(With expanded coverage of all the Western States)
by Patrick Ruckert
www.californiadroughtupdate.org/20221215-California-Water-and-Infrastructure-Report.pdf
A Note to Readers
Two storm systems in December have dumped more than 100 million acre feet of water (rain and snow) on California. Yet with even large amounts of water going out to the San Francisco Bay through the Delta, very little of that was diverted to storage. That was a decision by the state Department of Water Resources. The environmentalist mentality of the entire water bureaucracy, and the state government more generally, is downright criminal.
Though early storms are welcome, no one should assume that the winter to come will be one that ends the drought. All forecasts agree that most likely we are entering a fourth year of the current drought. And it is necessary to recall how last December saw similar deluges, but then the three driest months of January, February, and March on record, sent us into the third year of drought.
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) issued a statement yesterday that announced the declaration of a state of emergency for all of Southern California. See the excerpts from the Los Angeles Times on that below.
The first section of the report this week provides the forecasts for a fourth year of the present drought, and the extent and the damage the drought is producing, especially to agriculture.
The second section highlights some of the “First Signs of a Farmers’ Revolt Against Being Cut-off From Water.”
Next, coverage of developments along the Colorado River begins with a report on the western water managers meeting in Las Vegas this week, in an attempt to reach “a long-sought deal to curtail water use along the cratering Colorado River.” Such an agreement appears to still be mostly wishes, with little action.
The Feature this week highlights two developments, which should put smiles on everyone’s faces.
First, the first Artemis mission to circle the Moon and return to Earth was completed this week. Artemis is a program initiated by President Trump in 2017, with the first stage being for an unmanned flight to circle the Moon and then to land the first woman and the next man in 2024. Next is to create a permanent colony on the Moon to prepare for the first manned mission to Mars. The Biden administration did not cancel this mission, but has delayed it to 2025. The United States is again moving forward toward the colonization of the Solar System.
Second, as the title of the article puts it: “We Have Ignition: At the Threshold of Fusion Energy!” Reporting on the announcement by the Department of Energy two days ago of the successful experiment at the National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California of producing more energy from fusion than was applied to accomplish it.
As the author of the article, Brian Lantz, states: “Yes, we can reproduce the energy of the Sun! This has been a goal of mankind since the 1950s—even the 1930s. As we learned that we could use our understanding of nuclear science to produce nuclear weapons, we asked, ‘could we also downsize the power of the Sun to laboratory scale,’ to explore and develop fusion as a powerful new tool for our use. Could this be done?
“Now we have proof of principle.”
In 2014, Lyndon LaRouche proposed “Four Laws to Save the U.S.” The fourth law called for a “fusion-driver crash program,” something which he and his movement had fought for since the 1970s.
In January, 2021, still under the first Trump administration, the Fusion Energy Sciences Advisory Committee of the DOE unanimously approved a strategic plan to guide the Department of Energy’s efforts in fusion energy and plasma physics research over the next decade. The plan outlined investment priorities, focusing especially on “facilities and programs” needed to pave the way toward building a U.S.-based pilot fusion power plant operating by 2040. So, while the Biden collective is busy now, desperate to dangle the potential of a “green” fusion pilot project as a trinket, in-front of a population they consider as childish, the real story is entirely different!
