials Wednesday to impose mandatory water restrictions for the first time in history as the state grapples with a serious drought.

In an executive order, Brown ordered the state water board to implement measures in cities and towns that cut usage by 25 percent.

"We're in a historic drought and that demands unprecedented action," Brown said at a news conference in the Sierra Nevada, where dry, brown grass surrounded a site that normally would be snow-covered at this time of year. "We have to pull together and save water in every way we can."

The move will affect residents, businesses, farmers and other users.

Brown's order also will require campuses, golf courses, cemeteries and other large landscapes to significantly cut water use; order local governments to replace 50 million square feet of lawns on throughout the state with drought-tolerant landscaping; and create a temporary rebate program for consumers who replace old water-sucking appliances with more efficient ones.

The snowpack has been in decline all year, with electronic measurements in March showing the statewide snow water equivalent at 19 percent of the historical average for that date.

There was no snow at the site of the Wednesday snow survey.

Snow supplies about a third of the state's water, and a higher snowpack translates to more water in California reservoirs to meet demand in summer and fall.

Officials say the snowpack is already far below the historic lows of 1977 and 2014, when it was 25 percent of normal on April 1 — the time when the snowpack is generally at its peak.

Brown declared a drought emergency and stressed the need for sustained water conservation.

The Department of Water Resources will conduct its final manual snow survey at a spot near Echo Summit, about 90 miles east of Sacramento. Electronic measurements are taken in a number of other places.
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« Reply #79 on: April 11, 2015, 04:06:05 pm »

http://news.yahoo.com/california-deltas-water-mysteriously-missing-amid-drought-152006674.html
4/11/15
California delta's water mysteriously missing amid drought

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — As California struggles with a devastating drought, huge amounts of water are mysteriously vanishing from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta — and the prime suspects are farmers whose families have tilled fertile soil there for generations.

A state investigation was launched following complaints from two large agencies that supply water to arid farmland in the Central Valley and to millions of residents as far south as San Diego.

Delta farmers don't deny using as much water as they need. But they say they're not stealing it because their history of living at the water's edge gives them that right. Still, they have been asked to report how much water they're pumping and to prove their legal rights to it.

At issue is California's century-old water rights system that has been based on self-reporting and little oversight, historically giving senior water rights holders the ability to use as much water as they need, even in drought. Gov. Jerry Brown has said that if drought continues this system built into California's legal framework will probably need to be examined.

Delta farmer Rudy Mussi says he has senior water rights, putting him in line ahead of those with lower ranking, or junior, water rights.

"If there's surplus water, hey, I don't mind sharing it," Mussi said. "I don't want anybody with junior water rights leapfrogging my senior water rights just because they have more money and more political clout."

The fight pitting farmer against farmer is playing out in the Delta, the hub of the state's water system. With no indication of the drought easing, heightened attention is being placed on dwindling water throughout the state, which produces nearly half of the fruits, nuts and vegetables grown in the U.S.

A large inland estuary east of San Francisco, the Delta is fed by rivers of freshwater flowing down from the Sierra Nevada and northern mountain ranges. Located at sea level, it consists of large tracts of farmland separated by rivers that are subject to tidal ebbs and flows.

Most of the freshwater washes out to the Pacific Ocean through the San Francisco Bay. Some is pumped — or diverted — by Delta farmers to irrigate their crops, and some is sent south though canals to Central Valley farmers and to 25 million people statewide.

The drought now in its fourth year has put Delta water under close scrutiny. Twice last year state officials feared salty bay water was backing up into the Delta, threatening water quality. There was not enough fresh water to keep out saltwater.

In June, the state released water stored for farmers and communities from Lake Oroville to combat the saltwater intrusion.

Nancy Vogel, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Water Resources, said "thousands of acre-feet of water a day for a couple of weeks" were released into the Delta. An acre-foot is roughly enough water to supply a household of four for a year.

The fact that the state had to resort to using so much from storage raised questions about where the water was going. That in turn prompted a joint letter by the Department of Water Resources and U.S. Bureau of Reclamation calling for an investigation into how much water Delta farmers are taking — and whether the amount exceeds their rights to it.

"We don't know if there were illegal diversions going on at this time," said Vogel, leaving it up to officials at the State Water Resources Control Board to determine. "Right now, a large information gap exists."

Some 450 farmers who hold 1,061 water rights in the Delta and the Sacramento and San Joaquin river watersheds were told to report their water diversions, and Katherine Mrowka, state water board enforcement manager, said a vast majority responded.

State officials are sorting through the information that will help them determine whether any are exceeding their water rights and who should be subject to restrictions.

"In this drought period, water accounting is more important to ensure that the water is being used for its intended purpose," said U.S. Bureau of Reclamation spokesman Louis Moore.

Mussi, a second-generation Delta farmer whose family grows tomatoes, wheat, corn, grapes and almonds on 4,500 acres west of Stockton, said Central Valley farmers have long known that in dry years they would get little or no water from state and federal water projects and would need to rely heavily on groundwater.

"All of a sudden they're trying to turn their water into a permanent system and ours temporary," Mussi said. "It's just not going to work."

Shawn Coburn farms 1,500 acres along the San Joaquin River in Firebaugh about 100 miles south of the Delta. As a senior rights holder, he figures he will receive 45 percent or less of the water he expected from the federal water project. On another 1,500 acres where he is a junior water rights holder, he will receive no surface water for a second consecutive year.

"I don't like to pick on other farmers, even if it wasn't a drought year," said Coburn. "The only difference is I don't have a pipe in the Delta I can suck willy-nilly whenever I want."
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« Reply #80 on: May 21, 2015, 05:08:51 pm »

https://www.intellihub.com/five-pieces-of-evidence-suggesting-that-california-drought-may-be-a-haarp-manufactured-event/
Five pieces of evidence suggesting that California drought may be a HAARP-manufactured event   May 21, 2015 10:05 am EDT

CALIFORNIA IS EMBROILED IN A CRISIS OF EPIC PROPORTIONS AS IT CONTINUES TO STRUGGLE THROUGH ONE OF THE WORST DROUGHTS IN STATE HISTORY
By Ethan A. Huff | Natural News

But emerging evidence suggests that the Golden State’s water woes aren’t a natural occurrence at all, and that a covert military operation involving “chemtrails” and other weather modification weaponry may be to blame.

A recent episode of The HAARP Report, which tracks the activities of the U.S. military’s so-called “High Frequency Auroral Research Program” (which the federal government falsely claims has been shut down), provides five pieces of compelling evidence from recently captured satellite imagery that points to deliberate weather modification as the cause of California’s drought.

You may have heard of “chemtrails” before — those unnatural-looking cloud trails occasionally produced by airplanes that don’t dissipate normally, and that end up blanketing the skies with a hazy muck. They differ entirely from water vapor contrails produced when water vapor condenses and freezes around small aerosol particles released from aircraft exhaust.

The following image shows a sky filled with chemtrails:

image

For years, many of those who’ve been paying attention have wondered what the purpose is of these clearly artificial chemtrails. Well, based on the extensive research findings by The HAARP Report, it seems as though these fake sprayings are helping to redirect and alter weather patterns — in this case, to steer rain away from California.

“Chemtrails create a hot air layer at 30,000 feet, capping inversion,” explains the report. “They [the powers that be] want that to overrun this low pressure area and prevent this low pressure from forming,” as low pressure is what produces precipitation, explains the report.

FUKUSHIMA: A COVER FOR HAARP AND CHEMTRAIL-INDUCED ATMOSPHERIC DAMAGE KILLING OUR PLANET
A HAARP Report video posted to YouTube on April 19, 2015, lists the following five pieces of evidence suggesting that California’s drought is a man-made attack on Californians:

1) Low pressure areas out in the Pacific Ocean that would normally move in a counterclockwise direction have been detected moving in an anomalous clockwise direction. The HAARP Report, highlighting exclusive imagery captured on April 10, 2015, shows a “burst” of clockwise, high pressure cloud movement that would never occur naturally, and that clearly suggests weather manipulation activity meant to break up cloud formation and prevent precipitation.

More on how this is accomplished through ionospheric heating is explained in the video report:
YouTube.com.

2) After breaking up the areas of low pressure that would have produced rain for California, HAARP’s weather weaponry and associated chemtrails generate areas of very dry air that, under normal circumstances, would be humid. Satellite imagery captured in the days following April 10 show this dry air sitting stagnant rather than rotating, breaking up the potential formation of thunderstorms.

3) As it turns out, HAARP’s weather manipulation machines can only operate when the D layer in the ionosphere has formed, which occurs after the sun has been up for three or four hours and ends in the evening. In the video, The HAARP Report shows how a storm that starts to pop up during this window of time is literally pushed to the right and destroyed. Dry air is pressed down, and once again the center is not moving in a counterclockwise direction as it should.

4) Looking again at a massive area of dry air brought about by HAARP and chemtrails, the report points out how satellite imagery of a ring of rising air and a central column of falling air captured at 10 a.m. in California on April 9 proves that a HAARP downburst sent high pressure descending air into the jet stream, once again preventing rain.

5) As this air descends, it just keeps getting bigger and bigger in the satellite imagery. And as it begins to reform, another HAARP downburst is observed on the north side of the front, with a signature clockwise flow around a high pressure area as it’s sent downward. Put simply, the developing storm was basically broken up by HAARP, where it later reformed around Mexico and sent rain over New Mexico and Texas rather thanCalifornia.

“Don’t think for a minute that this drought in California is natural. They’re using a variety of techniques to maintain this drought,” warns The HAARP Report.

“The oceans are dying because of increasing ultraviolet-B. The modern HAARP transmitters punch holes in the ozone layer, since they must drive a plasmoid from 30 miles high down to the jet stream… mixing the chemtrails vertically, which breaks down the protective ozone layer.”

“The Pacific is dying because the base of the food chain, phyto-plankton, are being killed by the high UV-B, created by ionospheric heaters. Radiation from Fukushima is killing the Pacific, but not as fast as the lack of plankton, which can’t survive the high UV-B. Fukushima is being used as a ‘cover’ for the excess UV-B caused by HAARP and chemtrails. That would explain the complete lack of action to stop the radiation from leaking into the Pacific.”
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« Reply #81 on: June 03, 2015, 10:12:27 pm »

http://news.yahoo.com/californias-largest-lake-threatened-urban-121120083.html
California's largest lake threatened by urban water transfer
Calamity looms at California's largest lake as water transfers to coast accelerate

6/3/15

SALTON CITY, Calif. (AP) -- Once-bustling marinas on shallow water in California's largest lake a few years ago are bone-dry. Carcasses of oxygen-starved tilapia lie on desolate shores. Flocks of eared grebes and shoreline birds bob up and down to feast on marine life.

An air of decline and strange beauty permeates the Salton Sea: The lake is shrinking — and on the verge of getting much smaller as more water goes to coastal cities.

San Diego and other Southern California water agencies will stop replenishing the lake after 2017, raising concerns that dust from exposed lakebed will exacerbate asthma and other respiratory illness in a region whose air quality already fails federal standards. A smaller lake also threatens fish and habitat for more than 400 bird species on the Pacific flyway.

Many of the more than 10,000 people who live in shoreline communities cherish the solitude but now feel forgotten. The dying lake must compete for water as California reels from a four-year drought that has brought sweeping, state-ordered consumption cuts.

Julie London, who moved to Salton City after visiting in 1986 from Washington state, hopes for help for the periodic, rotten odor from the lake that keep residents inside on hot, fly-filled summer nights. The stench in 2012 carried more than 150 miles to Los Angeles.

"Unfortunately, that's the only time anyone will listen because we don't have a voice," London, 60, said on her porch, one of the few that still lies a stone's throw from water. "You can scream all you want. Nobody cares."

San Diego now purchases more than one-quarter of its water from California's Imperial Valley, where fields produce runoff that delivers 70 percent of the lake's inflows. More water for San Diego means less for the Salton Sea.

In 2003, the state Legislature agreed to spearhead efforts to restore the lake to help seal the San Diego sale. California, which used more Colorado River water than it was entitled to, was under enormous pressure to go on a water diet after Sunbelt cities like Phoenix and Las Vegas clamored for their share.

The San Diego County Water Authority and other local agencies agreed to deliver water to the Salton Sea for 15 years while the state developed a long-term fix. This year, that water accounts for 10 percent of the lake's inflows.

With no fix in sight, the Imperial Irrigation District asked state regulators in November to condition San Diego sales on the state fulfilling its promise, citing the state legislation and the state's open-ended contractual commitment to pay for offsetting environmental damage.

The 2003 contract to sell water to San Diego for up to 75 years still deeply divides Imperial Valley farmers, who grow much of the nation's winter vegetables.

Imperial Valley gets nearly 20 percent of Colorado River water distributed in the western United States and northern Mexico — enough for more than 6 million households — but some growers fear cities will eventually suck their fields dry.

Bruce Kuhn, who cast the deciding vote for the San Diego sale as a board member of the Imperial Irrigation District in 2003, said he would have opposed the deal without the state's pledge to the Salton Sea.

Kuhn lost his re-election bid; revenues at his farm services business slid about one-third. "It cost me business and it cost me friends," he said.

The lake is often called "The Accidental Sea" because it was created in 1905 when the Colorado River breached a dike and two years of flooding filled a sizzling basin that today is about 35 miles long, 15 miles wide and only 50 feet deep. The lake, which has no outlet, would have quickly evaporated if farmers hadn't settled California's southeastern corner.

Viewed from the air, the Imperial Valley's half-million acres of verdant fields end abruptly in pale dirt. Colorado River water is diverted near Yuma, Arizona, to an 82-mile canal that runs west along the Mexican border and then north into 1,700 miles of gated dirt and concrete channels that crisscross farms. When gates open, water floods fields and gravity carries increasingly salty runoff downhill through the New and Alamo rivers to the Salton Sea.

The lake has suffered a string of catastrophes since tropical storms in the late 1970s destroyed houses, marinas and yacht clubs, ending an era of international speedboat races and glamor that once drew more visitors than Yosemite National Park. Botulism killed large numbers of pelicans in 1996.

Fish kills have happened regularly since nearly 8 million croaker and tilapia died in 1999. The water is nearly twice as salty as the Pacific Ocean, endangering remaining tilapia. Winds that stir hydrogen sulfide gas from the lake's bottom strips oxygen from surface waters where fish swim and creates stenches similar to rotten eggs.

The lake's fragile state was on display one spring afternoon as thousands of tilapia washed ashore. A white mist rising from the placid waters was evaporation. Great blue herons took flight, while American coots skimmed the surface.

"There are no other places for them to go," Chris Schoneman, project leader of the Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge, said aboard a flat-bottomed vessel, one of a few boats fit to navigate waist-high waters. Residents say speedboats were last seen about four years ago.

A cluster of small, gurgling "mud pots" is tucked away on salt-crusted lakebed that was covered with water less than 10 years ago — evidence of magma from the earth's center rising through shifting tectonic plates. Another cluster in the lake's center produces bubbles that look as if a boiling cauldron lies beneath the surface.

Steam billows from about a dozen shoreline geothermal plants. They provide few jobs but land royalties — some paid to Imperial Irrigation District — have been touted as a potential solution for the lake.

The nonprofit Pacific Institute estimates that surface area of the 350-square-mile lake will shrink 100 square miles by 2030, salinity will triple over 15 years, and fish will disappear in seven years without intervention. San Diego's water purchases from Imperial Valley — which ramp up to 2021 — are to blame but low rainfall and water conservation also hurt.

Al Kalin, who farms 1,800 acres near the shore, installed sprinklers to replace flood irrigation and soil measurement devices that tell him when to water. His farm sits near one of several reservoirs that capture runoff for urban Southern California before it goes to the Salton Sea.

"We're kind of between a rock and a hard spot," said Kalin. "We've got to conserve water for the thirsty people, 17 million in Southern California. At the same time, there's concern about the Salton Sea because it's rapidly declining because of our conservation efforts."

Students at Desert Mirage High School in Mecca who have been strategizing after class how to bring attention to the Salton Sea shared stories with state regulators at a March hearing in Sacramento. Respiratory complaints are common in the small town of Latino farmworkers who fill a new Catholic church for Sunday Mass.

Jose Alcantara got involved for his mother, Blanca Sanchez, whose bronchitis worsened after she moved in 2010. She rushes to her car for her inhaler while picking crops and skips work when the air is bad.

"That's why I worry," said Alcantara, 17, whose family lives in a stucco apartment complex near fields of peppers, corn and citrus. "I don't want to see my mother in a casket."
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« Reply #82 on: August 21, 2015, 09:04:43 pm »

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/california-latest-nightmare-san-joaquin-193800493.html
California’s Latest Nightmare: San Joaquin Valley is Sinking
8/21/15

It’s bad enough that California is being battered by one of its worst droughts on record and that thousands of wildfires are consuming over 100,000 acres of woods amid fears that global warming may be making matters even worse.

Now comes a report that huge chunks of the state are literally sinking into the ground – posing serious threats to homes, businesses and roads in the affected areas.

Related: California Steaming: High Cost of the State's Drought Fixes

As the result of a bizarre and tragic confluence of drought, earthquakes, ground water mismanagement and overpopulation, a vast segment of the San Joaquin Valley in northern California is literally sinking into the ground.

The geological crisis – a fit subject for a wild science fiction thriller and one more crisis for Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown to contend with -- was confirmed by aerial imagery by the National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA). Areas of the state are literally turning into giant sinkholes.

The state appears to be descending into Dante’s third ring of hell as it braves the fourth year of what some experts are calling the worst drought in its history. A new study by Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory issued Thursday warns that global warming caused by industrial greenhouse gases may have intensified California’s drought by 15 to 20 percent, The New York Times reported.

Because of a diminished snowpack, scant rain and brutal high temperatures, ground water for agriculture irrigation is evaporating or being pumped dry, and surface areas in parts of northern California are beginning to give way.

Related: Crews Begin to Gain Ground Against Northern California Wildfire

Indeed, although the phenomenon of sinking land – or “subsidence” as it is called by scientists -- is nothing new to California, NASA analysts determined that parts of the populous state are collapsing at a rate of as much as two inches per month – faster than in the past.

Mark Cowin, the director of the California Department of Water Resources, said in a press release earlier this week that as intensive pumping of groundwater persists, the land is sinking more rapidly “and puts nearby infrastructure at greater risk of costly damage.”

According to one study by the University of California, Davis, the drought may cost the California economy roughly $2.7 billion this year – with most damage to agriculture.

The San Joaquin Valley is located south of Sacramento, with a sprawling land mass of 22,500 square miles and a total population of about 3.9 million people.

Related: Drought Costing California Farms $1.8 Billion in Revenue

While there is little chance that buildings and homes in Sacramento and other populous areas will be swallowed up, one notable area of concern is centered near Corcoran – population 24,000 and best known as the location of the California State Prison where Charles Manson is imprisoned.
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« Reply #83 on: September 25, 2015, 01:31:42 pm »

http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2015/09/24/california-lake-mysterious-runs-dry-overnight-killing-thousands-of-fish/
9/24/15
California Lake Mysterious Runs Dry Overnight, Killing Thousands Of Fish

FOLSOM LAKE (CBS13) — A Northern California reservoir ran dry overnight, killing thousands of fish and leaving residents looking for answers.

While a $3.5 million drought safety net at Folsom Lake finishes, a lake in another part of the state is left high and dry.

Thousands of fish lay dead in what used to be Mountain Meadows reservoir also known as Walker Lake, a popular fishing hole just west of Susanville.

“Everywhere that you see that’s wet, there was water,” said resident Eddie Bauer.

RELATED: California Drought Has More Insects Swarming Toward Homes

Residents say people were fishing on the lake last Saturday, but it drained like a bathtub overnight. Bauer has lived near this lake his entire life. This is the first time he’s ever seen it run dry. He and other residents want answers.

Pacific Gas & Electric Company owns the rights to the water and uses it for hydroelectric power.

It’s the situation we worked hard to avoid but the reality is we’re in a very serious drought, there’s also concerns for the fish downstream,” said spokesman Paul Moreno.

Bauer says there should’ve been at least two weeks of water left and that would’ve given PG&E enough time to relocate the fish.

“This makes me feel like they didn’t want to do a fish rescue and that it was easier to open that sucker up Saturday night,” Bauer said.

PG&E officials say nobody opened the dam up and the water simply ran out.

No matter who’s to blame, residents here worry, this could happen in other areas of the state.

“The reservoirs are all continuing to be far below normal,” said Doug Carlson with the Department of Water Resources.

He says there’s no question water concerns are still a serious issue across the state.

“We are reliant upon rainfall to fill those lakes of course and until we get more rain we’re not likely to see any appreciable increase in the reservoir levels,” he said.

At Folsom Lake, workers are finishing work on floating barges that would pump water to the city of Folsom and the prison if the lake gets too low for the water to flow through an intake valve. An insurance policy that may be put into use soon.
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« Reply #84 on: March 28, 2016, 04:31:59 pm »

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2016/03/28/california-raises-minimum-wage-15-hour/82348622/
3/28/16
California raises minimum wage to $15 an hour

A deal to raise California’s minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2022 was reached Monday by Gov. Jerry Brown and state legislators, making the nation's largest state the first to lift base earnings to that level and propelling a campaign to lift the pay floor nationally.

The increase will boost the wages of about 6.5 million California residents, or 43% of the state’s workforce, who earn less than $15, according to the National Employment Law Project (NELP). The proposal had been headed to a statewide referendum.

“This plan raises the minimum wage in a careful and responsible way and provides some flexibility if economic and budgetary conditions change,” Brown said. The governor can temporarily suspend the hikes in the event of poor economic conditions or a large budget deficit.

About a dozen cities have approved bumps in their minimum wages to $15, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and several other municipalities in California.

In New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has proposed a $15 pay floor for New York City starting in 2019 and across the state by 2021. A plan is already in place to hike wages for fast-food and state government workers in both New York City and the state.

Increases to $15 in New York and California “clearly would create national momentum for other states to follow their lead,” particularly Democratic- leaning coastal states, said Paul Sonn, NELP’s general counsel.

Under California’s plan, its minimum wage, currently one of the highest in the nation at $10 an hour, would rise to $10.50 in 2017, $11 in 2018 and a dollar each year through 2022.

The pact was also hailed by labor advocates. “This is a very, very significant increase and for the first time would begin to reverse years of falling pay at the bottom” of the income ladder, Sonn said

The California legislation follows a series of one-day strikes by low-wage and other fast food workers demanding a $15 wage over the past 3½ years, protests funded by the Service Employees International Union. The crusade was written off as quixotic when it began but NELP officials credited it with prodding lawmakers as well as companies such as Facebook, Google and Nationwide Insurance to set $15 as base pay.

A $15 wage has even become a centerpiece of the presidential campaign. The Democratic Party adopted a $15 minimum in its platform and Sen. Bernie Sanders supports it. Hillary Clinton has said she backs a $12 pay floor.

Proposals to increase the federal minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to about $10 have been blocked by Republicans in Congress. Republicans and other critics say the state-level increases will force some businesses to replace workers with technology and even shut down in the face of rising costs.
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« Reply #85 on: December 21, 2016, 04:17:06 pm »

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/california-secession-organizers-say-theyve-opened-an-embassy-in-moscow/ar-BBxnAye?ocid=ansmsnnews11
California secession organizers say they've opened an embassy in Moscow
12/20/16

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California gained an embassy in Russia last weekend, at least in the eyes of those who have promised to seek a statewide vote on secession, nicknamed "Calexit," in 2018.

Louis Marinelli, a San Diego resident who is the leader of the group promoting an effort to turn the state into an independent country, organized the Moscow event that was publicized on social media.

"We want to start laying the groundwork for a dialogue about an independent California joining the United Nations now," he said in an email Monday.

Marinelli is currently working as an English teacher in Russia, and said he is there working on immigration issues related to his wife, a Russian national.

The effort faces the longest of odds, requiring not only initial approval by California voters in 2018 but a subsequent special election in 2019. Even if successful then, the proposal would have to pass difficult if not insurmountable legal obstacles.

Marinelli said he's not discouraged by the high hurdles.

"All major social and political movements in this country take time and inevitably have to overcome failures and setbacks before they are ultimately successful," he said.
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« Reply #86 on: June 02, 2017, 03:08:53 pm »

http://redstatewatcher.com/article.asp?id=81382
6/2/17
CA Senators Passes $400 Billion Bill!

California Senators just passed a $400 Billion healthcare plan, but do not have a plan to pay for it.

From LA Times: A proposal to adopt a single-payer healthcare system for California took an initial step forward Thursday when the state Senate approved a bare-bones bill that lacks a method for paying the $400-billion cost of the plan.

The proposal was made by legislators led by Sen. Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) at the same time President Trump and Republican members of Congress are working to repeal and replace the federal Affordable Care Act.


“Despite the incredible progress California has made, millions still do not have access to health insurance and millions more cannot afford the high deductibles and co-pays, and they often forgo care,” Lara said during a floor debate on the bill.

The bill, which now goes to the state Assembly for consideration, will have to be further developed, Lara conceded, adding he hopes to reach a consensus on a way to pay for it.

Republican senators opposed the bill as a threat to the state’s finances.

“We don’t have the money to pay for it,” Sen. Tom Berryhill (R-Modesto) said. “If we cut every single program and expense from the state budget and redirected that money to this bill, SB 562, we wouldn’t even cover half of the $400-billion price tag.”

Berryhill also said the private sector is better suited to provide healthcare.

“I absolutely don’t trust the government to run our health system,” he said. “What has the government ever done right?”

Lara’s bill would provide a Medicare-for-all-type system that he believed would guarantee health coverage for all Californians without the out-of-pocket costs. Under a single-payer plan, the government replaces private insurance companies, paying doctors and hospitals for healthcare.
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« Reply #87 on: June 27, 2017, 09:26:46 am »

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« Reply #88 on: July 07, 2017, 01:26:09 pm »

redstatewatcher.com/article.asp?id=85456
BREAKING! Jerry Brown Hits California With A MOAB!

Jerry Brown just hit Californians with a $58 billion tax bomb!

From Sacbee.com: Now that Gov. Jerry Brown has signed into law billions of dollars in higher fuel taxes and vehicle fees, the state will have an estimated $52 billion more money to help cover the state’s transportation needs for the next decade.

The money comes largely from a 12-cent increase in the base gasoline excise tax and a new transportation improvement fee based on vehicle value. Other money will come from paying off past transportation loans, Caltrans savings, and new charges on diesel fuel and zero-emission vehicles.


The bulk of the revenue raised will go to various state and local road programs, as well as public transit, goods movement and traffic congestion.

The measure, Senate Bill 1, sets ambitious goals. By the end of 2027, it says least 98 percent of state highway pavement should be in good or fair condition, at least 90 percent of culverts should be in good or fair condition and at least 500 bridges must be fixed.

In June 2018, meanwhile, California voters will get to weigh in on another part of the package: a constitutional amendment supporters say will keep lawmakers from diverting the money to other purposes.

7/7/17
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« Reply #89 on: July 13, 2017, 03:41:00 pm »

http://redstatewatcher.com/article.asp?id=86453
San Francisco On The Path To Becoming First Sanctuary City For Criminals

The Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is refusing to release surveillance videos of three recent incidences involving a mob of teenagers robbing passengers on their trains. BART's reason for not releasing the videos? Fear of spreading racial bias. A member of the BART Board of Directors, Debora Allen, hits the nail on the head when she asks, "What is the priority of BART? Is the safety of the passenger—of all passengers—is that a lesser priority than the race bias issue?"

What do you think? Please like and share.

From Freebeacon:


The Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), which serves San Francisco and Oakland, Calif., is refusing to release surveillance videos of criminal incidents in its system for fear of spreading racial bias.

After three recent incidents of robbery on the trains, the system will not release videos of the incidents to the media, CBS SF BayArea reports.

Member of the BART Board of Directors Debora Allen said that she was told by management that the videos would not be released because they would spread racial bias among riders. But Allen stressed that riders are fearing for their safety.

"I think people are genuinely concerned—they are fearful about the stories that have come out about the recent attacks, the assaults, the thefts," Allen said. "What is the priority of BART? Is the safety of the passenger—of all passengers—is that a lesser priority than the race bias issue?"

BART management told Allen that "racial bias" caused by the videos would create insensitive rhetoric.

"To release these videos would create a high level of racially insensitive commentary toward the district," management said. "And in addition it would create a racial bias in the riders against minorities on the trains."

BART Assistant General Manager Kerry Hamill replied to Allen with a condemnation of local media.

"If we were to regularly feed the news media video of crimes on our system that involve minority suspects, particularly when they are minors, we would certainly face questions as to why we were sensationalizing relatively minor crimes and perpetuating false stereotypes in the process," Hamill replied.

"My view is that the media's real interest in the videos of youth phone snatching incidents isn't the desire for transparency but rather the pursuit of ratings," Hamill continued. "They know that video of these events will drive clicks to their websites and viewers to their programs because people are motivated by fear."

7/12/17
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