by Patrick Ruckert
www.californiadroughtupdate.org/20220804-California-Water-and-Infrastructure-Report.pdf
A Note to Readers
Following the U.S. Drought Monitor maps, the first item is an article about a man who represents what has gone wrong with not only the management of the California water supply, but why such bureaucratic structures as the California State Water Resources Board make great projects, and even small projects, impossible in this state and the rest of the nation.
The ideology, or religion, they have adopted simply asserts that mankind’s role is to adapt to nature, rather than adjusting it. Adjusting nature is what we humans have always done, and that is why we can farm in arid regions, live at the South Pole and establish a colony on the Moon.
The man’s name is Max Gomberg, a former “climate change mitigation strategist,” who resigned from the California State Water Resources Control Board in July, charging that Governor Newsom will not cripple the state’s agriculture, and take other actions that environmentalists and the “woke” activists like himself demand. While I may not endorse all that the author of the article writes, you can read the story, which I excerpt: “Leftist California Water Official Quits, Blames Newsom Administration.”
This followed by a couple of articles on the California drought, including the falling water level of Lake Shasta, and a statement by State Assembly candidate Mindy Pechenuk, challenging Governor Newsom to put up or shut up on desalination plant construction.
While some financial speculators are attempting to create a water futures market in the state, attempting to profit off of water scarcity, as much as they promote it, farmers are not buying. Some background and an article are provided.
With apologies to James Baldwin, I use a slightly changed title to his book “The Fire Next Time” to cover the McKinnery Fire in northern California, that is more than 50,000 acres and still largely out of control.
On the Colorado River: With just 11 days before the deadline set by the Bureau of Reclamation for the seven states who take water from the Colorado River to present a plan on how to cut two to four million acre feet from what they take beginning in January of 2023, it remains a mystery on what that plan will be.
If the states do not present such a plan, and one that is both workable and enforceable, then the Bureau itself will impose its plan. In that case, it is estimated that all seven states will see their allocations cut by between 20-30%. The difficulty for states and water districts to put together a plan is seen in the first article excerpted below: “California drought 2022: Two water districts eye hefty Colorado River cuts.”
Since for all the states, about 80% of the water withdrawn from the river is used by agriculture, it would mean a significant blow to agricultural production in the entire southwest.
This week’s Feature is an analysis of “The Schumer–Manchin “Anti-inflation Act of 2022,” by my associate Brian Lantz. The title of the article is: “Trojan Horse: The Schumer–Manchin “Anti-inflation Act of 2022.
