Standing in a high meadow in the Sierra with no snow in sight, Governor Brown issued emergency water restrictions, ordering cities and towns to reduce their water use by 25%. Chris Megerian, Matt Stevens and Bettina Boxall have the story at the Los Angeles Times:
“Wearing hiking shoes and a windbreaker in an area that normally requires cross-country skis this time of year, Brown announced the executive order in a Sierra Nevada meadow that provided a dramatic illustration of the state's parched conditions.
“’We're standing on dry grass,’ Brown said. ‘We should be standing on five feet of snow….’
“Cities have to stop watering the median strips that run down the middle of roads. The state will partner with local agencies to remove 50 million square feet of grass — the equivalent of about 1,150 football fields — and replace it with drought-tolerant landscaping.
“State agencies will create a temporary rebate program to encourage homeowners to replace water-guzzling appliances with high-efficiency ones. Golf courses, campuses and cemeteries must cut their water use. New developments will have to install drip or microspray systems if they irrigate with drinking water. Water agencies will discourage water waste with higher rates and fees…
“Brown issued his order at Phillips Station, about 90 miles east of Sacramento, where state workers conducted a manual snow survey as part of statewide readings that revealed that the water content of the Sierra Nevada snowpack was only about 5% of the average for April 1. That is the lowest for the date in records going back to 1950.”
While urban areas will feel the pinch, farmers, already hit hard by the drought, get a pass – so far. From Pauline Bartolone at Capital Public Radio:
“Jay Lund of the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences says across-the-board cuts to agriculture would be economically disruptive.
"’The farmers are already receiving reductions, mandatory reductions by the state and federal water projects, and the local water projects,’ says Lund.”
Remember Steve Westly, candidate for governor, whomped by Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2006? Word has leaked that the Democratic multi-millionaire plans to run for governor again in 2018. San Jose Inside has the story.
“During a private meeting Saturday in Atherton, a few dozen tech CEOs, politicos and influence peddlers, as well as members of Clinton and President Obama’s 2008 campaign teams, gathered with Westly to discuss strategy about his run for governor. While no formal announcement is expected until September, Westly confirmed to the group that he plans to challenge current Lt. Governor and former San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom—and most likely former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa—for the seat of terming-out Gov. Jerry Brown.
And, speaking of candidates, presumed GOP presidential candidate Jeb Bush visited Silicon Valley yesterday on a fundraising tour for his Right to Rise Super PAC. Josh Richman has the story at the San Jose Mercury News.
"Hosts of Bush's luncheon at East Palo Alto's Four Seasons Hotel on Wednesday included San Francisco billionaire investor Bill Oberndorf, a staunch supporter of education privatization, and venture capitalist Bill Draper, former president and chairman of the Export-Import Bank of the United States -- an agency many Republicans hope to let die when its congressional authorization expires June 30. Oberndorf also will co-host a fundraiser Thursday at San Francisco's Mandarin Oriental Hotel, along with venture capitalist Jay Kern.
"Draper said Wednesday he's a "longtime friend of the Bushes" who was a fundraising chair for George H.W. Bush's 1980 GOP primary battle against Ronald Reagan: ‘I've known Jeb since he was a young man... and he's the kind of guy we would want as a leader.’
“He said he was ‘blown away’ Wednesday as Bush handled policy questions ‘with nuance and clarity and coolness.’ Bush's call for immigration reform -- especially regarding skilled foreign workers -- sets him apart from the rest of the Republican pack and is red meat for Silicon Valley, he added.”
Over in the East Bay, Steve Glazer claims that unions have run afoul of disclosure laws in the race for SD-7, and has filed a complaint with the Fair Political Practices Commission. Also from Josh Richman, this time at Political Plotter:
“Glazer informed the Fair Political Practices Commission that the ‘Working Families Opposing Glazer for Senate’ group received hundreds of thousands of dollars from union committees, but failed to list on its mailer the names of the top two union donors who had contributed $50,000 or more, as state law requires.
“’The disclosure rules are in effect to give voters full knowledge of the special interests who are funding these communications,’ Glazer said in a news release. ‘These groups are sophisticated political players who circumvented disclosure laws for the sole purpose of misleading voters.’”
The tiny Delta Smelt may be nearing extinction (or already there) in the wild, but the good news is that researchers at UC Davis have bred 20,000 of the fish in a carefully controlled breeding program. John R. Platt has the story at Scientific American.
“This massive assurance breeding population—the only one that exists—got its start several years ago when the laboratory received about 160 wild fish, says Dr. Joan Lindberg, the lab’s director emeritus. The fish have been bred there ever since and the lab provides a few smelt every year to the Livingston Stone National Fish Hatchery, which maintains a secondary safeguard population.
“It’s a lot of work to keep the captive smelt alive within the two-acre UC-Davis facility. ‘The smelt require an intensive style of aquaculture,’ Lindberg says. The water is constantly recirculated, the temperature is controlled (the fish get stressed above 71 degrees) and biofiltration processes clear the water of pollutants. Small crustaceans and insect larvae are constantly added to the water as prey…
“In addition to the labor-intensive processes, keeping the fish alive in captivity is also expensive. The lab just received a nearly $10 million from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which will fund the work for the next four years.
“Will any of these fish ever make it back to their home in the Sacramento-San Joaquin estuary? Lindberg says ‘putting animals back in this system would be problematic. We would hope to see some improvements to the habitat before we do that.’”
With the death of a 117-year-old Japanese woman on Wednesday, 116 year old Gertrude Weaver of Arkansas is now the oldest person in the world. Weaver has done a lot in her long lifetime, but she has one goal left: party with the President.
“An Arkansas woman who became the world's oldest person Wednesday wants President Barack Obama to attend her 117th birthday party this Fourth of July.
“At 116, Gertrude Weaver was already the oldest person in America. With the death of 117-year-old Misao Okawa in Japan, Weaver became the world's oldest person, according to the Los Angeles-based Gerontology Research Group, which tracks supercentenarians…
“Staff at the Silver Oaks Health and Rehabilitation Center in Camden, about 100 miles southwest of Little Rock, said Weaver was inundated by television crews and other visitors Wednesday…
“Weaver, a former domestic worker in private homes and mother of four children, has experienced a lot in her 116 years, Center Administrator Kathy Langley said. But she still has one dream she would like to realize.
"’She really wants to meet the president. She's voted for him twice now and it's just her lifelong dream,’ Langley said. ‘We sent him an invitation to come to her birthday party last year, and we will send him another one this year.’
“Langley said there's no birth record for Weaver and it's likely her family chose to celebrate her birthday on July 4 because they were patriotic. ‘That's the only day she ever remembers celebrating on,’ Langley said.”
C’mon Mr. President – make it so!