tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84052514460454468042024-03-13T22:09:32.433-07:00Never ThirstNever Thirst! Pat Ferrarohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13523261897628526771noreply@blogger.comBlogger76125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8405251446045446804.post-31145563651578556412015-01-20T00:32:00.000-08:002015-11-22T21:34:09.958-08:00The Rising Cost of Using Delta Water In Santa Clara Valley Water District<style>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-u_zqpxaVQ48/VL2DRu-InMI/AAAAAAAAAvA/BuYVfZ5lgz0/s1600/Santa%2BTeresa%2BWater%2BTreatment%2BPlant.tiff" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="301" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-u_zqpxaVQ48/VL2DRu-InMI/AAAAAAAAAvA/BuYVfZ5lgz0/s1600/Santa%2BTeresa%2BWater%2BTreatment%2BPlant.tiff" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i><b><span style="font-family: "noteworthy light";">Santa Teresa Water Treatment Plant
Sedimentation Basin in Almaden Valley</span></b></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "noteworthy light"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Noteworthy Light";"></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "noteworthy light"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Noteworthy Light";">Photo
Note: That green tint in the water is actually the algae that grows due to the
high-nutrient discharge of farm runoff into the Delta and then concentrated in
San Luis Reservoir. When the depth gets low enough, as it is now, the light
penetration causes the reservoir to bloom. In order to avoid objectionable
taste and odors in our drinking water, we must remove the algae at our local
treatment plants, using expensive carbon filters. Think a 100 million gallon
per day Brita filter.</span></i>
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<span style="font-family: "noteworthy light"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Noteworthy Light";">Our first taste of imported water in
Santa Clara County was almost free to the Santa Clara Valley Water District.
Since investor-owned water companies, like San Jose Water Company, were blocked
by federal legislation from purchasing water from San Francisco's Hetch Hetchy
Aqueduct, cities along the South Bay's shore formed municipal water
departments and contracted directly with the San Francisco Public Utilities Commision to buy water. Today, those
contracts supply 15% of the county's water, although the cost of that supply
will rise 400% to pay for the $4 Billion in bonds sold by SF to rebuild most of
the 90-year-old system. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "noteworthy light"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Noteworthy Light";">This situation would present a problem
for the Santa Clara Valley Water District if those municipal water departments
began pumping cheaper groundwater into their service areas to avoid paying the
higher costs for Hetch Hetchy supply. However, the price gap will be
short-lived as the price for the Water District's supply will be increasing at
a similar rate over the next decade or two, and billions of dollars are
expended both inside and outside the county to continue to obtain another 40%
of our water supply from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "noteworthy light"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Noteworthy Light";">While Proposition 1 was passed last November by the State's voters, allowing sale of $7.5 billion of bonds to pay for
adding more storage and building local options for water to address future
water needs, other infrastructure projects in the Delta were not included in
the recent bond measure. These facilities will be part of a fifty-year permit
issued as part of a Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) for Delta ecosystem
restoration and water supply reliability. The Bay Delta Conservation Plan
(BDCP) recently released a 30,000-page environmental impact document detailing
the baseline as it exists today and plans for fixing this broken ecosystem and
mitigating the interwoven stressors, which have caused a half dozen native fish
species to be listed on the Endangered Species Act. Biological opinions filed
by State and Federal Fish and Wildlife agencies caused the pumping by the State
and Federal water projects in the southern Delta to be severely curtailed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "noteworthy light"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Noteworthy Light";">The present value estimates for the
BDCP program, including new conveyance facilities is $15.4 billion plus $2.3
billion in operating and maintenance costs over 50 years. Santa Clara County
will be responsible for about 4% of those costs as their proportional share of
the contract entitlements for the water pumped by the State Water Project and
the Federal Central Valley Project, as Santa Clara Valley Water District is the
only water agency in the state to have contracts with both systems. The Water
District estimates that we will spend $228 million locally over the next
10 years to increase reliability of our Delta water supplies.</span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6GvU2jcCBso/VL3pEWeYi2I/AAAAAAAAAwQ/HxYEdQqd1uU/s1600/SouthBayAqueductPumping%2BPlant.tiff" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="393" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6GvU2jcCBso/VL3pEWeYi2I/AAAAAAAAAwQ/HxYEdQqd1uU/s1600/SouthBayAqueductPumping%2BPlant.tiff" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "noteworthy light"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Noteworthy Light";">Santa Clara Valley Water District contracts for water deliveries through both major water diversion projects exporting water from the southern Delta, near Tracy. The South Bay Aqueduct pumps water over the Diablo Range, through Livermore and Pleasanton and terminates near Alum Rock Park in San Jose.</span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-x6CQM1ZbUic/VL2m-mEACkI/AAAAAAAAAwA/EzmGndYY-Uk/s1600/San%2BLuis%2BReservoir%2Band%2BO%27Neil%2BForebay.tiff" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="310" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-x6CQM1ZbUic/VL2m-mEACkI/AAAAAAAAAwA/EzmGndYY-Uk/s1600/San%2BLuis%2BReservoir%2Band%2BO'Neil%2BForebay.tiff" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "noteworthy light"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Noteworthy Light";">The other aqueduct is called the San Felipe Aqueduct and is a recent (1987) addition to the Federal Central Valley project. Delta water is conveyed to the jointly-owned State-Federal San Luis Reservoir through both the California Aqueduct and the Delta-Mendota Canal and pumped into the 2 million ac-ft off-stream storage facility.</span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-m8vwx4pwYiQ/VL2QTeWsm1I/AAAAAAAAAvk/zatAXywm1eM/s1600/Pacheco%2BPumping%2BPlant%2BSchematic.tiff" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="245" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-m8vwx4pwYiQ/VL2QTeWsm1I/AAAAAAAAAvk/zatAXywm1eM/s1600/Pacheco%2BPumping%2BPlant%2BSchematic.tiff" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "noteworthy light"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Noteworthy Light";">Once Delta water arrives in Santa
Clara County, it requires treatment in state-of-the-art treatment plants to
remove a broad array of chemical contaminants to bring the quality up to State
and Federal drinking water standards. The Santa Clara Valley Water District
owns three such plants: a 40-million-gallons per day (MGD) plant named
Penetencia in the east foothills near Alum Rock Park, an 80-MGD plant named
Rinconada, adjacent to the Los Gatos Golf Club of the same name, and the newest
Santa Teresa Water Treatment Plant in Almaden Valley capable of treating 100
MGD.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "noteworthy light"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Noteworthy Light";">The combined costs of importing and
treating Delta water, delivered by two aqueducts, is currently over $100
million per year. Capital improvement projects planned by the SCVWD will add
considerably to this annual cost. </span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YbJM96dQdeo/VL2OPJCNeeI/AAAAAAAAAvQ/iymrulqfKl0/s1600/ProjectedWaterRatesThru2037.tiff" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="197" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YbJM96dQdeo/VL2OPJCNeeI/AAAAAAAAAvQ/iymrulqfKl0/s1600/ProjectedWaterRatesThru2037.tiff" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "noteworthy light"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Noteworthy Light";">Source: SCVWD 2012 Water Supply and
Infrastructure Master Plan </span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "noteworthy light"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Noteworthy Light";">The expansion of the Rinconada Water
Treatment plant to 100 MGD</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "noteworthy light"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Noteworthy Light";">is currently under environmental
review and is expected to cost around $200 million. </span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HQjxP56QPlc/VL4DNW03FPI/AAAAAAAAAxA/r9JKCzuzTzo/s1600/Existing%2BRinconada%2BWTP%2BSite.tiff" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="313" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HQjxP56QPlc/VL4DNW03FPI/AAAAAAAAAxA/r9JKCzuzTzo/s1600/Existing%2BRinconada%2BWTP%2BSite.tiff" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DOVfYeV044Q/VL4DYkOgJpI/AAAAAAAAAxI/ioLwjpA0meM/s1600/Existing%2BRinconada%2BWater%2BTreatment%2BPlant-Aerial.tiff" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="232" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DOVfYeV044Q/VL4DYkOgJpI/AAAAAAAAAxI/ioLwjpA0meM/s1600/Existing%2BRinconada%2BWater%2BTreatment%2BPlant-Aerial.tiff" width="400" /> </a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "noteworthy light"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Noteworthy Light";"><span style="font-family: "noteworthy light"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Noteworthy Light";"><span style="font-family: "noteworthy light"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Noteworthy Light";"><i> Existing<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> Rinconada Water Treatment Facility</span></span></i> </span></span> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "noteworthy light"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Noteworthy Light";"> </span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IVv3utP9W8Q/VL4DopeGjFI/AAAAAAAAAxQ/0iiB1l1f88k/s1600/Expansion%2BOf%2BRinconada%2BWTP.tiff" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IVv3utP9W8Q/VL4DopeGjFI/AAAAAAAAAxQ/0iiB1l1f88k/s1600/Expansion%2BOf%2BRinconada%2BWTP.tiff" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "noteworthy light"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Noteworthy Light";">Recently the twelve 2000 hp
pumps at the Pacheco Pumping Plant on the west end of San Luis Reservoir had to
be replaced after 25 years of service at a cost of $13 million. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "noteworthy light"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Noteworthy Light";">The Water
District's surplus Delta water stored in Kern County's groundwater basin will
be recovered at an additional cost of $12 million to reverse the flow of the
California Aqueduct for about 100 miles, more than tripling the cost of remote water banking from
$165/acre-ft. to $565/ac.-ft. That's in addition to the $40 million per year contract costs of the two aqueducts that were suppose to deliver water directly to SCVWD. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "noteworthy light"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Noteworthy Light";">Depending on the amount of water delivered annually, the unit costs for using these two conveyance systems ranges from $160 for 250,000 ac-ft to $1,000 if and when only 40,000 ac-ft were available. In 2014, 70,000 ac-ft of Delta water plus 35,000 ac-ft of recovered Semitropic Bank water withdrawal were conveyed through the two aqueducts, for a unit cost of $380 per ac-ft. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "noteworthy light"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Noteworthy Light";">With the reverse flow
project added to the contract costs, Delta water from the Semitropic Water
Bank will cost the SCVWD over $945 per ac-ft. or more if imported water deliveries
fall below 100,000 ac-ft.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "noteworthy light"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Noteworthy Light";">As the cost of the Water District’s
imported water continues to rise, local reliability projects like water use
efficiency and water recycling become the obviously preferable alternative.
However, due to what I call "asset inertia" projects intended to increase the reliability of Delta water continue to be funded by the Board of Directors, who seem oblivious to the response to both State and other local agencies who realize it's time to rely less, not more, on Delta water deliveries. After sixty years of a growing reliance on water from remote watersheds, a sensible
revision of our local water policy would be to shift immediately to increasing
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Never Thirst! Pat Ferrarohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13523261897628526771noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8405251446045446804.post-6331046651546685322014-01-23T11:33:00.000-08:002016-02-21T14:18:57.796-08:00Silicon Valley's Roots Return As "Urban Agriculture"With the passage of <a href="http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/13-14/bill/asm/ab_0551-0600/ab_551_bill_20130928_chaptered.pdf" target="_blank">AB 551</a>, the State of California has blessed the concept and is encouraging local land use agencies to designate <a href="http://blogs.kusp.org/landuse/2014/01/20/urban-farming/" target="_blank">Urban Agricultural Incentive Zones</a>. In this drought year especially, this is a signal that cities throughout California should be re-thinking their land use policies to foster more local food production, while reducing their dependance on industrial agriculture. In San Jose, we can leverage this new legislation to both increase our local food security <b>and</b> protect our local groundwater.<br />
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One of my greatest pleasures is growing my own vegetables and fruit both at home and in a nearby community garden, which holds the honor of being the first in this state permitted to use recycled water from our wasted-water treatment plant. This drought proof water source adds to a diverse water supply portfolio, which includes local surface and groundwater and three aqueducts that have dubious reliability and higher energy demands than our local supply options.<br />
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Silicon Valley, also still known as Santa Clara Valley, evolved from a major food production and processing economy to economies that function, in part, from the use of silicon-based microchips.<br />
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The mild Mediterranean climate and fertile soil of the valley remains above and below the engineered hardscape of nearly 400 square miles of urban development.<br />
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In addition, San Jose possesses another piece of natural capital that was essential to this valley becoming both of these successive great economic centers: two adjacent groundwater basins capable of supplying up to 250 million gallons of water per day. The geology of the area blessed us with sand and gravel sediments that carry surface water into depths below a 200-foot cap of fine silts, deposited in flooded wetlands over thousands of years of rising sea levels.<br />
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This geologic process of layering sediment creates a special concern for how we use the land in the Coyote Valley. This upper region acts as a kind of a forebay for the groundwater basin in the northern part of the county, which serves the 13 cities that now comprise much of Silicon Valley. As sediment eroded from the eastern mountain range into the valleys below, the gravels and larger materials settle out mostly at the top of the alluvial fans. These gravel deposits are often mined for aggregate for concrete and asphalt.<br />
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The high porosity of this gravel-filled narrow valley makes it extremely vulnerable to contamination from any pollutants that are discharged onto the land or into Coyote and Fisher Creeks that traverse the 10 mile length of the Coyote Valley.<br />
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Pollutants, once reaching the usually high groundwater table of the Coyote Valley, move quickly down-gradient toward the thousands of private and municipal wells serving nearly 2 million residents and workers in the urban areas to the north.<br />
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The <a href="http://coyotevalley.sanjoseca.gov/coyotevalley/docs/General_Plan_Excepts.pdf" target="_blank">Coyote Valley has been designated in the City of San Jose's General Plan as an urban reserve </a>with a third of the land at the southern end designated for permanent green belt. Triggers are also described for under what conditions a transit-oriented Specific Plan would be allowed.<br />
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Under this new legislation, the City of San Jose could propose to designate this 7,000-acre Coyote Valley ALL as an <a href="http://blogs.kusp.org/landuse/2014/01/20/urban-farming/" target="_blank">Urban Agricultural Incentive Zone</a>. Because of the potential for groundwater contamination, the area should also be restricted to organic agriculture only.<br />
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Here, it's good to mention a little wisdom from former New Jersey Governor Christine Whitman, who also served as Administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency under George W. Bush: <i><b>"Some watershed land simply must not be developed. Its natural value in buffering, storing, filtering and recharging far exceeds whatever commercial value it may hold." (Cover letter from "Protecting the Source" Trust For Public Land, copyright 1998)</b></i><br />
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This could be a plank in a mayoral candidate's platform for a creating a sustainable San Jose, addressing both food security and water quality protection. It could also be an excellent joint powers project of the <a href="http://www.openspaceauthority.org/" target="_blank">Santa Clara County Open Space Authority</a> and the <a href="http://valleywater.org/" target="_blank">Santa Clara Valley Water District</a> (SCVWD). <br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">There are other</span> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: small;">reasons</span> <span style="font-size: small;">that the Coyote Valley should
be preserved as permanent open space:</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">•<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>Laguna Seca should be preserved
and re-established as a vernal wetland, creating habitat and reducing
potential flooding in downtown San Jose</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">•<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>A wildlife corridor across Coyote
Valley should be established between the Diablo and Santa Cruz ranges</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">•<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>Buffer setbacks from Coyote and Fisher Creeks should be preserved to protect the ecosystem of the
riparian corridor</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>A
Joint Powers Authority with </i>Santa Clara Valley Water District and the Santa Clara County Open Space Authority could be formed as a financing option for the Coyote Valley acquisition. The rationale for this is based on
SCVWD’s water supply goal to aggressively
protect groundwater from the threat of contamination. SCVWD also has a water resources stewardship goal to promote the protection of creeks, bays and other
aquatic ecosystems from threats of pollution and degradation. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This
partnership would give access to existing and future State and local water
bonds as a significant funding source. The current <a href="http://cf.valleywater.org/About_Us/Board_of_directors/Board_meetings/_2013_Published_Meetings//MG51970/AS51983/AI52040/DO52167/DO_52167.pdf" target="_blank">Open Space Credit</a>, applied
to subsidized commercial agricultural pumping rates of $6.5 million per year, is enough to
service the debt on $65 million in revenue bonds, providing funds for acquisition
of conservation easements on 6500 acres @$10,000/acre.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This may
well be the biggest pollution prevention project ever funded by the District,
but one that will benefit future generations with a clean, safe and reliable
groundwater supply in perpetuity. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I am also campaigning to extend that previously mentioned farm
water subsidy to urban community agriculture, including larger commercial
ventures like <a href="http://veggielution.org/">Veggielution</a> in San Jose and <a href="http://www.fullcirclesunnyvale.org/">Full Circle Farm</a> in Sunnyvale. I’ve
asked Senator Jim Beall to consider a bill to remove the “commercial”
restrictions for receiving the subsidy so all <a href="http://www.sanjoseca.gov/index.aspx?NID=599">community gardens</a> in the county
could receive irrigation water at the lower rate. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VBlzL26ymIM/UuCwcY2hs5I/AAAAAAAAAh8/uA6UcDxe9rU/s1600/VeggielutionCrew.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="166" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VBlzL26ymIM/UuCwcY2hs5I/AAAAAAAAAh8/uA6UcDxe9rU/s1600/VeggielutionCrew.jpg" width="320" /></a> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> After all, the Valley of Heart’s Delight still exists; it’s just hidden beneath our feet.</span></span><br />
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<br />Never Thirst! Pat Ferrarohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13523261897628526771noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8405251446045446804.post-42279503702919898962013-10-23T16:00:00.002-07:002014-01-26T00:19:53.528-08:00Butterflies Are NOT Free, Especially When They're Butterfly Valves Connected to Delta Pumps<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Control valve for one of the six pumps at the Central Valley Project's Jones Pumping Plant at the southern end of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. </div>
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Last Friday, I spent 10 hours with my old friends at the Santa Clara Valley Water District. Forty members of various District advisory committees were given a one-day tour of our newest water importation system, the San Felipe Division of the Federal Central Valley Project. For a <a href="http://neverthirstpatferraro.blogspot.com/2008/06/effluent-for-affluentinside-poop-on-san.html" target="_blank">more complete history of this project click here.</a><br />
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The purpose of the tour was to educate the committee members and let them engage with the District staff and two Board members (<a href="http://valleywater.org/About/NaiHsueh.aspx" target="_blank">Nai Hsueh</a> and <a href="http://valleywater.org/About/LindaLeZotte.aspx" target="_blank">Linda LeZotte</a>) about the water pumping, storage and conveyance infrastructure in place to obtain this imported water. More importantly it also showed us what's needed to maintain the continuance of supply tapped from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. I was invited as a retired Director, although lately I've been advertising <a href="http://www.neverthirstpatferraro.blogspot.com/2013/06/being-unretired.html" target="_blank">Being Unretired</a>. During self-introductions, I said I was with the tour to also discuss how the SCVWD can rely LESS on the Delta imports and more on locally produced recycled water. I also said that we need to protect the quality of our valuable local groundwater basin by creating a Coyote Valley Organic Farming Preserve.<br />
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My seat mate on the tour bus was <a href="mailto:mturner@gilroy.org" target="_blank">Mark Turner</a>, President of the <a href="http://www.gilroy.org/our-chamber/contact-us.php" target="_blank">Gilroy Chamber of Commerce</a>, who was brand new to the job and eager to learn more about our valley's water resources management. Sitting next to Professor Ferraro and right behind the staff and Board members, he was in a great place to do just that.<br />
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Our first stop was at the US Bureau of Reclamation's visitors center on Highway 152, overlooking the Los Banos Grande Dam and 2 million ac-ft capacity reservoir. Today, the reservoir sits at 15% of its capacity and has been the poster child for agriculture's wrath for the fish-protection restrictions on the Delta pumping. This reservoir receives water pumped by both the Federal Central Valley Project and the State Water Project. President Kennedy joined Governor Pat Brown in 1961 for the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzP0MzCFmts" target="_blank">groundbreaking ceremony</a>.<br />
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Both aqueducts deliver water into the O'Neil Forebay, from which a battery of pumps lifts the Delta water into this enormous off-stream reservoir. These same pumps spin backwards to generate electricity as water is later released to farmers throughout the San Joaquin Valley. This year, through ecosystem collapse mitigation measures, pumping from the South Delta was curtailed and a million ac-ft of water was instead released through the Delta to avoid further harm to endangered fish species.<br />
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The San Felipe Aqueduct draws water from Los Banos Grande Reservoir by a 300 ft lift station at the west end of the reservoir. Twelve- 2,000 HP pumps push the water up to a terminal tank, which feeds the tunnels,. The tunnels were drilled by a Federal contractor through the Gabilan Mountains, between 1978 and 1987. Pipelines take the water south to San Benito County Water District and north to Santa Clara Valley Water District, terminating at a 12,000 HP pump station at the base of Andersen Dam in Morgan Hill.<br />
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The primary reason for this tour became clearer as our second stop was on the banks of the Sacramento River near the town of Hood, about 10 miles south of California's Capitol City of Sacramento. Visiting this site gives me the same feeling I had after walking through a Civil War battlefield. It was here that the Peripheral Canal would have diverted water from the Sacramento River, if a 1982 referendum had not stopped its construction. In many ways this was a Civil War in the Bear Republic of California. While the pumping from the Delta had been ongoing for decades, Delta and Northern California interests were calling the Peripheral Canal a water grab by Southern California. The referendum campaign demonized San Joaquin farmers and other water contractors south of the Delta as extravagant water wasters, undeserving of this precious water supply they had grown used to over the past decades.<br />
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Thirty-some years later, Governor Jerry Brown's Administration 2.0 is again trying to fix the Delta ecosystems and make water deliveries south of the Delta more reliable. This time, knowing both the opposition and the future impacts of sea level rise, the proposed water bypass is a pair of twin tunnels to deliver cleaner water to the pumps in the South Delta. The co-equal goal with water delivery reliability is ecosystem restoration. Returning 140,000 acres of farmland to aquatic habitat will enable fisheries to re-establish healthy and sustainable communities in the greatly human-modified environment of today's Delta.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hIfgkNGLMsc/UmckYVIF1HI/AAAAAAAAAes/qR5M-k9qCQE/s1600/ProposedDeltaBypassSystem.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hIfgkNGLMsc/UmckYVIF1HI/AAAAAAAAAes/qR5M-k9qCQE/s320/ProposedDeltaBypassSystem.gif" height="320" width="288" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
The tour stopped for lunch at an East Bay Regional Park named Big Break Visitor Center at the Delta in Oakley and adjacent to a now-flooded island, which was ironically already called "Big Break." The most fascinating feature in the park was a walkable 2500 sq ft. relief map of the Delta and surrounding area, from Mt. Diablo to Sacramento.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XQXcO-hnXrA/Umc6XRVZIRI/AAAAAAAAAe4/h5dvkC3ycAE/s1600/DeltaReliefMap@BigBreakPark.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XQXcO-hnXrA/Umc6XRVZIRI/AAAAAAAAAe4/h5dvkC3ycAE/s320/DeltaReliefMap@BigBreakPark.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
After lunch, we watched some incredible animation of a simulation of multiple levee failures, which are likely to happen during a severe earthquake. The presenter, <span class="st">former <i>DWR</i> employee and Metropolitan Water District </span>consultant <a href="mailto:schmutte@me.com" target="_blank">Curt Schmutte</a>, outlined the key threats to the Delta levees as well as the stressors to the aquatic ecosystem.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zqCJuMibWR0/Umdifgo6zII/AAAAAAAAAfI/puRtpUdz_EQ/s1600/Key+Delta+Risks.tiff" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zqCJuMibWR0/Umdifgo6zII/AAAAAAAAAfI/puRtpUdz_EQ/s320/Key+Delta+Risks.tiff" height="250" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-u6A56CpzIWc/UmdjB1pCV_I/AAAAAAAAAfQ/oUzqbOnyluo/s1600/Loss+of+Delta+Wetlands.tiff" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-u6A56CpzIWc/UmdjB1pCV_I/AAAAAAAAAfQ/oUzqbOnyluo/s320/Loss+of+Delta+Wetlands.tiff" height="207" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
Similar discussions are going on in every water-related venue and gathering. Ellen Hanak of PPIC created this slide:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-l8rjjJs0txs/Umg0mbNpHvI/AAAAAAAAAfg/A_M-My4T3Ds/s1600/FiveDeltaEcoStressors.tiff" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-l8rjjJs0txs/Umg0mbNpHvI/AAAAAAAAAfg/A_M-My4T3Ds/s320/FiveDeltaEcoStressors.tiff" height="229" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
These realities are difficult to overcome but the same conversation is again taking place as the State and its many Delta water users propose to address the problems. The Delta farmers lead the pack of oppositional sectors. They simply want to maintain the status quo, and continue to have the state fix their levees so the water quality will be protected and the Delta remain an artificially-maintained fresh water pool.<br />
<br />
The Delta farmers align themselves with fishing groups, recreational boating interests, and some, but not all, environmental groups. While some NGO's have been deeply involved in developing today's proposed solutions, others won't risk their reputation (and their donor base) to try to educate the public on this very complex problem and the range of solutions being suggested to fix California's biggest water management headache.<br />
<br />
Our final stop on the Delta tour was what all this discussion was leading to- keeping the pumps already built in the South Delta running. We toured the Jones Pumping Plant, built by the US Bureau of Reclamation around 1950, to pump Delta water into a canal which flows upstream in the San Joaquin Valley to the Mendota Pool. This makes 3 million acres of desert bloom with billions of dollars worth of crops.<br />
<br />
During our tour, only three of the six pumps were operating, delivering only 5,000 ac-ft of water per day into the Delta-Mendota Canal. Here's a short video of what one pump sounds like:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzkmAbgEtAEe8MK4RJNOk0kNRy1zmIkbVJtp640kYhqE5-VaSea5sb0cuLOy_5EO6fID4f7M8qtmG3_cl48vA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">•<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">C.W. Bill Jones Pumping Plant</span> lies
at the terminus of the Delta Cross Channel and moves water into the
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Delta-Mendota Canal</span>. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">•<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>The plant has six separate pumps, built from 1947
to 1951. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">•<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Each pump, powered by a 22,250 hp motor, lifts
up to 767 cfs of water 197 ft into three 15 ft-diameter pipes that lead to the
Delta-Mendota Canal, for a combined capacity of 4,602 cfs (9,200 ac-ft/day)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">•<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>The Delta-Mendota Canal carries water 117 miles
upstream through the San Joaquin Valley, terminating at the <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Mendota Pool</span>, a
reservoir on the <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">San Joaquin River</span>. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Nearby, a second set of pumps built for the State Water Project was built in 1960 to deliver water to Kern County farmers, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, and, through the South Bay Aqueduct, the South Bay water agencies (Zone 7, Alameda County Water District and Santa Clara Valley Water District.)<br />
<br />
SCVWD's costs for being the only water agency contracting with both the SWP and CVP is currently about $40 million per year. The estimated cost for the the BDCP facilities is estimated to be $580/ac-ft on top of our existing costs. Our contractual entitlements total 250,000 ac-ft of of the 6 million ac-ft of total export contracts, or about 4% of the total. The District currently estimates wholesale water rates in the North County to rise from $680/ac-ft to $1344/ac-ft in ten years.<br />
<br />
As the title of this post suggests, the additional cost to keep the Delta pumps and their butterfly valves operating will be a very long way from free.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-586w0jrMXeg/UmhUGCIx8iI/AAAAAAAAAfw/hWDl1cnaQOQ/s1600/100_0435.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-586w0jrMXeg/UmhUGCIx8iI/AAAAAAAAAfw/hWDl1cnaQOQ/s320/100_0435.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />Never Thirst! Pat Ferrarohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13523261897628526771noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8405251446045446804.post-47012362090968831942013-06-23T16:58:00.003-07:002016-02-21T14:19:38.288-08:00Being Unretired<style>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><i><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Being Un-retired</span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.0pt;">As a Former Director,
Santa Clara Valley Water District</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-r3k2cAlUxrc/UcuAIpDDqSI/AAAAAAAAAb0/jG1jNElqrYc/s1600/PatrickFerraro.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-r3k2cAlUxrc/UcuAIpDDqSI/AAAAAAAAAb0/jG1jNElqrYc/s320/PatrickFerraro.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Written for Association of Retired
District Employees, June 19, 2013</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.0pt;">
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.0pt;">After 23
years of service, in 1995, I resigned my elected seat on the SCVWD Board of
Directors and took on the responsibility of leading a newly-formed non-profit
organization named The Silicon Valley Pollution Prevention Center whose mission
was to identify sources of water pollution in our local watersheds and convince
polluters to change behavior to eliminate their emissions so the water would
not require so much costly end-of-pipe treatment. The board of directors of
this organization were themselves executives of industry, government and the
NGO’s that had filed the Clean Water Act lawsuit against the South Bay
dischargers who were then in violation of their discharge permits. Board
discussions served as ongoing mediation to determine pragmatic solutions to
preventing water pollution and avoid further litigation. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Through
numerous educational symposia, we worked with our stakeholders to identify
activities and sources, which produced degradation of local water quality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We worked closely with municipal and industry
officials and started with “low hanging fruit” like used oil filter
collection/recycling, and began the long process of replacing plastic shopping
bags with canvas totes. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We worked hard
to get manufacturers to recycle high-quality deionized rinse water and reduce
their water demand and sewer discharge by 80%. Harder issues like land use and
extended producer responsibility of electronic products generated by many
Silicon Valley companies were a tougher nut to crack and eventually made the
industrial members lose interest in continuing the dialogue. The Board voted in
2003 to close the organization after eight years and not renew my employment
contract.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.0pt;">This
timing coincided with my medical leave to get bi-lateral hip replacement,
giving me back the mobility that I had suddenly lost earlier in the year. The
next few years were the closest I came to being retired. My wife, Cari, was
happy to have me home to complete many of my long-deferred maintenance projects
on our creek-side home. I sold the last of the moving vans I owned, as I knew
those days were certainly behind me. (Many ARDE members were former clients of
Ferraro Van Lines.) I used the money from selling the truck to install 36 100-watt
solar voltaic panels on my roof plus a solar water heater. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.0pt;">My desire
to return to teaching to give<a href="http://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a> back what I had learned
during my unconventional engineering career took several years to materialize.
I had applied to teach at both San Jose State and De Anza College soon after
retiring from SCVWD. I had taught courses at Santa Clara University and
Evergreen College during the mid 1970s, and in 1986 I taught a course at SJSU
on Groundwater Remediation as a way to better understand the cleanup
technologies and our precious groundwater basin. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.0pt;">In 2009,
the SJSU Environmental Studies Department needed a lecturer, on very short
notice, to teach Water Policy and Water Management to non-engineers in the
College of Social Sciences. Since I already had prepared a syllabus for one of
these courses when I had applied earlier, I was able to “hit the ground
running” and was hired and have been on the faculty since then, enjoying the
role of professor and resident “water guru,” as my department chair calls me.
I’m also planning on applying to teach similar courses at Santa Clara
University and give back to the Jesuit teaching syndicate that educated me at
Loyola (Marymount) University in Los Angeles.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.0pt;">In May of
2013, I decided to get back into politics by applying for a vacant seat on the
Santa Clara County Open Space Authority (OSA) Board of Directors to fill out
the term of the director in my electoral district, who resigned when his family
relocated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This position also required
someone who could “hit the ground running” so the OSA Board chose a candidate
who had held the seat before the current incumbent. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.0pt;">However,
when I interviewed for the OSA position I addressed the board in a way that
would educate the agency and promote my passion for protecting water quality.
Knowing the high porosity of the Coyote Valley alluvium and other ecosystem
values it contained, I summarized all the reasons that the Coyote Valley should
be preserved as permanent open space:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">•<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Laguna Seca should be preserved
and re-established as a vernal wetlands, creating habitat and reducing
potential flooding in downtown San Jose</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">•<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.0pt;">A wildlife corridor across Coyote
Valley should be established between Diablo and Santa Cruz range</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">•<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Buffer setbacks from main stem of
Coyote and Fisher Creek should be preserved to protect the ecosystem of the
riparian corridor.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">•<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Remaining lands should be
preserved as organic farming to minimize adverse impact to aquifer water
quality</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Finally I
proposed a financing option for the Coyote Valley acquisition:</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.0pt;">A
Joint Powers Authority with Santa Clara Valley Water District</span></i><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.0pt;">. The rationale for this is based on
SCVWD’s Water Supply goal in its ends governance policies to aggressively
protect groundwater from the threat of contamination. SCVWD also has a Water
Resources Stewardship goal to promote the protection of creeks, bays and other
aquatic ecosystems from threats of pollution and degradation. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.0pt;">This
partnership would give access to existing and future State and local water
bonds as a significant funding source. The current Open Space Credit, applied
to subsidize agricultural pumping rates, of $6.5 million per year is enough to
service the debt on $65 million in revenue bonds, providing funds for acquisition
of 6500 acres @$10,000/acre.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.0pt;">I
followed this effort with discussions with four of the seven sitting directors
of the SCVWD Board and received favorable responses.<s> </s></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.0pt;">In June
2013, I attended a <a href="http://www.santaclara.lafco.ca.gov/service_reviews/water_2011_publicdraft/03_Santa%20Clara%20Valley%20Water%20District.pdf">SCVWD stakeholder meeting reviewing the Open Space Credit</a>
currently applied to commercial agricultural water rates and presented this
proposal for their consideration as well. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.0pt;">This may
well be the biggest pollution prevention project ever funded by the District,
but one that will benefit future generations with a clean, safe and reliable
groundwater supply in perpetuity. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.0pt;">After
that, maybe I can really retire. What that will look like would involve
continuing to raise fruit and vegetables at home and in the Guadalupe Community
Garden, the first one in California permitted to use recycled water. It would
also include continuing my campaign to extend that previously mentioned farm
water subsidy to urban community agriculture, including larger commercial
ventures like <a href="http://veggielution.org/">Veggielution</a> in San Jose and <a href="http://www.fullcirclesunnyvale.org/">Full Circle Farm</a> in Sunnyvale. I’ve
asked Senator Jim Beall to consider a bill to remove the “commercial”
restrictions for receiving the subsidy so all <a href="http://www.sanjoseca.gov/index.aspx?NID=599">community gardens</a> in the county
could receive irrigation water at the lower rate. After all, the <a href="http://neverthirstpatferraro.blogspot.com/2009/04/san-jose-gets-back-to-its-roots.html">Valley of Heart’s Delight</a> still exists; it’s just hidden beneath our feet.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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Never Thirst! Pat Ferrarohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13523261897628526771noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8405251446045446804.post-63209633446821831432010-06-25T14:34:00.000-07:002013-06-26T17:48:16.223-07:00Summer Solstice 2010Due to my <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">commitment</span> to lecturing at San Jose State University for the past 10 months, this blog has been reduced, for the time being, to a semi-annual salute to Earth's position in its annual cycle around the sun - the midway points of extreme posture toward our life-giving sun, days we call the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Solstice</span>. On this Solstice, in the northern hemisphere of the planet, the days are the longest, in the southern half of the Earth, the nights are the longest. On these days, Earthlings <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">everywhere</span> gather, as we complement each other with the same honoring ceremonies across the planet. It's a good time to remember and honor our Mother planet, who holds all our ancestors before us. We also celebrate the commonality of all peoples and all life on the planet.<br />
<br />
These ceremonies predate what we call civilization, as people studied the stars for at least a millennium before science ever began to evolve in human consciousness and give us understanding of planetary physics and celestial movement. Today we can enjoy <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dxEddhgToM&feature=related" style="color: #3333ff;">visualizing the entire universe through YouTube</a> or any medium available for watching <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">spectacular</span> graphics and knowledge packaged by the best <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">videographers</span> available.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N-Y-fLka4ZQ/TCUn6ShPyNI/AAAAAAAAAX0/lzCouXqcCfE/s1600/P1010049.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486835603377998034" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N-Y-fLka4ZQ/TCUn6ShPyNI/AAAAAAAAAX0/lzCouXqcCfE/s200/P1010049.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 150px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 200px;" /></a>That wouldn't be me, with my 10-year old Olympus digital camera, but I will share some of the Summer Solstice ceremony in which I had the honor to attend, hosted and produced by <span style="color: #ff9900;">Sergio Martinez and Angelica <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">del</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Gato</span></span> this past Sunday. They live along Coyote Creek also, about 300 feet upstream, on the bank next to the William St. bridge. Their home is the farmhouse where the Ferrari family lived and tended the orchard, which was here before becoming 8 duplexes. I'm in great awe and appreciate the great deal of work to organize and prepare their yard and the food for all the celebrants lucky enough to join them in this celebration of life at this significant place on our planet's journey around the sun.<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxY0keRGvZKfbzPoSRu40ARYiI51VIEla6RUoKX_YtvmdTbKSp1e5qcibSGYV_r24vdNQXpLMX-FY4T3FK81g' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br />
<br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N-Y-fLka4ZQ/TCUzfN96lLI/AAAAAAAAAYE/r9TEBoG9oFk/s1600/P1010046.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486848332439131314" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N-Y-fLka4ZQ/TCUzfN96lLI/AAAAAAAAAYE/r9TEBoG9oFk/s320/P1010046.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 240px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a>The shaman for part of the ceremony spoke of the Aztec calendar and <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">counting</span> system based on 2o instead of 10, as most of the modern world uses for metrics of time and space, except for <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">astrophysicists</span>, who use light-years. My reading of Mayan and Aztec culture's had informed me that these cultures used 20 instead of 10 for the simple reason that we have 20 fingers AND toes, and they're what we first used to count with. And coincidentally, this year in the world's business calendar, it happens to be the year we call 2010. Sounds like a perfect year to bring together the old <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">mezzo</span>-American calendar and the modern world we are living in today.<br />
<br />
For a great ride through time and space. I recommend viewing a segment of the series from the National Geographic Channel called <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PV0ACIykxQI"><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Birth of the Universe</span></a> We are truly star dust in awe of stardust.<br />
Blessed Be!Never Thirst! Pat Ferrarohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13523261897628526771noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8405251446045446804.post-56860248769627828352009-12-26T10:50:00.000-08:002013-06-26T21:26:50.676-07:00Rounding Out the Circle of the Solar Trip we call 2009<script src="http://www.freefoto.com/imagelink/?ffid=45-11-54&s=s" type="text/javascript"></script><br />
Hello my fellow <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Earthship</span></span> mates.<br />
<br />
I have been so absent from blogger land these past four months because I can only do so much key board time until repetitive motion cripples my upper right side. All I need is a good voice command typing program under my solstice bush.<br />
<br />
But I have been on my keyboard a great deal during the last four months in order to create 27 seventy-five minute multimedia presentations for the class I taught last semester at San Jose State University. The course was titled <a href="http://sites.google.com/site/envs129/" style="color: #3366ff; font-weight: bold;">Water Policy in The Western United States</a> and was taught in the Environmental Studies Department and known through the <a href="http://info.sjsu.edu/home/catalog.html" style="color: #3366ff;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">SJSU</span> catalog</a> as <a href="http://info.sjsu.edu/web-dbgen/catalog/courses/ENVS129.html" style="color: #3366ff;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">EnvS</span></span></a><span style="color: #3366ff;"> 129</span>. All the lecture notes, course syllabus (called <span style="color: #006600;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">greensheets</span></span>, even though they're not when they are printed on paper), quizzes & the final exam are published in <a href="http://sites.google.com/site/envs129/" style="color: #3366ff;">this google-powered web site</a> for the world to use as it will: <a href="http://sites.google.com/site/envs129/" style="color: #3366ff;">http://sites.google.com/site/envs129/</a><br />
<br />
I have received much encouragement from friends, colleagues and the students themselves in regard to my teaching this past semester. I am also honored and challenged to teach a second course in the Spring 2010 semester on the more numeric side of water resources called MANAGEMENT. This course is listed as <a href="http://info.sjsu.edu/web-dbgen/catalog/courses/ENVS128.html" style="color: #3366ff;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">EnvS</span> 128</a> and requires prerequisites of Statistics and basic Chemistry. I consider that the students will arrive with brains exposed to the type of discipline required in those courses.The <a href="http://sites.google.com/site/envs128waterresources/">web site for EnvS 128</a> is now "under construction" with as minimal of a footprint that I can MANAGE<br />
<br />
<br />
But I am not there to teach students to be engineers. There is another college a few feet (<a href="http://info.sjsu.edu/web-dbgen/catalog/courses/CE150.html"><span style="color: #3366ff;">and clicks</span>)</a> away which <a href="http://info.sjsu.edu/web-dbgen/catalog/courses/CE170.html" style="color: #3366ff;">trains minds to conduct water engineering work</a>. Most of the students come to the these courses in the College of Social Science to learn how they can help in building a sustainable future, but they certainly won't be ALL part of an engineering team to physically build parts of a water system.<br />
<br />
Every student does, however, participate in using and paying for the water infrastructure components that are proposed and built by <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">engineers</span> and marketed and funded with the great influence of business and government. What they need to know is the language of the engineers, so they can engage in critical thinking and PARTICIPATE competently during the public review process, where many powerful self-interests are often poised and ready to override the public good and public trust of the environment and build some public (WATER) work that is going to have serious negative impacts and , in the long run, threaten our species and the sustainability of the ecosystem, which weaves together all our species.<br />
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My deepest ethics about water resources are <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">succinctly</span> expressed in <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFMN-pQDn04">this seven-minute student video</a>, titled <span style="font-size: 130%;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFMN-pQDn04" style="color: #3333ff; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Rain Dance</a></span> The film maker is named Amanda <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Levensohn</span> and she certainly would have received an A+ if she were doing this work in one of my classes.<br />
<object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/XFMN-pQDn04&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/XFMN-pQDn04&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="425"></embed></object>Never Thirst! Pat Ferrarohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13523261897628526771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8405251446045446804.post-87801428652787633462009-08-28T15:56:00.000-07:002009-08-29T18:04:40.925-07:00Seven Elected Water Board Bill Passes State SenateThe Santa Clara Valley Water District Board was successful in bulldozing its way through the legislature and managed a nearly unanimous vote on AB 466(Cot0), with Senator Simitian of Palo Alto being the only No vote.<br /><br />Lobbying against the bottomless bank accounts of the Golden Spigot (as Scott Herhold of the SJ Mercury likes to call it) would have been a wasted effort to appear at the hearings in Sacramento to try to stop this effort. But I continued to <a style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);" href="http://neverthirstpatferraro.blogspot.com/2009/04/letter-to-senator-joe-simitian-re.html">post a better alternative in my blog</a> and posted <a style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0);" href="http://www.senatorsimitian.com/main/contact">a link to Senator Simitian web site to send him comments.</a> At least one of the County's Sacramento delegation is awake and understands bad politics when he sees it.<br /><br />For the record, the following is the Legislative Analyst's description of the impact of the new bill and the record of votes in the Assembly and the Senate:<br /><pre>THIRD READING<br /><br />Bill No: AB 466<br />Author: Coto (D)<br />Amended: 6/30/09 in Senate<br />Vote: 21<br /><br /> <br /><u>SENATE LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE </u> : 5-0, 6/17/09<br />AYES: Wiggins, Cox, Aanestad, Kehoe, Wolk<br /><br /><u>SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE </u> : Senate Rule 28.8<br /><br /><u>ASSEMBLY FLOOR </u> : 73-0, 5/14/09 - See last page for vote<br /><br /><br /><u>SUBJECT </u> : Santa Clara Valley Water District<br /><br /><u>SOURCE </u> : Santa Clara Valley Water District<br /><br /><u>DIGEST </u> : <br />This bill changes the composition and<br />representation of the Santa Clara Valley Water District<br />Board effective December 3, 2010, expands a district<br />exemption from special fees, and makes other governance<br />changes.<br /><br /><u>Senate Floor Amendments </u> of 6/30/09 clarify when District<br />directors' terms start.<br /><br /><u>ANALYSIS </u> :<br /><br />I. <u> Board of Directors </u> . A seven-member board of<br />directors governs the Santa Clara Valley Water District<br />(District), reflecting a compromise that combined the<br />former Santa Clara Valley Water Conservation District,<br />the former Santa Clara County Flood Control and Water<br />Conservation District, and two other water districts.<br />The former Santa Clara Valley Water Conservation<br />District had an elected five-member board. The Santa<br />Clara County Board of Supervisors was the ex officio<br />board of the former Santa Clara County Flood Control<br />and Water Conservation district. The two other water<br />districts had their own elected boards. The District's<br />current seven-member board has five elected members;<br />one from each supervisorial district. The county<br />supervisors appoint the two other directors who must be<br />voters within the two former water districts. When the<br />District wants to reduce the board to five elected<br />members, the Legislature eliminated the appointed<br />members of the District's board of directors effective<br />on January 1, 2010, by enacting AB 2435 (Coto), Chapter<br />279, Statutes of 2006.<br /><br />This bill repeals the statutes which will reduce the<br />size of the District's existing seven-member board of<br />directors to five elected directors on January 1, 2010.<br /> <br />This bill enacts a new governance scheme:<br /><br />1. Until December 3, 2020, the board consists of:<br /><br />A. The two appointed directors who served on<br /> the board on December 31, 2008.<br /><br />B. The five elected directors. The two<br /> directors who were elected in 2006 serve until<br /> December 5, 2010. The three directors who were<br /> elected in 2008 serve until December 7, 2012.<br /><br />2. Starting December 3, 2010, the board of<br /> directors consists of seven elected directors.<br /><br />This bill requires the board of directors to adopt by<br />June 30, 2010, a resolution that creates the seven<br />electoral districts. Voters elect directors by these<br />electoral divisions to four-year terms for four<br />designated seats in November 2010 and the three other<br />seats in November 2012. The District's elections and<br />the directors' terms must follow the Uniform District<br />Elections Law. The board must reapportion the<br />electoral districts by November 1 of the year following<br />each decennial census. The bill renumbers the current<br />provisions for filling board vacancies and recalling<br />directors.<br /><br />II. <u> Compensation </u> . The District's directors receive $100<br />for each day's service, but not more than $600 a month,<br />plus actual and necessary expenses. State law requires<br />local governments to adopt reimbursement policies and<br />disclose payments (AB 1234 [Salinas], Chapter 700,<br />Statutes of 2005). This bill requires the District to<br />place quarterly expense reimbursement reports on the<br />board's agenda and to determine if the reimbursements<br />comply with the board's policies. This bill prohibits<br />a member of the District's board of directors from<br />seeking or accepting compensated employment with the<br />District while a director, and for one year after the<br />director's term of office.<br /><br />III. <u> Governance </u> . This bill requires the District's board<br />by July 1, 2010, to adopt lobbying regulations that<br />include registration, reporting, and disclosure<br />requirements. This bill prohibits directors from<br />contacting the District's staff on behalf of contract<br />bidders. This bill prohibits the District's board from<br />authorizing severance pay when an appointed employee<br />leaves voluntarily. This bill requires the District<br />board's minutes to include a public report of actions<br />taken in closed sessions under the Brown Act.<br /><br />IV. <u> Reports</u>. The Ralph M. Brown Act requires local<br />governments to post their agendas, including brief<br />general descriptions of each item, at least 72 hours<br />before their regular meeting. The Brown Act provides<br />that writings which are distributed to a majority of<br />the legislative body are public records and must be<br />made available upon request without delay. With five<br />specific exceptions, this bill requires that reports<br />prepared by the District's staff that recommended<br />action by the board at a regular public meeting or<br />public hearing must be available to the public at least<br />six days before the meeting or hearing. This bill<br />declares that this requirement does not require public<br />release of documents that the California Public Records<br />Act exempts from disclosure. If a staff report's<br />recommendation changes because of direction from a<br />director, the report must disclose that revision.<br /><br />V. <u> Special Taxes </u> . When the District levies special taxes<br />that are subject to a 2/3-voter approval, it may charge<br />minimum uniform rates based on land use category and<br />size. When levying these special taxes, the District<br />can exempt residential parcels that are owned and<br />occupied by taxpayers who are 65 years or older (AB 88<br />[Alquist], Chapter 63, Statutes of 2001). This bill<br />also allows the District to exempt residential parcels<br />that are owned and occupied by taxpayers who qualify as<br />totally disabled under the federal Social Security Act.<br /><br />VI. <u> District Budgets </u> . By June 15, the District's board<br />must meet to consider its proposed budget and hear<br />public comments. At the same meeting, this bill<br />requires the board to review its financial reserves and<br />its reserve management policy.<br /> <u><br />Comments<br /><br /></u>More than 40 years after the district took over the<br />County's flood control duties, local officials continue to<br />discuss how the District should operate. Since the<br />enactment of AB 2435 (Coto), local officials have continued<br />to debate the District's governance. This bill is the<br />result of the latest round of discussions about how to<br />improve the District's accountability, transparency, and<br />responsiveness.<br /><br /><u>FISCAL EFFECT </u> : Appropriation: No; Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: Yes<br /><br /><u>SUPPORT </u> : (Verified 7/1/09)<br /><br />Santa Clara Valley Water District (source)<br />Association of California Water Agencies<br />California Special Districts Association<br />Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce<br />San Jose/Silicon Valley Branch of the National Association<br />for the Advancement of Colored People<br /><br /><br /><u>ASSEMBLY FLOOR </u> :<br />AYES: Adams, Anderson, Arambula, Beall, Bill Berryhill,<br /> Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield, Brownley,<br /> Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter, Chesbro,<br /> Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, DeVore,<br /> Duvall, Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong,<br /> Fuller, Furutani, Galgiani, Gilmore, Hagman, Hall,<br /> Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman,<br /> Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Krekorian, Lieu, Logue, Bonnie<br /> Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Monning, Nava, Nestande,<br /> Niello, Nielsen, John A. Perez, V. Manuel Perez,<br /> Portantino, Price, Ruskin, Salas, Silva, Skinner,<br /> Solorio, Audra Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres,<br /> Torrico, Tran, Villines, Yamada<br /> NO VOTE RECORDED: Ammiano, Fuentes, Gaines, Garrick,<br /> Saldana, Smyth, Bass<br /><br /><br />AGB:cm 7/1/09 Senate Floor Analyses<br /><br /> SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE<br />UNOFFICIAL BALLOT<br />MEASURE: AB 466<br />AUTHOR: Coto<br />TOPIC: Santa Clara Valley Water District.<br />DATE: 08/27/2009<br />LOCATION: SEN. FLOOR<br />MOTION: Assembly 3rd Reading AB466 Coto By Maldonado<br />(AYES 32. NOES 1.) (PASS)<br /><br /><br />AYES<br />****<br /><br />Aanestad Alquist Ashburn Benoit<br />Cogdill Corbett Correa Cox<br />Denham Ducheny Dutton Florez<br />Hancock Harman Hollingsworth Huff<br />Kehoe Leno Liu Lowenthal<br />Maldonado Negrete McLeod Pavley Romero<br />Steinberg Strickland Walters Wiggins<br />Wolk Wright Wyland Yee<br /><br /><br />NOES<br />****<br /><br />Simitian<br /><br /><br />ABSENT, ABSTAINING, OR NOT VOTING<br />*********************************<br /><br />Calderon Cedillo DeSaulnier Oropeza<br />Padilla Price Runner<br /><br /> **** END****<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> </pre> <br /><table><tbody><tr><td> <br /></td></tr></tbody></table>Never Thirst! Pat Ferrarohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13523261897628526771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8405251446045446804.post-84465795024937544782009-08-28T14:45:00.000-07:002009-08-28T16:25:07.492-07:00(BY)Pass the SALTThe State's favorite water fight is brewing up again as a package of legislation moves through the Legislature. The sole intention of this package is to fix the Delta watering hole, with its six million acre feet of straws sucking on it's life giving sustenance.<br /><br /><a style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);" href="http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_13195188?IADID=Search-www.mercurynews.com-www.mercurynews.com">The San Jose Mercury News ran this recent story</a>. <a style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);" href="http://forums.mercurynews.com/topic/opinion-the-south-bay-needs-delta-peripheral-canal">And then STAND BACK and watch the vitriol begin.</a><br /><br />My response is one familiar to those who have read other posts on this blog:<br /><br />In addittion to defending the veracity of Dr. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Meral's</span> op-ed piece, I commented:<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">It is the Delta farmers and boaters that are trying to mislead us again. If you really want to end agriculture in the San Joaquin Valley, stop this vital piece of plumbing from being built.<br /><br />If the canal was built 25 years ago, as the State Legislature and Governor Jerry Brown agreed, 50 million LESS tons of salt would have been deposited on the farmlands as millions of acres were irrigated with salty water from the aqueducts.<br /><br />With sea level rising, this rate of </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">salinization</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"> will increase and the Central Valley farmlands will become permanently destroyed even sooner without the east Delta bypass channel in place. This may serve farmer/speculators well as salted lands are converted to cheap housing and strip malls.<br /><br />It's shameful to watch and even encourage the loss of such a huge agricultural resource, after billions of federal and state dollars were invested in dams, pumps and canals to grow enough food and fiber to feed much of the US and several other countries. Farming uses 80% of the State's developed water.<br /><br />The Canal is really about saving farming not about </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">SoCal</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"> vs </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">NoCal</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">. Please educate yourselves and save us from making the same mistake twice. There won't be a third chance!</span></span>Never Thirst! Pat Ferrarohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13523261897628526771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8405251446045446804.post-78181491218764603172009-07-16T12:23:00.000-07:002013-07-02T11:36:20.087-07:00San Jose Goose News<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N-Y-fLka4ZQ/Sn9EOpHhAFI/AAAAAAAAAPY/rOAiJo3bnKE/s1600-h/MotherGoose.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368084299195154514" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N-Y-fLka4ZQ/Sn9EOpHhAFI/AAAAAAAAAPY/rOAiJo3bnKE/s320/MotherGoose.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 240px; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
For the third year in a row, those humans with drips on their hats, have brought in harassing canines to attack us while our nesting process is in high mode. While we carry out our genetic mandate to PRO-create, these humans continue to show no regard for our place in the universe, here and now.<br />
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Our ancestors flew these paths for thousands of generations. We have always found these wetlands on the way to and from the salty water between the mountains. Each return, we find more habitat is gone and hot black sticky pebbles cover many former water areas. This valley has a bad case of humans.<br />
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The humans also must have water to live. Water goes where they want it, and they seem to use water much more often than there are days of rain. The valley is wet everywhere, all the many days between rains. What wetlands we find, we must use. We must create our next generation, as we share the prime directive of all species that contain the spirit of life.<br />
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<a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_12838031?IADID=Search-www.mercurynews.com-www.mercurynews.com&nclick_check=1" style="color: #3366ff;">The humans say they want to prevent our unused nutrients from entering the water</a>. But this water has already flowed off the upland streams and through their encampments. The water is then collecting human unused nutrients and shiny floating colors on the top. We have tolerated this unfresh water because there is just not any better alternatives. The people encampments are everywhere there is water flowing into the lowlands.<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N-Y-fLka4ZQ/Sn9DvoKr-uI/AAAAAAAAAPQ/PADcy2eCaIM/s1600-h/GeeseButs.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368083766364076770" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N-Y-fLka4ZQ/Sn9DvoKr-uI/AAAAAAAAAPQ/PADcy2eCaIM/s320/GeeseButs.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 240px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
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The editors of Goose News wants to believe that these humans can learn, if we actually are able to get their attention. At the next inter-species congregation, Goose News proposes that a coalition of bird species begin forming word spelling formation groups. Goose News will go from being just another blog, to the spelling of words for humans, and in the actual airways of our home here in this valley.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N-Y-fLka4ZQ/Sn9Et4OAKkI/AAAAAAAAAPg/BH5ovgNEqfs/s1600-h/GooseGaze.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" and="" goose="" head="" of="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N-Y-fLka4ZQ/Sn9Et4OAKkI/AAAAAAAAAPg/BH5ovgNEqfs/s400/GooseGaze.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 300px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 400px;" the="" /></a><span style="color: black;">Father Goose,<br />The Head of Goose News and</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">Mother Goose,<br />the Neck that turns the Head, and Chief Avian Letter-form Designer</span>Never Thirst! Pat Ferrarohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13523261897628526771noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8405251446045446804.post-55822524653747887682009-06-05T13:39:00.000-07:002017-03-06T14:13:59.787-08:00A Meandering Demo(n)-stration on Coyote CreekOn Monday, June 1, the Santa Clara Valley Water District held a "Open House" in the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Olinder</span> School Cafeteria to discuss their flood control options with the surrounding neighborhoods. About 100 people showed up over a four-hour period to be given docent-guided explanations of the dozens of wall maps, charts and graphs depicting the 10 or so options that had so far been considered by the engineering staff of the Water District.<br />
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Many folks showed up to voice their protest about any plans that included removing homes from the creek banks or putting levees around the park to enhance its function as a flood detention basin. <a href="http://neverthirstpatferraro.blogspot.com/2008/09/bridge-that-never-was.html" style="color: #3333ff;">In a separate post</a>, I describe why William Street Park and much of the Coyote Creek park chain was developed for the dual purposes of flood detention and recreation.<br />
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Purely by coincidence, the next day, the Water District conducted what may have appeared as a demonstration of what it would look like to remove a house along the creek. The pics and video below was taken by me on Tuesday. What you see is the pile of sticks which used to be the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Jaffe</span> home on the 300 block of South 17<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">th</span> Street in downtown San Jose on the west bank of Coyote Creek.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N-Y-fLka4ZQ/SiryPdTvWMI/AAAAAAAAAPE/WXcQ9A7cAZY/s1600-h/SCVWDDemoCrew.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5344350255207897282" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N-Y-fLka4ZQ/SiryPdTvWMI/AAAAAAAAAPE/WXcQ9A7cAZY/s320/SCVWDDemoCrew.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 240px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N-Y-fLka4ZQ/SimC5rfafMI/AAAAAAAAAO0/2SWWdEmnquQ/s1600-h/JaffeHouseDemo.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343946360290442434" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N-Y-fLka4ZQ/SimC5rfafMI/AAAAAAAAAO0/2SWWdEmnquQ/s320/JaffeHouseDemo.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 240px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N-Y-fLka4ZQ/SirvmdoubAI/AAAAAAAAAO8/Eiis1mDnkCQ/s1600-h/NonPotableSprayDown.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5344347351898024962" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N-Y-fLka4ZQ/SirvmdoubAI/AAAAAAAAAO8/Eiis1mDnkCQ/s320/NonPotableSprayDown.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 240px; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyGgSkamv8Q1Hyiscyf158lcVUlVaJ0c61zSen6yasakIgs-nXIImsY8ZdtjYbasBEafZd5o2WRkqBF9DFhAg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br />
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The story of why this home was demolished began a few weeks after the <a href="http://www.valleywater.org/services/CoyoteCreek.aspx">January 25, 1997 flood on the Coyote Creek</a>. After the flood stage had passed, the Water District began releasing water from Andersen Reservoir, located 20 miles upstream, for the next six weeks or so. Once they reached the elevation of their "rule curve" someone ordered the valve closed at the dam and the water level in the creek downtown dropped 2-3 feet almost instantaneously. Without the water column as a buttress, the saturated banks did what gravity demands and began flowing out into the river and everything above it collapsed.<br />
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Another home next to and south of the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Jaffe's</span> completely tipped dangerously toward the river, and was soon red tagged and eventually demolished also. There was also some bank failure in the back yard of the home north of the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Jaffe</span> home as well. The slippage of the bank unfortunately occurred in the middle of the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Jaffe</span> home, so part of the house remained habitable for the time being.<br />
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Law suits were, of course, filed against both the District and the City. The District used the immediate defense that the sewer in front of these homes was damaged and leaking and was therefore the cause of the bank failure, not the operation of the reservoir. After I was deposed by the attorney for the home owners, the water District's attorney was not too happy that I supported the theory that the bank slipped due to "draw down failure." In response, they shopped around for someone to write them a report refuting this theory and found a Stanford professor that would back them up, for a considerable fee, of course.<br />
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The District won the case but never felt too good about it, apparently, for in about 2006, the District offered to buy the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Jaffe's</span> home and remove it, as they have now done. This bring the total to five lots on the west bank of Coyote Creek now restored by the Water District to undeveloped parcels between the William Street bridge and the San Antonio Street bridge. The term used by the District (and others) for homes that back up to the creeks is called "encroachment."<br />
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Prior to 1950, before the construction of Andersen Dam, large setbacks from the creek banks were the rule, and streets such as Arroyo Way and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Brookwood</span> Drive did not exist, in respect for the need for such setbacks. The City General Plan today includes a 100 ft. setback for new subdivisions, but is seldom enforced, especially if the developer claims they will lose many <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">buildable</span> lots that the City should buy in order to "create" the setback.<br />
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The District, for years, has been encouraging Cities and the County to not create subdivisions that allowed homes to back up against the creek banks. Streets were encouraged or at least tolerated, even when <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">floodable</span>, as the District could use these paved surfaces for maintenance, while building homes that backed up to the creeks blocked access and created a continuous source of complaints and often litigation.<br />
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In 2000, the voters approved a parcel tax by over a two-thirds margin to fund the "Clean,Safe Creeks and Natural Flood Protection Program." This would generate funds for a period of 15 years to begin several flood control projects throughout the County. One of these projects is the Mid-Coyote Creek planning study, which began near the end of 2007 and has progressed to the state which was on display at the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Olinder</span> Cafeteria on Monday.<br />
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Yesterday, our District 3 Council member, Sam <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Liccardo</span>, notified the neighborhoods that a task force would be appointed from all the neighborhoods surrounding the mid-Coyote Creek, between <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">East Hedding</span> St. upstream to Hwy. 280. Over the course of the next year, alternatives will be evaluated and recommended for consideration by the District. Congress member Zoe <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">Lofgren</span> also sent a letter to the neighbors that stated that no project would move forward without her endorsement and that of the neighborhood.<br />
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Tomorrow, the Water District will conduct a bus tour for those that signed up on the Monday or Wednesday "open house." The tour will start at Andersen Dam and move downstream, following the virtual flood wave through the reservoir and the creek channel below, heading eventually to South San Francisco Bay. This will hopefully help some of the neighbors visualize the daunting task upon the Water District staff to route a flood wave up to 17,000 cubic feet per second through this highly developed metropolis. It will also be a great opportunity to compare the benefits of flood detention to the less popular and more expensive alternatives of channelization.<br />
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But even if most of the flooding can be prevented using the existing reservoirs and other detention facilities like <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">Laguna</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">Seca</span> in Coyote Valley and Lake Cunningham next to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">Eastridge</span>, the meandering of the river bed through downtown neighborhoods will continue to claim homes built adjacent to Coyote Creek and, in time, we will see a repeat of yesterday's demolition and the demonstration of the forces of the earth, constantly at work in this naturally meandering stream bed.Never Thirst! Pat Ferrarohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13523261897628526771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8405251446045446804.post-44863872573626953132009-05-06T12:00:00.000-07:002009-05-30T10:20:54.024-07:00Another challenge for Henry Waxman: Salt of the EarthWhile Henry Waxman takes on climate change from the federal helm, his home state of California is slowly but surely losing its primary resource: Agriculture<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The San Joaquin Valley is the California poster child for desertification through </span><span style="font-weight: bold;" class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">salinization</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> of its soils as a result of using water from the Federal Central Valley Project.</span> This water contains 2 million tons of salt, applied through out each successive irrigation season.<br /><br />The oceans are the planetary depository for salt. The continents have been contributing salt to the oceans since rain began to fall from the atmosphere. Humans add their piece to the salt flow with their activities, greatly accelerating the salt flow from certain watersheds.<br /><br />Industrial agriculture adds enormous salt loads to the receiving waters upstream of the ocean and re-distributes salt downstream through irrigation projects, mainly financed by the federal government.<br /><br />Twenty five years ago, the State was prepared to build a <a href="http://neverthirstpatferraro.blogspot.com/2008/06/fixing-sacramentosan-joaquin-delta.html">canal </a>around the eastern edge of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and thereby reduce this salt load by half and further restrict pumping if salt levels were too high to deliver water during droughts. That essential piece of plumbing was then called the<a style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);" href="http://neverthirstpatferraro.blogspot.com/2008/06/fixing-sacramentosan-joaquin-delta.html"> Peripheral Canal</a> and these have become the<a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2007/jul/21/opinion/ed-delta21"> most dreaded two words in Sacramento.</a><br /><br />In response to the State, certain large agricultural interests financed a campaign to stop the Peripheral Canal with a referendum to reverse the state legislative actions which authorized the Department of Water Resources to build the final link in this massive water system. Most support to kill the canal came from the Delta farmers and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/King-California-Boswell-Making-American/dp/1586480286">cotton empires of the Salyer and JG Boswell,</a> built mostly in Tulare Lake and surrounding wetlands. <a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);" href="http://books.google.com/books?id=QqIFOo8ZXx8C&pg=PA351&lpg=PA351&dq=peripheral+canal+california&source=web&ots=QhaegWIodk&sig=doJiY67HHlj82Qg7HXCxT3Y9ztE&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=8&ct=result#PPA352,M1">Read excerpts from <span style="font-style: italic;">The King of California</span> here.<br /></a><br />With the success of this one ballot measure, San Joaquin Valley farmers fired the poison dart that would steal this 100 year effort by the US Bureau of Reclamation to reclaim these arid lands for production of food and fiber to supply our nation and much of the world. Over the past twenty-five years, the farm lands have been laced with 50 million tons of salt delivered with the irrigation water, twice as salty as it would have been if the Peripheral Can had been built.<br /><br />It is while these lands are still a viable agricultural resource that we need to act.<br /><br />I'd like to see California push toward more sustainable agriculture by lowering the salt content of the irrigation water in the San Joaquin Valley rather than watch the land owners salt it in and then develop the salt flats with urbanscape. This means we <a style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);" href="http://aguanomics.com/2008/08/yes-on-peripheral-canal.html">build the peripheral canal</a> and design it for considerable sea level rise.<br /><br />Congress should act soon to simply halt all water rights if land use conversion removes it from its agricultural purposes, even if it is due to loss of productivity due to soil pollution. This will <span style="font-weight: bold;">create a major shift in protecting our national agricultural resources by making all farmers perpetual stewards</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">of the land, in exchange for a government-developed supply of water. </span><br /><br />This proposal would bring the ag lobby to arms like you've never seen it, but it will be good to force them to show their hand (and strong arm behind it!)<br /><br />George Miller is one of the few members of Congress who could kick off something like this. <a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/18/AR2008111802880.html?wpisrc=newsletter">Congressman Henry Waxman</a> in Southern California could be his strong ally. Senate allies will probably have to come from outside California, as our incumbent Senators Feinstein and Boxer are already owned by the ag lobby.<br /><br />When the <a style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peripheral_Canal">Peripheral Canal</a> was stopped 25 years ago, I started calling the San Joaquin Valley the new <span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 102);"><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-weight: bold;">Metropolis of</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">SacroBake</span></span>, home to 30 million future California residents, unable to grow even a backyard garden in this newly created desert, wondering where their next water will come from: the sky or the good graces of the water managers who control any water coming from the ground or aqueducts and still able to pass the health standards set for salinity? <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18031391">Listen to NPR audio track on California Delta Faces Salty Future.</a><br /><br />The world may yet mark us down as one more society that crumbled because of mismanaged irrigated agriculture and a self-imposed victim of too much <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Salt of <span style="color: rgb(51, 255, 51);">The Earth</span></span></span>.Never Thirst! Pat Ferrarohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13523261897628526771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8405251446045446804.post-35633858033560118612009-04-18T23:17:00.000-07:002009-04-18T23:21:13.707-07:00Letter to Senator Joe Simitian re Electing Santa Clara Valley Water District Board of DirectorsPlease read the letter and if you agree,<br /><a style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);" href="http://www.senatorsimitian.com/main/contact">please email Senator Simitian through this link</a>:<br /><br /><br />Senator Joseph Simitian<br />State Capitol<br />Sacramento, CA 95814<br /><br />Dear Senator Simitian:<br /><br />Recently, the Board of the Santa Clara Valley Water District has asked Assemblyman Joe Coto to carry a bill through the State legislature to amend the District Act as it pertains to electing the Board of Directors as representatives of our community. I respectfully request that you consider introducing a separate bill in the Senate or request substantial amendment of Mr. Coto’s bill. The local delegation of state legislators from Santa Cara County should seize this opportunity to apply the democratic process to management and protection of our local watersheds.<br /><br />For the past forty years, the Water District board of directors has had five elected directors and two directors appointed by the Board of Supervisors, coupled with budget approval by the BOS, after the District Board review and adoption. This system had a severely distracted Board of Supervisors giving approval to a budget they hardly ever glanced at, let alone vetted for policy compliance and economic or environmental prudence. I called this system the Dilution of Democracy, which involved the appointment of a supervisor's “friend” to either of the two at-large seats on the Water Board to sit as full voting members with the five elected directors.<br /><br />These appointments were made by alternating north /south appointments between the members of the Board of Supervisors. The boundaries for the residence requirement for the South County appointed seat had about 5-10% of the county’s population while the other seat included the remainder of the County, but actually excluded some cities with Hetch Hetchy contracts. Last year the County finally relinquished this hold on the Water District and the District Act was amended in Sacramento to remove the two appointments and eliminate the BOS budget approval requirement.<br /><br />It is these two vestiges of old political inertia, scheduled to end on Dec 31, 2009, that has the District Board expressing their desire to keep the number of Board members at seven, using new seven yet-to-be-gerrymandered districts of equal numbers of eligible voters. I believe we deserve and can create a political body that has more practicality than simply preserving the number seven for the available seats on the board of directors.<br /><br />I hope you will agree that the Water District’s Board, first of all, should represent the very nature of the flow of water, and should be <span style="font-size: 130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">organized by watershed</span></span>. This is not a new idea for the Water District. When I was first elected to the Board in 1972, there were five separate taxing zones in place, representing <a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);" href="http://alert.valleywater.org/gagestrm.html">the major watersheds in the county</a>: East (Coyote, Silver-Thompson, Penetencia Creeks), Central (Guadalupe/Los Gatos/Alamitos), North Central (Calabasas, San Tomas, Saratoga) Northwest (Baron, Matadero, Stevens & San Francisquito) and South (Uvas/Llagas/Pajaro).<br /><br />In order to establish the basis for equal representation, each of these watersheds would have to again become separate taxing entities for which watershed activities could be assessed per watershed and not subsidized by other zones with a “revenue surplus.”<br /><br />The water supply function of the Santa Clara Valley Water District is basically run as a business for the benefit of the entire county. Other water supply wholesalers also operate within the county borders, namely San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, and four regional water recycling programs operated within Santa Clara County. This makes for a very complex approach for getting water to people, through their many water retailers, comprised of both municipal and private/investor-owned utilities.<br /><br />Since the watersheds probably do not have equal populations, <span style="font-weight: bold;">each watershed council should have weighted voting when they meet to manage the Water Utility Enterprise as the “Water Supply Board.”</span> A major benefit of this approach is that watershed boundaries cannot be gerrymandered. They are created by nature and will remain the same, regardless of changes in land use and population.<br /><br />As the <a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);" href="http://neverthirstpatferraro.blogspot.com/2009/03/Water%20conservation%20programs%20%20Frequently%20asked%20questions%20about%20the%20district%20%20Which%20watershed%20do%20I%20live%20in?%20%20How%20clean%20is%20my%20water?%20%20Water%20Utility%20Enterprise%20Report%20-%20Final%20-%20March%2028,2008">Water Utility Enterprise</a> is run as a business, each watershed council represents the resident-shareholders of each watershed, so each council would have a vote in proportion to its population, using the well known and accepted corporate model. This should take care of the equal representation requirement of the government code. The weighted vote for each watershed can simply be adjusted after each 10-year census.<br /><br />As these Watershed Council members come together as Water Supply Board, still wearing their watershed hats, if you will, they will be more apt to balance the needs of both the human inhabitants AND the instream/riparian needs within the community. This is a somewhat parallel concept to the city councils acting separately as the Redevelopment Boards while still being elected council members.<br /><br />Watershed Councils should be elected in open, non-partisan, consolidated primary elections with runoffs in the next general election. Appointments to fill vacancies should be required to gather at least 10% of the registered voters’ support in their electoral Districts and should do so using electronic communications appropriate to the current community standards, sort of like getting fans on Facebook, for example.<br /><br />As the District is an essential service provider to the cities and the County government, these organizations should have a stronger voice in advising the Water District. A water commission currently exists that includes an elected member of each city, the County BOS and a Water Board member. This group should meet at least quarterly, and more often under drought or flood emergencies, and should be required to read and formally comment on the Water District budget before the Board takes final action to approve its annual or two-year budget.<br /><br />Other advisory committees should be encouraged by the State’s enabling legislation. <a style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);" href="http://neverthirstpatferraro.blogspot.com/2008/06/subsidizing-local-food-production-not.html">Agricultural subsidies, if allowed, should apply to ALL water applied for irrigation of a food crop, not just for commercial food and fiber</a>. Water subsidies for food crop irrigation should be passed on through retailers to consumers. Just as individual home water banks were created during the '86-'91 drought, home/food water banks can be similarly created and monitored through efficient and modern electronic means and be an essential tool for emergency drought management, during a state- or locally-declared emergency.<br /><br />I am hoping that we can construct a body that works as well as nature, so our politics reflects both the force and delicacy of nature and the human spirit.<br /><br />Thank you for your consideration of this progressive approach to structuring the Water District’s governance. I will be happy to meet with you or your staff at your earliest convenience.<br /><br />Never Thirst!<br /><br />Patrick T. Ferraro, Former Director<br />Santa Clara Valley Water District. (1972-1995)<br /><br /><br />Reader comments welcome. <a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);" href="http://www.senatorsimitian.com/main/contact">Send Senator Simitian your comments.</a>Never Thirst! Pat Ferrarohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13523261897628526771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8405251446045446804.post-76471398127192028722009-04-18T11:11:00.000-07:002009-04-18T23:23:40.797-07:00An Earth Day Celebration that will give us our watersheds forever.Dear Water Brothers and Sisters in the Valley of <a style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);" href="http://www.valleywater.org/">ValleyWater.org</a><br /><br />This Earth Day, the political stars are in alignment. It's a day Sacramento politicians can use to demonstrate that our democratic, of-the-people powered, government can craft for our county, a political system that moves us continuously forward toward local watershed stewardship and a more integrated governance structure, in respect for this most precious element, <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">WATER</span></span>.<br /><br />Specifically, a hearing is scheduled on <span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">Earth Day, April 22,</span></span> in Sacramento to consider a bill authored by Assemblyman Coto, D-SanJose. The current status of the proposed legislation, <a href="http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/postquery?bill_number=ab_466&sess=CUR&house=B&author=coto">AB 466 today</a>, is linked here and printed at the end of this post below:<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">The bill, as drafted, allows the Water District Board to create seven new political boundaries from which, seven water directors would be elected to the governing <a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" href="http://www.valleywater.org/About_Us/Board_of_directors/index.shtm">Board of the Santa Clara Valley Water District.</a></span><br /><pre><a style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);" href="http://neverthirstpatferraro.blogspot.com/2009/04/letter-to-senator-joe-simitian-re.html"><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0); font-weight: bold;">I have proposed a more natural alternative</span></span></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0); font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Within a letter to Senator Joe Simitian,</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">a natural governance structure was offered for</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">how we elect our local water policy directors.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Please read the letter in the</span> <a href="http://neverthirstpatferraro.blogspot.com/2009/04/letter-to-senator-joe-simitian-re.html">linked post</a> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">above</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">and,if you agree, please follow the links to</span><br /><a href="http://www.senatorsimitian.com/main/contact">tell Senator Simitian</a> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">that you would like him</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">to ask for changes in AB 466.</span> </span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0); font-weight: bold;"><span>Tell him you want a<br />bill to allow us to elect local water director</span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0); font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">s<br /></span></span></span></pre><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0); font-style: italic;font-family:lucida grande;" ><span>by watersheds<span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"> </span></span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">rather than 7 gerrymandered political districts.</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">C</span><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">URRENT BILL STATUS</span><br /></div><pre><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">MEASURE : A.B. No. 466</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">AUTHOR(S) : Coto (Coauthors: Beall, Fong, Ruskin, and Torrico)</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"> (Coauthors: Senators Alquist, DeSaulnier, and Maldonado).</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">TOPIC : Santa Clara Valley Water District.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">HOUSE LOCATION : ASM</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">+LAST AMENDED DATE : 04/15/2009</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">TYPE OF BILL : </span><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"> Active</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"> Non-Urgency</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"> Non-Appropriations</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"> Majority Vote Required</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"> State-Mandated Local Program</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"> Fiscal</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"> Non-Tax Levy</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">LAST HIST. ACT. DATE: 04/16/2009</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">LAST HIST. ACTION : Re-referred to Com. on L. GOV.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">COMM. LOCATION : ASM LOCAL GOVERNMENT</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >HEARING DATE : 04/22/2009</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">TITLE : An act to amend Sections 13.2 and 20 of, to add Sections</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"> 7.4, 7.5, 7.6, 7.7, 7.8, 7.9, 7.10, 7.11, and 8 to, and</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"> to repeal and add Sections 7, 7.1, and 7.3 of, the Santa</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"> Clara Valley Water District Act (Chapter 1405 of the</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"> Statutes of 1951), relating to the Santa Clara Valley</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"> Water District.</span></pre><br /></div><pre><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0); font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span> </span></span></pre>Never Thirst! Pat Ferrarohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13523261897628526771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8405251446045446804.post-38055919930169795512009-04-09T16:00:00.000-07:002017-04-14T16:53:08.171-07:00Spring Loose, Down the Rabbit Hole<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dy__yy3F0QjbITIhYrcqlOUE1FpjHo9N_cK-z6jmsCLdiTxdBomwh8tZ46ztAymTvSh-MlwSlHUS-rEqYn9aA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br />
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The <a href="http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1723811,00.html" style="color: #33cc00;">Spring celebrations continue across every culture </a>throughout every continent in the Northern half of planet Earth. The Persian New Year of Iran is celebrated as <span style="font-size: 130%;"><a href="http://centralasia.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2009/03/22/happy-narouz/" style="color: rgb(0 , 102 , 0); font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Narouz</a></span>. The Jewish descendants of Abraham hold <span style="font-size: 130%;">Seder</span> and remember again their end of slavery in Egypt. According to <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica" title="Encyclopædia Britannica">Encyclopædia Britannica</a></i>, the Jewish festival of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purim" title="Purim">Purim</a> is probably adopted from the Persian New Year. Christians celebrate the equinox with new life from death, nature's familiar cycles, projected so closely onto their new age rabbi, Jesus, the Christ.<br />
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<span style="color: rgb(51 , 204 , 0); font-size: 130%; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Easter</span> is the Spring celebration I grew up enjoying. Even after my spirituality evolved from the Jesuit (Society of Jesus) school variety into an Earth-based connection to the divine, we continued to celebrate Easter with egg hunts with our young children.<br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N-Y-fLka4ZQ/Sd6L4H3nwbI/AAAAAAAAAKA/CWprLWGeqow/s1600-h/Chrysa%26MellisaHuntEggs.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5322845605899780530" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N-Y-fLka4ZQ/Sd6L4H3nwbI/AAAAAAAAAKA/CWprLWGeqow/s320/Chrysa%26MellisaHuntEggs.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 320px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 291px;" /></a><br />
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Today, I wish people of any culture the universal greeting of Happy Spring as we continue to ride our beautiful planet on this annual path around the Sun.Never Thirst! Pat Ferrarohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13523261897628526771noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8405251446045446804.post-44006064789959923432009-04-05T16:16:00.000-07:002009-04-09T15:12:49.526-07:00San Jose Gets Back to its RootsYesterday, April 4, 2009, the Master Gardeners brought us back in time as they sold heirloom <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">chilies</span> and tomatoes at the <a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;" href="http://www.historysanjose.org/visiting_hsj/history_park/">San Jose History Park</a>. While this location was not as earthy as the previous sales' location at <a style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;" href="http://www.pruschfarmpark.org/"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Emma Prusch</span> Park</a> at Story & King, having the plant sale at the History Park was a fitting and timely reminder that this used to be called the <a style="color: rgb(102, 51, 51); font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;" href="http://www.svcn.com/archives/wgresident/09.15.99/fd-valley-9937.html">Valley of Heart's Delight</a>, as it grew and processed millions of tons of produce which fed much of the nation.<br /><br />Today we feed the world information and communication technology, beginning with the silicon chip, which eventually became our new delight and namesake. Laptops, PC's, cell phones and digital storage devices have replaced canned tomatoes, fresh cherries and locally-grown eggs and meat products.<br /><br />But despite all this advancement in technology and economic benefits, we still require food on a fairly regular basis. A strong message is creeping across our mass consciousness that we need to grow our food locally. As Michael <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Pollan</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">suggests</span>:" We need to (at least) shake the hand that feeds you."<br /><br />People are joining Community Supported Agriculture (CSA's) and at least meeting each other in neighbor's homes where shares are divided and bagged for pickup.Our <a style="color: rgb(204, 51, 204);" href="http://www.sjcommunitygardens.org/">community gardens </a>all have long waiting lists. A big boost was <a style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/20/dining/20garden.html">Michele Obama digging up part of the White House lawn on the Spring Equinox and planting an organic garden.</a><br /><br />But on this weekend, hundreds of people showed up and quickly filled the adjacent parking lot and <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">whisked</span> off thousand of <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Chili</span> pepper and <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">tomato</span> starts. Spring gardeners, being energized by the warm sunshine, actually also parked and walked along Coyote Creek for several hundred yards from the Happy Hollow parking lot to the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">History</span> Park.<br /><br />I bought just 5 starts from the Master Gardeners, including a had-to-have <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">chili</span> pepper called <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;" class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Neapolitano</span>. I then ventured out to observe what wares and plants other vendors were selling. The old town square gazebo's nearby even had an old gent lecturing on the essential nature of water to gardening, I didn't think that I should intervene with a political discussion of managing mandatory water rationing and, at the same time, planting food that requires three to five feet of irrigation during the summer growing season.<br /><br />A couple brave Water District employees also were present in a nearby kiosk to answer questions. I would have loved to hear all those conversations as well. But I was certainly not going to reduce, in any way, the enjoyment of so many eager gardener-citizens out on a Spring Saturday morning. Instead, I am hereby quietly rejoicing as I watch as the people of San Jose <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">bring our community back to its roots</span></span>.Never Thirst! Pat Ferrarohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13523261897628526771noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8405251446045446804.post-67205944051096192412009-03-26T10:41:00.000-07:002009-03-27T23:39:22.663-07:00Tap WaterMy friend, Niki, in Houston sent me <a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);" href="http://www.dailygrommet.com/products/111--Tap-Water-Glass-Bottle-">this link</a> this morning, of two white 'mercan woman selling glass bottles sporting a label with a picture of a tap and the words tap water.<br />$12.95 plus shipping, with $2 going to UNICEF.<br /><br />Below is my response:<br /><br />Niki,<br /><br />When I watched this, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.<br /><br />But then I noticed they allowed posting of comments so I did:<br /><br />" I'll send $2 to UNICEF directly and skip the the considerable carbon footprint of shipping me a glass bottle with the unnecessary and silly label. Are you people just putting me on?"<br /><br />I thought they would quickly delete my comment. Instead, they posted a comment on my blog.<br /><br />So I guess they really do have the heart to help people everywhere have safe drinking water through the <a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);" href="http://www.tapproject.org/">Tap Project. So click through and make a donation today.</a><br /><br />Never Thirst!Never Thirst! Pat Ferrarohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13523261897628526771noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8405251446045446804.post-69737321256652412792009-03-24T11:00:00.000-07:002009-03-24T17:29:32.456-07:00Water on my mind.Today, the San Jose Mercury News featured a<a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);" href="http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_11980357?source=email"> story about water rationing by Paul Rogers</a>, to which <a href="http://forums.mercurynews.com/topic/bay-area-water-picture-some-will-face-strict-rationing-others-wont?source=article#comment-232817">I posted this reply</a>.<br /><br />I also drafted a letter to Senator Joe Simitian that asks him to author a bill to create a water board elected by watersheds.<br /><br />Please read the letter and if you agree, <a style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);" href="http://www.senatorsimitian.com/main/contact">please email Senator Simitian through this link</a>:<br /><br /><br />Senator Joseph Simitian<br />State Capitol<br />Sacramento, CA 95814<br /><br />Dear Senator Simitian:<br /><br />Recently, the Board of the Santa Clara Valley Water District has asked Assemblyman Joe Coto to carry a bill through the State legislature to amend the District Act as it pertains to electing the Board of Directors as representatives of our community. I respectfully request that you consider introducing a separate bill in the Senate or request substantial amendment of Mr. Coto’s bill. The local delegation of state legislators from Santa Cara County should seize this opportunity to apply the democratic process to management and protection of our local watersheds.<br /><br />For the past forty years, the Water District board of directors has had five elected directors and two directors appointed by the Board of Supervisors, coupled with budget approval by the BOS, after the District Board review and adoption. This system had a severely distracted Board of Supervisors giving approval to a budget they hardly ever glanced at, let alone vetted for policy compliance and economic or environmental prudence. I called this system the Dilution of Democracy, which involved the appointment of a supervisor's “friend” to either of the two at-large seats on the Water Board to sit as full voting members with the five elected directors.<br /><br />These appointments were made by alternating north /south appointments between the members of the Board of Supervisors. The boundaries for the residence requirement for the South County appointed seat had about 5-10% of the county’s population while the other seat included the remainder of the County, but actually excluded some cities with Hetch Hetchy contracts. Last year the County finally relinquished this hold on the Water District and the District Act was amended in Sacramento to remove the two appointments and eliminate the BOS budget approval requirement.<br /><br />It is these two vestiges of old political inertia, scheduled to end on Dec 31, 2009, that has the District Board expressing their desire to keep the number of Board members at seven, using new seven yet-to-be-gerrymandered districts of equal numbers of eligible voters. I believe we deserve and can create a political body that has more practicality than simply preserving the number seven for the available seats on the board of directors.<br /><br />I hope you will agree that the Water District’s Board, first of all, should represent the very nature of the flow of water, and should be <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">organized by watershed</span></span>. This is not a new idea for the Water District. When I was first elected to the Board in 1972, there were five separate taxing zones in place, representing <a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);" href="http://alert.valleywater.org/gagestrm.html">the major watersheds in the county</a>: East (Coyote, Silver-Thompson, Penetencia Creeks), Central (Guadalupe/Los Gatos/Alamitos), North Central (Calabasas, San Tomas, Saratoga) Northwest (Baron, Matadero, Stevens & San Francisquito) and South (Uvas/Llagas/Pajaro).<br /><br />In order to establish the basis for equal representation, each of these watersheds would have to again become separate taxing entities for which watershed activities could be assessed per watershed and not subsidized by other zones with a “revenue surplus.”<br /><br />The water supply function of the Santa Clara Valley Water District is basically run as a business for the benefit of the entire county. Other water supply wholesalers also operate within the county borders, namely San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, and four regional water recycling programs operated within Santa Clara County. This makes for a very complex approach for getting water to people, through their many water retailers, comprised of both municipal and private/investor-owned utilities.<br /><br />Since the watersheds probably do not have equal populations, <span style="font-weight: bold;">each watershed council should have weighted voting when they meet to manage the Water Utility Enterprise as the “Water Supply Board.”</span> A major benefit of this approach is that watershed boundaries cannot be gerrymandered. They are created by nature and will remain the same, regardless of changes in land use and population.<br /><br />As the <a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);" href="Water%20conservation%20programs%20%20Frequently%20asked%20questions%20about%20the%20district%20%20Which%20watershed%20do%20I%20live%20in?%20%20How%20clean%20is%20my%20water?%20%20Water%20Utility%20Enterprise%20Report%20-%20Final%20-%20March%2028,2008">Water Utility Enterprise</a> is run as a business, each watershed council represents the resident-shareholders of each watershed, so each council would have a vote in proportion to its population, using the well known and accepted corporate model. This should take care of the equal representation requirement of the government code. The weighted vote for each watershed can simply be adjusted after each 10-year census.<br /><br />As these Watershed Council members come together as Water Supply Board, still wearing their watershed hats, if you will, they will be more apt to balance the needs of both the human inhabitants AND the instream/riparian needs within the community. This is a somewhat parallel concept to the city councils acting separately as the Redevelopment Boards while still being elected council members.<br /><br />Watershed Councils should be elected in open, non-partisan, consolidated primary elections with runoffs in the next general election. Appointments to fill vacancies should be required to gather at least 10% of the registered voters’ support in their electoral Districts and should do so using electronic communications appropriate to the current community standards, sort of like getting fans on Facebook, for example.<br /><br />As the District is an essential service provider to the cities and the County government, these organizations should have a stronger voice in advising the Water District. A water commission currently exists that includes an elected member of each city, the County BOS and a Water Board member. This group should meet at least quarterly, and more often under drought or flood emergencies, and should be required to read and formally comment on the Water District budget before the Board takes final action to approve its annual or two-year budget.<br /><br />Other advisory committees should be encouraged by the State’s enabling legislation. <a style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);" href="http://neverthirstpatferraro.blogspot.com/2008/06/subsidizing-local-food-production-not.html">Agricultural subsidies, if allowed, should apply to ALL water applied for irrigation of a food crop, not just for commercial food and fiber</a>. Water subsidies for food crop irrigation should be passed on through retailers to consumers. Just as individual home water banks were created during the '86-'91 drought, home/food water banks can be similarly created and monitored through efficient and modern electronic means and be an essential tool for emergency drought management, during a state- or locally-declared emergency.<br /><br />I am hoping that we can construct a body that works as well as nature, so our politics reflects both the force and delicacy of nature and the human spirit.<br /><br />Thank you for your consideration of this progressive approach to structuring the Water District’s governance. I will be happy to meet with you or your staff at your earliest convenience.<br /><br />Never Thirst!<br /><br />Patrick T. Ferraro, Former Director<br />Santa Clara Valley Water District. (1972-1995)<br /><br /><br />Reader comments welcome. <a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);" href="http://www.senatorsimitian.com/main/contact">Send Senator Simitian your comments.</a>Never Thirst! Pat Ferrarohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13523261897628526771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8405251446045446804.post-63196451839417182502009-03-17T12:58:00.000-07:002009-03-18T14:15:17.740-07:00O'Brien, O'Bama, O'FerrarO, again<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N-Y-fLka4ZQ/ScA2vO_V1_I/AAAAAAAAAI0/Um0f_ul3HJc/s1600-h/YellowPicRoad.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N-Y-fLka4ZQ/ScA2vO_V1_I/AAAAAAAAAI0/Um0f_ul3HJc/s200/YellowPicRoad.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314307745402705906" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Today is <span style="color: rgb(51, 255, 51);font-size:130%;" >Saint Patrick's Day</span>, so we're all Irish and join in wearing of the <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0); font-weight: bold;">GREEN.</span></span> just like our <span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-size:130%;" >Earth Mother in Spring</span><span style="font-size:130%;">.</span><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N-Y-fLka4ZQ/ScA2iG27PDI/AAAAAAAAAIs/61F_4kOhthI/s1600-h/GreenGrassinVineyard.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N-Y-fLka4ZQ/ScA2iG27PDI/AAAAAAAAAIs/61F_4kOhthI/s200/GreenGrassinVineyard.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314307519881624626" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />The Earth is so green right now, right here in San Jose and much of the northern hemisphere. Here in Norte California, we might call her Madre del Norte.<br /><br /><br /><br />Many cultures celebrate the Spring equinox as their new year. This past weekend I spent two days of celebration with the Aztec, Zuni and many other native American cultures to celebrate their new year. I was so honored to see three hundred festively garbed dancers in circle on the campus of Hispanic University lead by their chieftains and drummers through ritual moves that represent centuries of tradition which honor our Earth Mother.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N-Y-fLka4ZQ/ScAVYw5Qe4I/AAAAAAAAAIk/yxLi5tjHyRo/s1600-h/AztecTribeCalling+Directions.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N-Y-fLka4ZQ/ScAVYw5Qe4I/AAAAAAAAAIk/yxLi5tjHyRo/s200/AztecTribeCalling+Directions.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314271075483286402" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxVSmuATY-M-rXw7p5c66UMr2Pdrz_bto0VoJaFVoMWAS8MORmz0YGEwjG6STikeuvXn096YwBbmljAOQNiXA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br /><br /><br /><br />Now two days later, the rest of the hemisphere can also celebrate the spring as we join our western European earth family members to celebrate around one of their folk heroes, St Patty.<br /><br />I loved the<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Xkw8ip43Vk"> </a><a style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Xkw8ip43Vk">wonderful singing video</a> about <span style="font-size:130%;"><a style="color: rgb(102, 204, 204); font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EADUQWKoVek&feature=related">President Obama's Irish roots</a></span>, which gave great pleasure and tickled everyone who's name name started with O'. This reminded me about a St Patty's Day about 30 years ago when Danny O'Brien put his maniacal energy to work organizing the first ever, (that we're aware of) St Patrick's Day parade through the streets of downtown San Jose.<br /><br />When Dan was in high gear, everyone around him got involved with his madness of the moment. He got his neighbor Don to get his antique car out of storage and into the parade. And he got me to be the rear guard for the parade using one of my twelve-ton bobtail moving vans. The truck's one decoration was a large <span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">GREEN</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);font-size:180%;" > O</span> in front of the Ferraro Van Lines lettering on the side of the truck. The parade was televised on the 6:00 News on Channel 11, KNTV. My dear friend and anchorwoman, Maggie Scura, just cracked up when she had to read O"Ferraro from the teleprompter during the news piece.<br /><br />Today, I found one of those O's that we taped to the side of the truck. I hung it by our front door, on the same hook that we hang our solstice wreath in December. Later when I went downtown, I taped it where my rear window on my GEM would be, if it had one. Not too many people would know the historical significance of a plastic O, cut out from the bottom of a green plastic garbage can, but it sure tickled me, as nowadays my friends are starting to call me trash man, as I join other trash warriors in removing our rafts of litter from our local creeks.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N-Y-fLka4ZQ/ScA3IgZHCQI/AAAAAAAAAI8/KRGAfsaaZZQ/s1600-h/BigGreenOonGEM.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N-Y-fLka4ZQ/ScA3IgZHCQI/AAAAAAAAAI8/KRGAfsaaZZQ/s320/BigGreenOonGEM.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314308179570919682" border="0" /></a><br /><br />What better tribute to Mother Nature than for us to gather together on the Spring Equinox, March 21st, to remove the fugitive emissions of our over-packaged consumerism from the habitat of the fish, foul and other creatures who are inhabitants our urban riparian corridors.<br /><br />This is more hard work than ceremony, but as much of our love for the earth does change our spiritual rituals, it certainly changes our politics, as well. I prefer to only fly the earth flag, except maybe for the 4th of July parade, when I'll ADD a small version of the stars and stripes. My astute and word-smithing mate, Cari, calls this <span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">matriatism.<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Blessed Be<br />and Happy St. Patrick's Spring Celebration.</span></span><br /></div><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N-Y-fLka4ZQ/ScA3n9l3ZKI/AAAAAAAAAJE/H3EarD80zY0/s1600-h/FirstSpringRose09.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N-Y-fLka4ZQ/ScA3n9l3ZKI/AAAAAAAAAJE/H3EarD80zY0/s320/FirstSpringRose09.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314308719984993442" border="0" /></a></span></span>Never Thirst! Pat Ferrarohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13523261897628526771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8405251446045446804.post-63573803186913136562009-03-02T14:17:00.000-08:002009-05-22T15:33:24.949-07:00Leave Only Hand Prints<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N-Y-fLka4ZQ/Saxua_l5YgI/AAAAAAAAAGs/302X7EffA8c/s1600-h/CCCleanUp.16.We%27reHome,Ducky.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N-Y-fLka4ZQ/Saxua_l5YgI/AAAAAAAAAGs/302X7EffA8c/s400/CCCleanUp.16.We%27reHome,Ducky.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308739470789009922" border="0" /></a><br />Hikers into wilderness areas know well the golden rule "Leave only footprints" as they pack in and out all sorts of packaged food and camping gear which they have deemed necessities for their sojourn. But here in the city, we hardly think twice, or even once, about the trail of human-made excretia that we leave behind us as we conduct our daily lives in crowded urban conditions.<br /><br />But as this city gets more crowded, a wonderful thing also happens. Our deep earth-born spirit needs to reconnect with the natural and many folks are finding their way back to nature right here in Silicon Valley, without having to leave on a remote hiking trip into the Sierra Nevada mountains or beyond. While we have paved over nearly 400 square miles of this fertile valley's top soil, we fortunately have not paved over all the local creeks and rivers flowing to South San Francisco Bay and Monterey Bay.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N-Y-fLka4ZQ/SayQBu8iYWI/AAAAAAAAAHs/cXsAq7Copqc/s1600-h/CCCleanUp.14.HappyHealthyCoyoteCreek.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N-Y-fLka4ZQ/SayQBu8iYWI/AAAAAAAAAHs/cXsAq7Copqc/s400/CCCleanUp.14.HappyHealthyCoyoteCreek.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308776420219183458" border="0" /></a><br /><br />It is in these natural creeks that we can observe the cycles of carbon and water in full operation. We see aquatic organisms, from the microscopic to the avian and terrestial critters that live among us in these verdant strips teeming with life. And we also see the hand of humans, sometime in complete conflict or disregard for those living systems, which did not evolve with these human interferences in their habitat.<br /><br />We build bridges over rivers, of course. Concrete abutments displace creek bank areas which then preclude tree growth and the reduces water shading of a continuous canopy. We build diversion structures to remove flow from the rivers for flood control or water supply. The most drastic thing that we do to creeks, however, is connect storm drain from streets, highways, and parking lots, allowing unfiltered and rapidly drained rain runoff to be discharged directly into our local creeks, rivers and bays.<br /><br />Urban storm water runoff is a stew,laced with droppings from our cars and our homes, our commerce and even our farming operations. Fuels, hydraulic fluids, fertilizers and pesticides, fine copper dust from our brake pads, and mercury from mine tailings left in upper Almaden Valley 150 years ago are all sources of pollution that finds its way into our local creeks. Most of this takes a water chemist to identify, and, with local monitoring programs being funded, we are more aware of how serious this kind of pollution is impacting the sustainability of the ecosystems of our local waterways.<br /><br />But the pollution of the local creeks that is most evident to Joe and Jane Citizen is TRASH. As local residents flock more and more to creekside trails and parks, they become quickly disgusted when they see trash on otherwise beautiful creek banks and water surfaces. Neighborhood organizations, hiking and bicycle clubs and schools are adopting a much more proactive stand in fighting back against the endless flow of trash that is reaching our creeks.<br /><br />Last week, my Naglee Park neighbors started to mobilize to <a style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);" href="http://neverthirstpatferraro.blogspot.com/2009/02/no-trash-dumping-flows-to-creek.html">remove a trash raft in the vicinity of the East San Antonio Street bridge</a>, and began to warm up with picking up trash in Williams Street Park over the weekend. I volunteered to pick up trash on the east bank of Coyote Creek, up and down stream of the William Street.<br /><br />With rain in the forecast and Water District trucks already dispatched to pick up our haul on Monday, I got a jump on the trash picking on Friday. I started at my home and began scouting below the eucalyptus grove opposite the Water District's Outdoor Classroom, located off Williams Street, just down stream of the William St. bridge.<br /><br />About 100 feet upstream of my lot line, I found a private garbage dump for the tenants of the duplexes south of my home on Brookwood Drive. My son and I loaded about a half ton of trash into my pickup truck and bagged another half ton and piled it back on the other side of the fence, which so conveniently block these tenants view of their trash pile.<br /><br />I then contacted the owner by phone and suggested that the solid wooden picket fence be replaced with chain link so that the trash won't seem to just "go away" when someone throws it over the fence. I also called the property manager and asked for some help in hauling this mess to the scheduled pick up location at the William St. bridge abutment, but no one ever showed up, but we proceeded anyway.<br /><br />This morning, in a light drizzle, I drove my pickup truck to the bridge and unloaded my first load near the north side of the east bridge abutment. My neighbor, Sergio and I also carried five heavy bags across the bridge that were collected along the west bank by Sarabelle Hitchner and Sharon Knopf on Saturday morning. Then the Water District crew showed up and we went into high gear, loading first the remaining mess which, on Friday, Nick & I had pulled through the fence behind the two duplexes just south of my home, and then returned to load all the pile stacked near the William Street bridge. I would guess this entire load weighed one to one and a half tons, and will add to the incredible statistic of the tons of trash removed each year by the Water District crews and volunteer trash warriors.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N-Y-fLka4ZQ/SayJ1JZShzI/AAAAAAAAAG0/sKQTAkU17Jg/s1600-h/CCCleanUp.CoyoteWatershedTool.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N-Y-fLka4ZQ/SayJ1JZShzI/AAAAAAAAAG0/sKQTAkU17Jg/s400/CCCleanUp.CoyoteWatershedTool.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308769606911035186" border="0" /></a>I was happy to see a sign a sign on the truck designating it as assigned to the Coyote Watershed, the largest watershed in the county, at 320 square miles, with over 100 sq.mi. of paved urbanscape below the Andersen Dam near Morgan Hill.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N-Y-fLka4ZQ/SayKStra4RI/AAAAAAAAAG8/mi8QRx1mkZI/s1600-h/CCCleanUp.10.ptPatTrashman.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N-Y-fLka4ZQ/SayKStra4RI/AAAAAAAAAG8/mi8QRx1mkZI/s400/CCCleanUp.10.ptPatTrashman.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308770114866962706" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N-Y-fLka4ZQ/SayKtTbSVsI/AAAAAAAAAHE/up-_CHyUCcQ/s1600-h/CCCleanUp.9.ABedofGrass.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N-Y-fLka4ZQ/SayKtTbSVsI/AAAAAAAAAHE/up-_CHyUCcQ/s400/CCCleanUp.9.ABedofGrass.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308770571676440258" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N-Y-fLka4ZQ/SayLI08BlkI/AAAAAAAAAHM/tBrYPvx7ofo/s1600-h/CCCleanUp.7.PatoOn-the-Fence.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N-Y-fLka4ZQ/SayLI08BlkI/AAAAAAAAAHM/tBrYPvx7ofo/s400/CCCleanUp.7.PatoOn-the-Fence.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308771044528592450" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N-Y-fLka4ZQ/SayLdjNp2jI/AAAAAAAAAHU/m_wwx5JkjCo/s1600-h/CCCleanUp.4.Pat%26WDCrew.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N-Y-fLka4ZQ/SayLdjNp2jI/AAAAAAAAAHU/m_wwx5JkjCo/s400/CCCleanUp.4.Pat%26WDCrew.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308771400547949106" border="0" /></a>Paul and Dennis are two Water District employees<br />who don't have trouble sleeping at night, as they spend their days doing real work, loading their Sterling Compactor with tons of trash removed day after day from creeks throughout Santa Clara County.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N-Y-fLka4ZQ/SayN6suyeOI/AAAAAAAAAHc/glBD18eKL60/s1600-h/CCCleanUp.3.Paul%26Dennis.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N-Y-fLka4ZQ/SayN6suyeOI/AAAAAAAAAHc/glBD18eKL60/s400/CCCleanUp.3.Paul%26Dennis.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308774100342307042" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N-Y-fLka4ZQ/SayOvdYN6AI/AAAAAAAAAHk/XGL6US2Qmw8/s1600-h/CCCleanUp.5.PatFerraro.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N-Y-fLka4ZQ/SayOvdYN6AI/AAAAAAAAAHk/XGL6US2Qmw8/s400/CCCleanUp.5.PatFerraro.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308775006754170882" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The pictures in this blog post were taken by my wife, Cari, and the one at the end is a hand print left by one of the Brookwood kids that have grown up in this wonderful neighborhood. I thank her for helping to document some of my most satisfying water-related action in which I have participated during the last four decades of living near Coyote Creek in downtown San Jose. I am also very encouraged by the neighborhoods response to the call for more attention and mitigation of the creek trash problem.<br /><br />Blessings & thank you Creek Trash Warriors. The ducks and their colleagues living in the creek appreciate your efforts.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N-Y-fLka4ZQ/SaxbbBCrG2I/AAAAAAAAAGk/olYrjG7g4s4/s1600-h/UpCloseMark.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N-Y-fLka4ZQ/SaxbbBCrG2I/AAAAAAAAAGk/olYrjG7g4s4/s400/UpCloseMark.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308718580457216866" border="0" /></a>Never Thirst! Pat Ferrarohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13523261897628526771noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8405251446045446804.post-1287199601332162602009-02-25T15:10:00.000-08:002009-05-30T10:17:40.708-07:00Water Brother From Another MotherYesterday I had the honor of speaking to a California History class in the California History Center on the De <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Anza</span> College campus in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Cupertino</span>, California, the real heart of Silicon Valley and home to Apple Computer. The class is taught by my friend of many years, Anne <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Hickling</span>.<br /><br />Ann also lives along a riparian corridor as I do. Only she actually grew up in this family home, so, except for <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">her</span> college years, she has spent her entire life as a critter of a local creek.<br /><br />Ann also takes great pride in her devotion to the study of history and actively sharing her journey of that quest with her students at De <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Anza</span> College. Yesterday, I was invited to share my thoughts on the water development history of California and Silicon Valley. Paying homage to the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">screenagers</span> in the classroom (all of us) Ann recorded a video still of the State map which showed rainfall patterns, watersheds & rivers, and engineered aqueducts. The other image in the room was not a hologram but me actually there talking.<br /><br />In a classroom filled with students, some are there for credit and/or grades, on that paper chase for a degree and a better salary somewhere else. But some people in the room flip open a 'Learning Switch' and actually let some information lodge in that part of the brain where you suddenly connect it as part of your life. You must pay attention to this for your own survival and well being. One or two students did seem to reach this point during the lecture, and Ann is always excited to be learning more about her State and Valley water history and hearing an updated political review of current water management issues.<br /><br />I explained why I thought <a href="http://neverthirstpatferraro.blogspot.com/2009/02/water-district-should-go-with-flow.html"><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">the Water District should have a new governance structure that is based on </span></a><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><a href="http://neverthirstpatferraro.blogspot.com/2009/02/water-district-should-go-with-flow.html"><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">watersheds.</span></a> </span></span>This reminded Ann of a poet and philosopher named Gary Snyder. As part of her thanks for my lecturing to her class, Ann sent me the following e-mail which included a great piece about Gary Snyder that deserves to be archived here, as today I realized Gary Snyder is truly a Water Brother From Another Mother:<br /><div id="AOLMsgPart_2_3fad0ca4-1056-41fd-8734-28327934ffd2"><br />Hi Pat-<br /><div><br /></div><div>Thank you for the good telling of the story today. It was very good for them to hear it from you. </div><div>And thank for the wood smoked mozzarella pizza and conversation.</div><div><br /></div><div>I think I remember Cari having done a Gary Snyder line in calligraphy... So I send this article I found:<br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span></div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);font-family:times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">The Wild Mind of Gary Snyder</span></div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);font-family:times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">By Trevor Carolan</span></div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);font-family:times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"> </div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);font-family:times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 153, 102);"><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0);">For the nineties, the celebrated Beat rebel advocates "wild mind," neighborhood values and watershed politics. "Wild mind," he says, "means elegantly self-disciplined, self-regulating. That's what wilderness is. Nobody has a management plan for it."</span></span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0);font-family:times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 153, 102);"> </span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0);font-family:times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 153, 102);"> </span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0);font-family:times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 153, 102);"><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0);">Asked if he grows tired of talking about ecological stewardship, digging in, and coalition-building, the poet Gary Snyder responds with candor: "Am I tired of talking about it? I'm tired of doing it!" he roars. "But hey, you've got to keep doing it. That's part of politics, and politics is more than winning and losing at the polls."</span></span></span></div><div face="times new roman" style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0);" class="MsoNormal"> </div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);font-family:times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />These days, there's an honest, conservative-sounding ring to the politics of the celebrated Beat rebel. Gary Snyder, though, has little in common with the right wingers who currently prevail throughout the western world.</span></div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);font-family:times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"> </div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);font-family:times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />"Conservatism has some very valid meanings," he says. "Of course, most of the people who call themselves conservative aren't that, because they're out to extract and use, to turn a profit. </span><span style="font-size:130%;">Curiously, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">eco</span> and artist people and those who work with <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">dharma</span> practice are conservatives in the best sense of the word-we're trying to save a few things!</span></div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);font-family:times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"> </div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);font-family:times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 153, 102);"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">"Care for the environment is like <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">noblesse</span> oblige," he maintains. "You don't do it because it has to be done. You do it because it's beautiful. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);">That's the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">bodhisattva</span> spirit. The <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">bodhisattva</span> is not anxious to do good, or feels obligation or anything like that. In <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Jodo</span>-shin Buddhism, which my wife was raised in, the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">bodhisattva</span> just says, 'I picked up the tab for everybody. Goodnight folks...' "</span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);font-family:times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"> </div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);font-family:times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />Five years ago, in a prodigious collection of essays called The Practice of the Wild, Gary Snyder introduced a pair of distinctive ideas to our vocabulary of ecological inquiry. Grounded in a lifetime of nature and wilderness observation, Snyder offered the "etiquette of freedom" and "practice of the wild" as root prescriptions for the global crisis.</span><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);font-family:times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"> </div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);font-family:times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />Informed by East-West poetics, land and wilderness issues, anthropology, benevolent Buddhism, and Snyder's long years of familiarity with the bush and high mountain places, these principles point to the essential and life-sustaining relationship between place and psyche.</span></div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);font-family:times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"> </div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);font-family:times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 153, 102);"><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);">Such ideas have been at the heart of Snyder's work for the past forty years. When Jack Kerouac wrote of a new breed of counterculture hero in The <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">Dharma</span> Bums, it was a thinly veiled account of his adventures with Snyder in the mid-l950's. Kerouac's effervescent reprise of a West Coast <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">dharma</span>-warrior's dedication to "soil conservation, the Tennessee Valley Authority, astronomy, geology, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">Hsuan</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">Tsang's</span> travels, Chinese painting theory, reforestation, Oceanic ecology and food chains" remains emblematic of the terrain Snyder has explored in the course of his life.</span></span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);font-family:times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"> </div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);font-family:times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />One of our most active and productive poets, Gary Snyder has also been one of our most visible.<br />Returning to California in 1969 after a decade abroad, spent mostly as a lay Zen Buddhist monk in Japan, he homesteaded in the Sierras and worked the lecture trail for sixteen years while raising a young family. By his own reckoning he has seen "practically every university in the United States."</span></div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);font-family:times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"> </div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);font-family:times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />As poet-essayist, Snyder's work has been uncannily well-timed, contributing to his reputation as a farseeing and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">weatherwise</span> interpreter of cultural change. </span><span style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);font-size:130%;" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 153, 102);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">With his current collection of essays, A Place In Space, Snyder brings welcome news of what he's been thinking about in recent years. Organized around the themes of</span> </span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">"Ethics, Aesthetics and Watersheds," </span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 153, 102);">it opens with a discussion of Snyder's Beat Generation experience.</span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);font-family:times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"> </div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);font-family:times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />"It was simply a different time in the American economy," he explained when I spoke to him recently in Seattle. "It used to be that you came into a strange town, picked up work, found an apartment, stayed a while, then moved on. Effortless. All you had to have was a few basic skills and be willing to work. That's the kind of mobility you see celebrated by Kerouac in On The Road. For most Americans, it was taken for granted. It gave that insouciant quality to the young working men of North America who didn't have to go</span><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span><span style="font-size:130%;">to college if they wanted to get a job.</span></div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);font-family:times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"> </div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);font-family:times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />"I know this because in 1952 I was able to hitch-hike into San Francisco, stay at a friend's, and get a job within three days through the employment agency. With an entry level job, on an entry level wage, I found an apartment on Telegraph Hill that I could afford and I lived in the city for a year. Imagine trying to live in San Francisco or New York-any major city-on an entry level wage now? You can't do it. Furthermore, the jobs aren't that easy to get."</span></div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);font-family:times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"> </div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);font-family:times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />The freedom and openness of the post-war economy made it possible for people such as Snyder, Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Lew <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">Welch</span> and others to disaffiliate from mainstream American dreams of respectability. And as Snyder writes, these "proletarian bohemians" chose even further disaffiliation, refusing to write "the sort of thing that middle-class Communist intellectuals think proletarian literature ought to be."</span></div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);font-family:times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"> </div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);font-family:times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"> </div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);font-family:times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />"In making choices like that, we were able to choose and learn other tricks for not being totally engaged with consumer culture," he says. "We learned how to live simply and were very good at it in my generation. That was what probably helped shape our sense of community. We not only knew each other, we depended on each other. We shared with each other. "And there is a new simple-living movement coming back now, I understand," he notes, "where people are getting together, comparing notes about how to live on less money, how to share, living simply."</span></div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);font-family:times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"> </div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);font-family:times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />When Gary Snyder points something out, it generally warrants attention: his thinking has consistently been ahead of the cultural learning curve. Nowhere is his prescience more obvious than in "A Virus Runs Through It," an unpublished review of William Burroughs' 1962 The Ticket That Exploded.</span></div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);font-family:times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"> </div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);font-family:times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">Snyder regarded Burroughs' portrait of a society obsessed with addiction and consumerism, "whipped up by advertising," as an omen. He concluded that Burroughs' "evocation of the politics of addiction, mass madness, and virus panic, is all too prophetic."</span></div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);font-family:times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"> </div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);font-family:times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />"We were very aware of heroin addiction at that time," Snyder explains. "Kerouac, Ginsberg, Burroughs, Holmes and their circle in New York became fascinated with the metaphor of addiction in the light of heroin, smack. Marijuana was not an issue, but the intense addictive quality of heroin, and the good people who were getting drawn into it, and the romance some people had for it, was a useful framework for thinking about the nature of capitalist society and the addiction to fossil fuels in the industrial sector. It was obvious."</span></div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);font-family:times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"> </div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);font-family:times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />Many of Snyder's original arguments addressing pollution and our addiction to consumption have by now become mainstream: reduced fossil fuel dependence, recycling, responsible resource harvesting. Others remain works-in-progress: effective soil conservation, economics as a "small subbranch of ecology," learning to "break the habit of acquiring unnecessary possessions," division by natural and cultural boundaries rather than arbitrary political boundaries.</span></div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);font-family:times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"> </div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102); font-family: times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />As an ecological philosopher, Snyder's role has been to point out first the problems, and then the hard medicine that must be swallowed. Snyder has become synonymous with integrity-a good beginning place if your wilderness poetics honor "clean-running rivers; the presence of pelican and osprey and gray whale in our lives; salmon and trout in our streams; <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">unmuddied</span> language and good dreams."</span></div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102); font-family: times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"> </div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102); font-family: times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />"My sense of the West Coast," he says, "is that it runs from somewhere about the Big <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">Sur</span> River-the southern-most river that salmon run in-from there north to the Straits of Georgia and beyond, to Glacier Bay in southern Alaska. It is one territory in my mind. People all relate to each other across it; we share a lot of the same concerns and text and a lot of the same trees and birds."</span></div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102); font-family: times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"> </div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102); font-family: times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />Raised in the Pacific Northwest, Snyder grew up close to the anthropomorphic richness of the local Native American mythology, the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">rainforest</span> totems of eagle, bear, raven and killer whale that continue to appear in school and community insignias as important elements of regional consciousness. It is unsurprising that they-and roustabout cousins like Coyote-have long been found at the core of Snyder's expansive vision.<br /><br />Literal-minded rationalists have had difficulty with Snyder's Buddhist-oriented <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">eco</span>-philosophy and poetics. His embrace of Native Indian lore only further ruffled orthodox literary imagination, and in the past his poetry was criticized as being thin, loose or scattered.</span></div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102); font-family: times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"> </div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102); font-family: times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />As Snyder readers know, the corrective to such interpretations of his work is more fresh air and exercise. Regarding Buddhism, his take is offered simply and efficiently. "The marks of Buddhist teaching," he writes in A Place In Space, "are impermanence, no-self, the inevitability of suffering and connectedness, emptiness, the vastness of mind, and a way to realization."</span></div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102); font-family: times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"> </div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102); font-family: times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />"It seems evident," he writes, offering insight into the dynamics of his admittedly complex world view, "that there are throughout the world certain social and religious forces that have worked through history toward an ecologically and culturally enlightened state of affairs. Let these be encouraged: <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">Gnostics</span>, hip Marxists, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24">Teilhard</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25">de</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_26">Chardin</span> Catholics, Druids, Taoists, Biologists, Witches, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_27">Yogins</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_28">Bhikkus</span>, Quakers, Sufis, Tibetans, Zens, Shamans, Bushmen, American Indians, Polynesians, Anarchists, Alchemists, primitive cultures, communal and ashram movements, cooperative ventures."</span></div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102); font-family: times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"> </div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102); font-family: times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />"Idealistic, these?" he says when asked about such alternative "Third Force" social movements. "In some cases the vision can be mystical; it can be Blake. It crops up historically with William Penn and the Quakers trying to make the Quaker communities in Pennsylvania a righteous place to live-treating the native peoples properly in the process. It crops up in the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_29">utopian</span> and communal experience of Thoreau's friends in New England.</span></div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102); font-family: times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"> </div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102); font-family: times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />"As <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_30">utopian</span> and impractical as it might seem, it comes through history as a little dream of spiritual elegance and economic simplicity, and collaboration and cooperating communally-all of those things together. It may be that it was the early Christian vision. Certainly it was one part of the early Buddhist vision. It turns up as a reflection of the integrity of tribal culture; as a reflection of the kind of energy that would try to hold together the best lessons of tribal cultures even within the overwhelming power and dynamics of civilization."</span></div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102); font-family: times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"> </div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102); font-family: times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />Any paradigm for a truly healthy culture, Gary Snyder argues, must begin with surmounting narrow personal identity and finding a commitment to place. Characteristically, he finds a way of remaking the now tired concept of "sense of place" into something fresh and vital. The rural model of place, he emphasizes, is no longer the only model for the healing of our culture.</span></div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102); font-family: times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"> </div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102); font-family: times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />"Lately I've been noticing how many more people who tend toward counterculture thinking are turning up at readings and book signings in the cities and the suburbs," he says. "They're everywhere. What I emphasize more and more is that a bioregional consciousness is equally powerful in a city or in the suburbs. Just as a watershed flows through each of these places, it also includes them.</span></div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102); font-family: times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"> </div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102); font-family: times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />"One of the models I use now is how an ecosystem resembles a mandala," he explains. "A big Tibetan mandala has many small figures as well as central figures, and each of them has a key role in the picture: they're all essential. The whole thing is an educational tool for understanding-that's where the ecosystem analogy comes in. Every creature, even the little worms and insects, has value. Everything is</span><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span><span style="font-size:130%;">valuable—that's the measure of the system."</span></div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102); font-family: times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"> </div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102); font-family: times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />To Snyder, value also translates as responsibility. Within his approach to digging in and committing to a place is the acceptance of responsible stewardship. Snyder maintains that it is through this engaged sense of effort and practice-participating in what he salutes as "the tiresome but tangible work of school boards, county supervisors, local foresters, local politics"-that we find our real community, our real culture. "Ultimately, values go back to our real interactions with others," he says. "That's where we live, in our communities.</span></div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102); font-family: times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"> </div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102); font-family: times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />"You know, I want to say something else," he continues. "In the past months and years Carole my wife has been amazing. I do my teaching and my work with the Yuba Watershed Institute, but she's incredible; she puts out so much energy. One of the things that makes it possible for us and our neighbors to do all this is that the husbands and wives really are partners; they help out and trade off. They develop different areas of expertise and they help keep each other from burning out. It's a great part of being a family and having a marriage-becoming fellow warriors, side to side."</span></div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102); font-family: times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"> </div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102); font-family: times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />In 1968, Snyder stated flatly that, "The modern American family is the smallest and most barren family that has ever existed." Throughout the years his recommendations concerning new approaches to the idea of family and relationships have customarily had a pagan, tribal flavor. These days he calls it community.</span></div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102); font-family: times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"> </div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102); font-family: times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />"I'm learning, as we all do, what it takes to have an ongoing relationship with our children," he says. "I have two grown sons, two stepdaughters, a nephew who's twenty-seven, and all their friends whom I know. We're still helping each other out. There's a real cooperative spirit. There's a fatherly responsibility there, and a warm, cooperative sense of interaction, of family as extended family, one that moves imperceptibly toward community and a community-values sense. </span></div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102); font-family: times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"> </div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102); font-family: times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />"So I'm urging people not to get stuck with that current American catch-phrase 'family values,' and not to throw it away either, but to translate it into community values. Neighborhood values are ecosystem values, because they include all the beings.</span></div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102); font-family: times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"> </div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102); font-family: times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />"What I suspect may emerge in the political spectrum is a new kind of conservative, one which is socially liberal, in the specific sense that it will be free of racial or religious prejudice. The bugaboo, that one really bad flaw of the right wing, except for the Libertarians, is its racist and anti-Semitic and anti-personal-liberty tone.</span></div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102); font-family: times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"> </div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102); font-family: times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />"A political spectrum that has respect for traditions, and at the same time is non-racist and tolerant about different cultures, is an interesting development. I'd be willing to bet that it's in the process of emerging, similar in a way to the European Green Parties that say, 'We're neither on the left nor the right; we're in front.'</span></div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102); font-family: times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"> </div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102); font-family: times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />"One of the things I'm trying to do, and I believe it's the right way to work," he says, "is to be non-adversarial-to go about it as tai chi, as ju-jitsu. To go with the direction of a local community issue, say, and change it slightly. We don't have to run head-on. We can say to the other party, 'You've got a lot of nice energy; let's see if we can run this way' "</span></div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);font-family:times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"> </div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);font-family:times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />Yet as anyone involved in community activism learns, amicable resolutions are not always the result. "Sometimes you do have to go head to head on an issue," he agrees, "and that's kind of fun too. 'Showing up' is good practice."</span></div><div style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);font-family:times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"> </div><div face="times new roman" style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />Snyder remembers a fight some four years ago over open pit mining. "I was the lead person on this one, to get an initiative on the ballot that would ban open pit mining, or at least put a buffer zone around any open pit mine. The mining companies from out of town spent a lot of money and did some really intense, last minute, nasty style campaigning, so we lost at the polls.</span></div><div face="times new roman" style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);" class="MsoNormal"> </div><div face="times new roman" style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />"But not a single open pit mine has been tried in our county since then. We understand from our interactions with these people that we won their respect. They were smart enough to see that they may have won it at the polls, but we were ready to raise money and willing to fight. That's standing up."</span></div><div face="times new roman" style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);" class="MsoNormal"> </div><div face="times new roman" style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />With the growing importance of community coalition-building, Snyder says he is finding it increasingly useful to narrow down his ideas about bioregionalism, or his notion of a practice of the wild, to a shared neighborhood level.</span></div><div face="times new roman" style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);" class="MsoNormal"> </div><div face="times new roman" style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />"That's why I talk about watersheds," he explains. "Symbolically and literally they're the mandalas of our lives. They provide the very idea of the watershed's social enlargement, and quietly present an entry into the spiritual realm that nobody has to think of or recognize as being spiritual.</span></div><div face="times new roman" style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);" class="MsoNormal"> </div><div face="times new roman" style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />"The watershed is our only local Buddha mandala, one that gives us all, human and non-human, a territory to interact in. That is the beginning of dharma citizenship: not membership in a social or national sphere, but in a larger community citizenship. In other words, a sangha; a local dharma community. All of that is in there, like Dogen when he says, 'When you find your place, practice begins.' "</span></div><div face="times new roman" style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);" class="MsoNormal"> </div><div face="times new roman" style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />Thirteenth-century master Dogen Zenji is a classical Asian voice which Snyder has discussed frequently in recent years. "There are several levels of meaning in what Dogen says. There's the literal meaning, as in when you settle down somewhere. This means finding the right teaching, the right temple, the right village. Then you can get serious about your practice.</span></div><div face="times new roman" style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);" class="MsoNormal"> </div><div face="times new roman" style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />"Underneath, there's another level of implication: you have to understand that there are such things as places. That's where Americans have yet to get to. They don't understand that there are places. So I quote Dogen and people say, 'What do you mean, you have to find your place? Anywhere is okay for dharma practice because it's spiritual.' Well, yes, but not just any place. It has to be a place that you've found</span><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span><span style="font-size:130%;">yourself. It's never abstract, always concrete."</span></div><div face="times new roman" style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);" class="MsoNormal"> </div><div face="times new roman" style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />If embracing the responsibility of the place and the moment is his prescription, a key principle in this creative stewardship is waking up to "wild mind." He clarifies that "wild" in this context does not mean chaotic, excessive or crazy. </span></div><div face="times new roman" style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);" class="MsoNormal"> </div><div face="times new roman" style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />"It means self-organizing," he says. "It means elegantly self-disciplined, self-regulating, self-maintained. That's what wilderness is. Nobody has to do the management plan for it. So I say to people, "let's trust in the self-disciplined elegance of wild mind". Practically speaking, a life that is vowed to simplicity, appropriate boldness, good humor, gratitude, unstinting work and play, and lots of walking, brings us close to the actually existing world and its wholeness."</span></div><div face="times new roman" style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);" class="MsoNormal"> </div><div face="times new roman" style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />This is Gary Snyder's wild medicine. From the beginning, it has been devotion to this quality that has served as his bedrock of practice, his way of carving out a place of freedom in the wall of American culture. In his omission of the personal in favor of the path, he exemplifies the basics of the Zen tradition in which he was trained.</span><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span><span style="font-size:130%;">The influx of trained Asian teachers of the Buddhadharma to the West in recent years has raised questions about whether the first homespun blossoming of Beat-flavored Buddhism in the fifties actually included the notion of practice. As one who was there and has paid his dues East and West, Snyder's response is heartening.</span></div><div face="times new roman" style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);" class="MsoNormal"> </div><div face="times new roman" style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />"In Buddhism and Hinduism, there are two streams: the more practice-oriented and the more devotional streams," he explains. "Technically speaking, the two tendencies are called bhakta and jnana. Bhakta means devotional; jnana means wisdom/practice. Contemporary Hinduism, for example, is almost entirely devotional-the bhakta tradition.</span></div><div face="times new roman" style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);" class="MsoNormal"> </div><div face="times new roman" style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />"Catholicism is a devotional religion, too, and Jack Kerouac - s Buddhism had the flavor of a devotional Buddhism. In Buddhism the idea that anybody can do practice is strongly present. In Catholicism practice is almost entirely thought of as entering an order or as becoming a lay novitiate of an order. So that explains Jack's devotional flavor. There's nothing wrong with devotional Buddhism. It is its own creative religious approach, and it's very much there in Tibetan Buddhism too. </span></div><div face="times new roman" style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);" class="MsoNormal"> </div><div face="times new roman" style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />"Our western Buddhism has been strongly shaped by late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Asian intellectuals," he notes. "D. T. Suzuki was an intellectual strongly influenced by western thought. And the same is true of other early interpreters of Buddhism to the West.</span></div><div face="times new roman" style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);" class="MsoNormal"> </div><div face="times new roman" style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />"We came as westerners to Buddhism generally with an educated background," Snyder continues. "So we have tended to over-emphasize the intellectual and spiritual sides of it, with the model at hand of Zen, without realizing that a big part of the flavor of Buddhism, traditionally and historically, is devotional.<br /><br />This is not necessarily tied to doing a lot of practice, but is tied to having an altar in the house-putting flowers in front of it every day, burning incense in front of it every day, having the children bow and burn incense before it. The family may also observe certain Buddhist holy days such as the Buddha's birthday by visiting a temple together, and so forth.</span></div><div face="times new roman" style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);" class="MsoNormal"> </div><div face="times new roman" style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />"With that perspective in mind, it isn't so easy to say, 'Oh well, Jack Kerouac wasn't a real Buddhist.' He was a devotional Buddhist, and like many Asians do, he mixed up his Buddhism with several different religions. So it's okay; there's nothing wrong with that. You can be a perfectly good Buddhist without necessarily doing a lot of exercises and sitting and yoga; you can be equally a good Buddhist by keeping flowers on your altar, or in winter, dry grass or cedar twigs..</span></div><div face="times new roman" style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);" class="MsoNormal"> </div><div face="times new roman" style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />"There's a big tendency right now in western Buddhism to psychologize it-to try and take the superstition, the magic, the irrationality out of it and make it into a kind of therapy. You see that a lot," he says. "Let me say that I'm grateful for the fact that I lived in Asia for so long and hung out with Asian Buddhists. I appreciate that Buddhism is a whole practice and isn't just limited to the lecture side of it; that it has stories and superstition and ritual and goofiness like that. I love that aspect of it more and more."</span></div><div face="times new roman" style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);" class="MsoNormal"> </div><div face="times new roman" style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />Snyder says that at age sixty-five, he's "working like a demon." For the past ten years he has taught creative writing at the University of California, leading workshops and participating in the interdisciplinary "Nature and Culture" program. This year will also mark the arrival of his long-awaited sequence of forty-five poems called "Mountains and Rivers Without End," portions of which have appeared intermittently since</span><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span><span style="font-size:130%;">Jack Kerouac first dropped word of it in The Dharma Bums.</span></div><div face="times new roman" style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);" class="MsoNormal"> </div><div face="times new roman" style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />"I realized I wasn't going to live forever and that I'd started a lot of parallel projects, with lots of interesting notes to each one, so it - d be a pity not to put all that information to good use. Once 'Mountains and Rivers' is done I won't have to write anything further. Anything after that is for fun. Maybe I won't be a writer anymore. Maybe I'll clean out my barn."</span></div><div face="times new roman" style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);" class="MsoNormal"> </div><div face="times new roman" style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);" class="MsoNormal"> </div><div face="times new roman" style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />Aging and health are not at issue with Snyder. He works at keeping in good condition and several months ago spent three weeks hiking in the Himalayas with a group of family and friends<br /><br />"We trekked up to base camp at Everest, went over 18,000 feet three times, and were seven days above 16,000 feet," he says with obvious relish. "Everybody was in pretty good shape and I only lost four pounds in a month, so I'm not thinking a whole lot about aging."</span></div><div face="times new roman" style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);" class="MsoNormal"> </div><div face="times new roman" style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />Snyder's recent journey provided him with insights into the questions of karma and reincarnation, which eco-philosopher Joanna Macy believes may hold special relevance for North Americans. She argues that deeply ingrained American frontier values such as individualism, personal mobility, and independence may contribute to the idea that, "If this is our only one-time life, then we don't have to care about the planet."</span></div><div style="font-family: times new roman; color: rgb(102, 51, 102);" class="MsoNormal"> </div><div style="font-family: times new roman; color: rgb(102, 51, 102);" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />"The concept of reincarnation in India can literally shape the way one lives in the world," Snyder notes, "and many Tibetans also believe in reincarnation quite literally. So in that frame of mind, the world becomes completely familiar. You sit down and realize that 'I've been men, women, animals; there are no forms that are alien to me.'</span></div><div style="font-family: times new roman; color: rgb(102, 51, 102);" class="MsoNormal"> </div><div style="font-family: times new roman; color: rgb(102, 51, 102);" class="MsoNormal"> </div><div style="font-family: times new roman; color: rgb(102, 51, 102);" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />"That's why everyone in India looks like they're living in eternity. They walk along so relaxed, so confident, so unconcerned about their poverty or their illness, or whatever it is, even if they're beggars. It goes beyond just giving you a sense of concern for the planet; it goes so far as to say, 'Planets come and go' It's pretty powerful stuff. It's also there in classical Buddhism where people say, 'I've had enough of experience.' That's where a lot of Buddhism in India starts-'I want out of the meat wheel of existence,' as Jack Kerouac says.<br /><br />"An ecosystem too, Snyder concludes, can be seen as "Just a big metabolic wheel of energies being passed around and around. You can see it as a great dance, a great ceremony. You can feel either really at home with it, or step out of the circle."</span></div><div style="font-family: times new roman; color: rgb(102, 51, 102);" class="MsoNormal"> </div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;" ><br />"We are all indigenous," he reminds us. So it is appropriate that in relearning the lessons of fox and bluejay, or city crows and squirrels-"all members present at the assembly"-that we are promised neither too little, nor too much for our perseverance. This poet, who for so many now reads like an old friend, invites us to make only sense. After all, in recommiting to this continent place by place, he reckons, "We may not transform reality, but we may transform ourselves. <span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">And</span></span></span><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);"> if we transform ourselves, we might just change the world a bit."</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"> </div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">The Wild Mind of Gary Snyder, Trevor Carolan, Shambhala Sun, May 1996.</span></span><br /><br /><a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Snyder">Read more about Gary Snyder on Wikipedia.</a><br /></div></div>Never Thirst! Pat Ferrarohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13523261897628526771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8405251446045446804.post-22339547816004860852009-02-20T09:20:00.000-08:002009-03-08T00:47:58.506-08:00Water District Should Go With The FlowThe electoral process has indeed brought many people the <a style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Audacity_of_Hope">Audacity of Hope</a> that our new president has opened for us. This hope is not just about electing a president. The hope lies in giving us the power to be the communities that we want to be, rather than what's forced upon us by "The Powers That Be." It's true: "All politics is local." So we should put our primary political power into local politics, and reduce the major distraction of "What can our country do for me?" Even our proud mayors flew back to DC with our tin cups in hands.<br /><br />A major local political opportunity is opening right now in Silicon Valley. And that is how we use democracy to manage our water and protect the watersheds that carry our water to us and the environment. The Water District Board is asking Assemblyman Joe Coto to carry a bill through the State legislature to amend the District Act as it pertains to (s)electing the Board of Directors as representatives of our community.<br /><br />The <a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);" href="http://www.valleywater.org/About_Us/District_Info/District_Act/_Complete_text/Distact-2006.shtm">Water District Act</a> is the enabling legislation that is created in Sacramento to be applied to how this agency is run here in Santa Clara County, from <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Palo</span></span> Alto and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Milpitas</span></span>, throughout San Jose and south to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Gilroy</span></span> and the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Pajaro</span></span> River. Its drainage flows to two important regional watersheds, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Monterey</span></span> Bay and the San Francisco Estuary. It serves sixteen land use agencies and offers services as a water wholesaler and watershed stewardship, and augments the community's earth science education component to both students and adults through their outreach programs.<br /><br />Water is essential to life and the quantity and chemistry of this element is so directly related to the quality of each of our lives and the community at large. Ironically, it has been that term "at large" that has been applied historically to enable the<span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"> Dilution of Democracy</span> for the past forty years here in the Valley of St.Claire and her Silicon <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">descendants</span>. In 1968, a newly formed organization was created in Sacramento in order to merge the competing public agencies, all trying to manage the waters of the County. Those were in fact the County government and the four, yes four, water conservation Districts that had been created to capture local winter storm runoff and recharge the water during the rest of the year into the groundwater basins or deliver it in pipes or canals.<br /><br />There is an adage that you should never watch law or sausage being made, but we historically have been willing to put up with the usually compromised results from either process. But not anymore! People are much more scrutinizing of what they eat and, maybe more importantly, how their (s)elected representatives are behaving, especially when it comes to spending our money, and measuring more closely what value we receive for that money. This blog and all our other methods of connectedness are the new tools we bring to the democratic process so we can finally become a real democracy.<br /><br />So I hope to begin, using my <a style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);" href="http://www.blessedunrest.com/video.html">Blessed Unrest</a>, a real dialogue within Silicon Valley to create a new water District Board of Directors that reflect today's needs and expectations for this 21st Century, very interconnected community.<br /><br />The Board, first of all, should represent the very nature of the <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">flow of water</span>, and should be organized by <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">watershed</span>.</span> This is not a new idea for the Water District. When I was first elected to the Board in 1972, there where five separate taxing zones in place, representing the major watersheds in the county: East(Coyote Creek), Central (Guadalupe/Los <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Gatos</span></span>), North Central (Stevens Creek/<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Permanente</span></span>) Northwest (Baron, San <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Francisquito</span></span>) and South (<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Uvas</span></span>/<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Llagas</span></span>/<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">Pajaro</span></span>).<br /><br />In order to keep the equal representation in place, each of these would have to again become a taxing entity for which watershed activities could be assessed per watershed and not subsidized by other zones with a "budget surplus."<br /><br />The water supply function of the Santa Clara Valley Water District is operated as an enterprise, basically run as a business for the benefit of the entire county. Other water supply wholesalers also operate within the county borders, namely San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, and four regional water recycling programs operated within Santa Clara County. This makes for a very complex approach for getting water to people, through their many water retailers, comprised of both <a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);" href="http://neverthirstpatferraro.blogspot.com/2008/09/flow-movie.html">municipal and private/investor-owned utilities</a>.<br /><br />Since the watersheds probably do not have equal populations, I propose that each watershed have weighted voting when they meet to manage the Water Utility Enterprise as the "Water (supply) Board."<br />Another benefit is that watershed boundaries cannot be gerrymandered. They are created by nature and will remain the same, regardless of changes in land use and population.<br /><br />As the Water Utility Enterprise is run as a business, each watershed council represents a resident-shareholder, so each council would have a vote in proportion to its population, using the well known and accepted corporate model. This should take care of the equal representation requirement.<br /><br />As these Watershed Council members come together as Water "Supply" Board, still wearing their watershed hats, if you will, they will be more apt to balance the needs of both the human inhabitants AND the in stream/riparian needs within the community. This is somewhat parallel concept to the city councils acting separately as the Redevelopment Boards while still being an elected council member.<br /><br />Watershed Councils should be (s)elected in open, non-partisan, consolidated primary elections with runoffs in the next general election. Appointments to fill vacancies should be required to gather at least 10% of the registered-voters support in their electoral Districts and should do so using electronic communications appropriate to the current community standards, sort of like getting fans on <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">Facebook</span></span>, for example.<br /><br />As the District is an essential service provider to the cities and the County government, these organizations should have a stronger voice in advising the Water District. A <a style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);" href="http://www.valleywater.org/About_Us/Board_of_directors/Board_advisory_committees/Water_Commission.shtm">water commission </a>currently exists that includes an elected members of each city, the County <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">BOS</span> and a Water Board member. This group should meet at least quarterly, and more often under drought or flood emergencies, and should be required to read and formally comment on the Water District budget before the Board takes final action to approve its annual or two-year budget.<br /><br />Other advisory committees should be encouraged by the State enabling legislation but the micro-managing should stop there. <span style="font-size:130%;"><a style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0); font-weight: bold;" href="http://neverthirstpatferraro.blogspot.com/2008/06/subsidizing-local-food-production-not.html">Agricultural subsidies, if allowed, should go toward ALL water applied for irrigation of a food crop, not just for commercial food and fiber</a></span>. Water subsidies for food crop irrigation should be passed on through retailers to consumers. Just as individual home water banks were created during the '86-'91 drought, home/food water banks can be similarly created and monitored through efficient and modern electronic means and be an essential tool for emergency drought management, during a state- or locally-declared emergency.<br /><br />For the past forty years, the District board of directors has had five elected directors and two directors appointed by the Board of Supervisors, coupled with a budget approval by the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">BOS</span></span>, after the District Board review and adoption. This system had a severely distracted Board of Supervisors giving approval to a budget they hardly ever glanced at, let alone vetted for policy compliance and economic or environmental prudence. The<span style="font-weight: bold;"> Dilution of Democracy</span>, of which I speak, occurred through the appointment of a supervisor's "friend" to either of the two at large seats on the Water Board. These appointments were made by alternating north /south appointments between the members of the board of supervisors. The heavy politicking this brought forth was never pretty to watch or stomach. Last year the County finally relinquished this hold on the Water District and the District Act was amended in Sacramento to remove the two appointments and eliminate the budget approval requirement.<br /><br />It is as these two vestiges of old political inertia are to end on Dec 31, 2010, that the District Board has cleverly disguised their desire to keep the number of Board members (s)elected to seven, using new yet-to-be-gerrymandered districts of equal number of eligible voters. I believe we deserve and can create a political body that has more practicality than simply preserving the number seven for the available seats on the board of directors. I am hoping that, using the communication tools we have available, we can construct a body that works as well as nature, as our politics reflects both the force and delicacy of nature and the human spirit.Never Thirst! Pat Ferrarohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13523261897628526771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8405251446045446804.post-90569736350639871372009-02-18T15:34:00.000-08:002009-02-20T15:27:18.327-08:00Navigating the Mighty Coyote Creek in San JoseAdvocates at <span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">Earthjustice</span></span> today called on Congress to fix the Clean Water Act by eliminating the legislative loophole restricting the US EPA to only protect <a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);" href="http://unearthed.earthjustice.org/2009/02/clean-water-act-is-broken.html">"Navigable Waters,"</a><br /><br />Bush's Supreme Court had given his administration the legal basis to ignore water pollution at thousands of wetlands, streams and lakes and groundwater basins. A new bill has been introduced, called the Clean Water Restoration Act, which removes the word "navigable" and replaces the words "waters of the United States".<br /><br />I noticed the Santa Clara Valley Water District has now begun to refer to the Coyote Creek as navigable. We are certainly witness to the flotilla of canoes launched under the smiling blessings of Admiral Spillman and her crew of trash photographers and recovery personnel. The next trash raft attack is scheduled for the weekend of March 1 if you care to join the war on creek trash.<br /><br />But I have had personal knowledge that the Coyote Creek is navigable, acquired in the best possible manner, when Dan O'Brien and I ran the river at twilight one crazy evening in the winter of 1978. Dan & I were then young bucks in our early 30's, and tended to do outrageous stuff on a mere suggestion.<br />We were sitting on his deck at 311 Brookwood, Dan playing his guitar, watching a flood wave crest through the river as the sun was just about to set. Dan started playing "Dueling Banjos," the theme song from that infamous movie, <a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);" href="http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi1705050393/">"Deliverance"</a>. This adventure movie put running rapids into a whole new category. It also gave dam builders a slight reduction in the number of activists trying to stop dam building. Large dams usually inundate and destroy miles of rapids available for adventurous folks to challenge the river with their rafting skills.<br /><br />But it didn't deter us when our testosterone-filled brains decided we needed to get to Mel Cotton's Sporting Goods store before they closed so we could purchase a six-foot inflatable raft and a couple of paddles. The good news is we made it to the store on time. The bad news was that the sun had already set by the time we got the raft home and inflated and were ready to launch our maniacal selves into the river at flood stage.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N-Y-fLka4ZQ/SZylpxe2TiI/AAAAAAAAAGU/5ubEE-FOQg4/s1600-h/CoyoteCreekatFlood+Stage.01:97.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N-Y-fLka4ZQ/SZylpxe2TiI/AAAAAAAAAGU/5ubEE-FOQg4/s400/CoyoteCreekatFlood+Stage.01:97.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5304296598211546658" border="0" /></a><br /><br />But the rain and river gods and goddesses wanted us to run the river this evening, as low clouds from the current storm hung low enough over the valley so that they effectively reflected enough street light on the creek that we could see where we were going. Beside getting the boat, our only other preparation was that we also told Dan's neighbor, Don Mathias, what we were up to and asked if he'd be willing to come get us if we were to survive this mad adventure.<br /><br />So off we went down the river. The inflatable raft was sea worthy enough, although we would soon find out that only luck would keep us from getting flushed out of the creek and into San Francisco Bay. For the next two hours we paddled hard to steer the raft down the river, moving at about 10-12 feet per second, stopping again and again to portage around downed trees lying completely across the water.<br /><br />The most beautiful memory of all this came as we passed one large tree growing near the bank that had about 25 white herons roosting for the night. Most of them saw us coming and took flight and flew around us as we passed their lodging and then resettled in to the tree as we floated by. Crazy humans!<br /><br />Just as we were passing the Flea Market near Berryessa Road, we punctured the raft on one of the million twigs and branches we had floated by in the last three miles of the floodway, and this proved that the gods and goddesses were watching out for us during our nutty urban river rafting adventure.<br /><br />We climbed out of the river soaked and covered with dirt and debris and knocked on the door of the San Jose Meat Company that was opposite the creek from the Flea Market and asked to use their phone to call Don for a ride. I think the people working that shift would not have dared to say no to these two wild men standing dripping at their door. I just hope we didn't contaminate any sanitary areas that we walked through to use the phone. (This is one more reason why cell phones were invented, so crazies don't show up at your door to ask to use the phone.)<br /><br />While waiting for our ride, I walked across Berryessa Road and looked downstream at the river. Upper Penetencia Creek has its confluence with Coyote right below this bridge, and the flow downstream was greatly increased on north side of the road. But since agriculture fields still existed in this historically floodable area instead of floodable urbanscape like it is today, the street lights that had illuminated our evening rafting trip were non-existent downstream of the confluence and all I saw was white water disappearing into a black abyss.<br /><br />I realized if we had rafted under that bridge, we might have been carried all the way to the bay, probably under rather than on the water. But instead, I am here on this bright and shiny Wednesday watching the sun set across the Coyote and glad I am still here to be a witness to the fact that Coyote Creek is indeed a navigable waterway, and right here in the middle of downtown San Jose.<br /><br />I also hope this story brings a smile to my dear water brother Dan O'Brien, who is undergoing spinal surgery today, repairing damage done to his younger self, either playing basketball or doing crazy shit like I have just described here.<br /><br />Blessed Be!Never Thirst! Pat Ferrarohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13523261897628526771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8405251446045446804.post-21720731719759692952009-02-16T16:29:00.000-08:002009-02-16T23:06:28.250-08:00No Trash Dumping, Flows to the CreekSome of my neighbors in the Campus Community in downtown San Jose recently posted a picture of a trash raft floating on the water surface in Mid-Coyote Creek, somewhere near the San Antonio Street bridge.<br /><br />I posted a terse response to chide the comment that we should wait to see if the raft would move downstream before doing anything about it. The author was rightly miffed that I suggested her intentions might be indifference to the problem rather than waiting for a safer time to remove the raft.<br /><br />After apologizing and giving a short history of the ignorance of this problem, I resolved to dedicate this blog post to pollution prevention of trash in our creeks. Consider this an extension of the work I did for my last eight years at the Water District as a contract employee running the Silicon Valley Pollution Prevention Center.<br /><br />In my own personal experience, plastic bags are the number one candidate for eliminating a serious source of creek trash. Walking along the creek one day in William Street Park, I picked up 22 plastic bags that had blown into bushes along the creek from tables, trash cans and ignorant park users. This is not a new problem. In 1995, the Pollution Prevention Center started giving seminar attendees high quality canvas tote bags silk screened <span style="font-size:130%;"><a style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);" href="http://neverthirstpatferraro.blogspot.com/2008/07/take-me-shopping.html">Take Me Shopping</a></span>.<br /><br />A few months ago, I found a web site dedicated to getting the Clorox Corporation to start<a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);" href="http://www.takebackthefilter.org/2009/02/brita-takes-back-its-pitcher-filters.html"> recycling the plastic-cased Brita brand water filters</a>. Threatening to embarrass this major corporation for its lack of producer responsibility and product stewardship, this month Clorox set up a nationwide network to collect and recycle their filters, keeping this item from the landfills. Clorox contracted with a program called <a style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);" href="http://www.preserveproducts.com/gimme5/">Gimme5</a> to collect the filters along with other # 5 plastics like is used in tooth brushes and prescription bottles. Collection kiosks are being set up in <a style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);" href="http://www.preserveproducts.com/recycling/gimme5locations.html">participating Whole Foods stores,</a> which unfortunately does not include those in San Jose yet. (Call your local store and request they participate ASAP.) In the mean time, you can <a style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);" href="http://www.preserveproducts.com/gimme5/#send">mail your filters and other #5 plastic directly to the recycling company.<br /></a><br />One of the activists working on the Brita filter recycling is named Beth Terry of Oakland, CA, who has a blog called <a style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);" href="http://www.fakeplasticfish.com/2009/02/gimme5-brita-preserve-and-you.html">Fake Plastic Fish.</a> In her post about the successful campaign on the Brita filter recycling, she includes this sample letter for folks to send to their local newspapers:<br /> <br /> Editor:<br /><blockquote>Plastic waste is a serious environmental problem. It is made from fossil fuels and does not biodegrade, lasting virtually forever and wreaking havoc in the natural world.<br /><br />Fortunately, a new program called Gimme5 is attempting to deal responsibly with some of our plastic waste. Customers can return used #5 (polypropylene) plastic containers as well as Brita pitcher water filters and used Preserve products to select Whole Foods markets or mail them back to Preserve for recycling. Full details of the program are at http://www.preserveproducts.com/gimme5/.<br /><br />I am not personally associated with Preserve, Whole Foods, or Brita, but as an individual attempting to live responsibly on the planet, I highly recommend this program.<br /><br />Sincerely,<br /><br />YOU!</blockquote>Read more about the successful campaign to get Brita filters recycled <a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);" href="http://www.eastbayexpress.com/news/the_blogger_and_the_bleach_company/Content?oid=922804">here</a>. There is a great amount of information on <a style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);" href="http://www.fakeplasticfish.com/2009/02/gimme5-brita-preserve-and-you.html">Fake Plastic Fish</a> regarding reduction of plastic consumption and its fugitive emission into the environment. I recommend spending some time reading Beth's posts to examine ways to reduce many types of plastic consumption.<br /><br />In northern Santa Clara County, the cities, County and the Water District have formed a joint program to manage the regional storm water permit issued for the watersheds draining into South San Francisco Bay, called the <a style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);" href="http://www.scvurppp-w2k.com/default.htm">Santa Clara Valley Urban Runoff Pollution Prevention Program</a>. In 1995, during the formative stages of this program, our discussions focused on the impossibility of treating all the storm water runoff generated in the South Bay watersheds, leading to the current name for the program. However, as the program has essentially failed to implement the necessary public education and local ordinances to actually PREVENT pollution, the current mandates for storm water inlet treatment devices are now the focus of the program as it relates to trash. Read more: <span style="font-family:Tahoma;font-size:100%;"><b><a href="http://www.scvurppp-w2k.com/pdfs/0708/Trash_Factsheet_FY0708_web.pdf" target="_self">Trash Evaluation and Management Fact Sheet (2<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">nd</span> Edition)</a></b></span> With current budget shortfalls at the cities, funds to implement this approach are going to be a challenge and success is dubious.<br /><br />For this reason, local action needs to re-focus on pollution prevention, which relies on attacking the source of the problem. Producer responsibility and product stewardship will be the key to reducing the flow of trash into our cityscape and the creeks. Carbon taxes or cap and trade approaches may assist this effort, but local governments are going to have to hang tough and resist the lobbying that is sure to come from the Chamber of Commerce. Activists that now are willing to endanger themselves pulling trash from the creeks must also pressure city officials to pass ordinances to reduce the flow of trash from business establishments into our streets and creeks.Never Thirst! Pat Ferrarohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13523261897628526771noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8405251446045446804.post-45720475665255541412009-02-05T14:46:00.000-08:002009-02-06T11:33:32.805-08:00Splitting Infinity or Splitting DarwinLast November I saw a production of <a style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);" href="http://www.sjrep.com/plays/2009/splittinginfinity/">Splitting Infinity at the Rep in San Jose.</a> It was a most interesting stage play regarding the human difficulty of accepting both science and religious belief in God. The play worked, in that it stirred deep emotional responses from the cast, the director and the audience. I was lucky to attend the final performance which included a 30-minute talk-back with the cast after the show. The group from the audience most offended were Christian Scientists, whose beliefs were portrayed in the script as unacceptable, by today's standards of common decency.<br /><br />Today the<a style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);" href="http://www.economist.com/science/displayStory.cfm?story_id=13059028&fsrc=nwlbtwfree"> Economist published an article on Darwin</a>, with an interesting chart of where on earth there is belief in Evolution. The chart speaks volumes about where humans are best educated and cared for by their localities. The conclusion drawn by the author from this information is insightful: " In countries where food is plentiful, health care is universal and housing is accessible, people believe less in God than in those countries where their lives are insecure. A belief in God, and rejection of evolution, they suggest, is most valuable in those societies that are most subject to Darwinian pressures."<br /><br />Now that the value of of wealth in America has been split in half as well, I would predict that Darwinian pressures are certainly going to kick up a notch or ten in the not too distant future. It will be interesting to watch and see how this theory above plays out in the actual world stage.<br /><br />It's already begun in London.To celebrate Darwin's 200th birthday, London buses carried a message: "There is probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life." The Christians are <a style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/05/AR2009020503150.html?wpisrc=newsletter">responding with their own campaign</a>. The sign companies are loving it, all the way to the bank.Never Thirst! Pat Ferrarohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13523261897628526771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8405251446045446804.post-13003096506258262012009-01-05T13:11:00.000-08:002015-01-30T22:09:48.247-08:00Fear of FEMA, Revisited<span style="font-size: 130%;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">FEMA</span> certainly became a four-letter word during the response to the flooding of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. Since <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Dubya</span> and his cronies were so focused on war profiteering and oil security, the </span><span style="font-size: 130%;">greatly neglected and negated </span><span style="font-size: 130%;">domestic federal programs became too obvious when <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">FEMA</span> flubbed and frustrated all humanitarian efforts to rescue and resuscitate the poor people of the sunken city of New Orleans.<br /><br />But <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">FEMA</span> was a four-letter word in Silicon Valley as far back as 1983. And the cussing was coming mostly from the City of San Jose officials who suddenly found themselves as defendants in a law suit following the <a href="http://www.sanjose.com/underbelly/unbelly/Alviso/wet.html" style="color: #3366ff;">flooding of the Town of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Alviso</span></a> after it was filled with ten feet of water when the Coyote overflowed its banks behind Agnew State Hospital.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 130%;"><br />The flooding victims in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Alviso</span> filed claims and eventually a law suit asking for $300 million in damages for "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverse_condemnation" style="color: #3366ff;">inverse condemnation</a>" (the taking of private property without due process/compensation.) As the City's insurance did not cover this cause of action, a great amount of effort went into the City's defense against these claims. However, once <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">FEMA</span> realized that the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Alviso</span> plaintiffs had an excellent case against the City for causation of the 1983 flood, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">FEMA</span> decided to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subrogation" style="color: #3366ff;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">subrogate</span> </a>all its claims and emergency costs expended due to the flood and joined in the lawsuit against the City.<br /><br />The causation was tied to a letter sent to the Water District in 1971 by San Jose's Public Works Director, Tony <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Turturicci</span>, refusing to create an adequate set back from the banks of the Coyote Creek while constructing the 12-foot levees of the sludge drying beds and lagoons for the Water Pollution Control Plant. By constructing the levees directly adjacent to the low flow channel of Coyote Creek and opposite the old <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Milpitas</span> sewage treatment plant, the outflow capacity of the creek to the Bay was reduced to about 1500 cubic feet per second (<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">CFS</span>). The 1% flood was calculated at the time at about 15,000 <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">CFS</span>. Any flows greater than 1500 <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">CFS</span> would back up in the river, raising the flood tide and dumping the excess overland to flow directly into <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">Alviso</span>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 130%;"><br />On April 1, 1983 a late season storm fell over the Coyote Watershed and caused the Andersen Reservoir to spill about 5500 <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">CFS</span>, dumping into the lower Coyote Creek. Within 24 hours, 8,000 acre-feet of water was sitting in the town of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">Alviso</span>, flowing in from the west bank of the river behind Agnew State Hospital at a rate of about 4000 <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">CFS</span>. This volume of water was almost half of the storage capacity of Lexington Reservoir and exceeded the capacity of most of the Water District's upstream water conservation facilities. These numbers probably gave the plaintiff's attorneys the idea to file an inverse condemnation suit, as the Town of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">Alviso</span> was now serving as a large reservoir of "fresh" water, separated from the Bay only by the salt pond levees adjacent to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">Alviso</span>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 130%;"><br /><br />The lawsuit was finally settled for $13 million, with <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">FEMA</span> taking $3 million from the pot to refund their expended emergency costs and the flood insurance claims it had paid to any victims that actually had flood insurance.<br /><br />The notion of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">FEMA</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">subrogating</span> its costs against a City, whose residents had purchased flood insurance, seemed like bad faith on the part of this federalized insurance company. I contacted <span style="color: black;">Don Edwards, our Congressional representative, and asked him to investigate if this was allowable under the Flood Insurance Act passed by Congress</span>. His investigation revealed that Congress had, in fact, directed <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24">FEMA</span> to operate this federal flood insurance program in the same manner as private insurance, by minimizing costs and recovery of claims through <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25">subrogation</span> when appropriate.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 130%;"><br />Today, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_26">FEMA</span> holds flood insurance policies on thousands of properties throughout Santa Clara/Silicon Valley, where homes and businesses have been constructed in flood plains and bypass channels of our local streams and rivers. Some of those properties are homes adjacent to Coyote Creek in downtown San Jose. The flows through the reach of Mid-Coyote, as the Water District classifies it, have already been augmented by up to 2,000 <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_27">CFS</span> by a 1974<a href="http://neverthirstpatferraro.blogspot.com/2008/06/changing-course-of-coyote-river-in-san.html" style="color: #3366ff;"> diversion of seven square miles of the Upper Silver Creek watershed into the Coyote Creek</a>, eight miles upstream of its natural confluence, which is opposite Watson Park near Empire Street.<br /><br />A few year ago, the Santa Clara Valley Water District designed a flood "protection" project for the Mid-Coyote that would block flood waters from exiting into its natural bypass channels in order to protect homes that have been built there with the blessings of the City of San Jose, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_28">FEMA</span>, and the deadly silence of the Water District. One of the benefits listed by the project team is the alleviation of the homeowners located in the bypass channels from having to continue to pay flood insurance premiums, once the bypass channels have been blocked by levees.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 130%;"><br /><br />While protecting these homes from flooding, the flood water that is prevented from flowing into its natural bypass channels will add another 2000 <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_29">CFS</span> of water to the main channel of the creek, greatly <a href="http://neverthirstpatferraro.blogspot.com/2009/06/meandering-demon-stration-on-coyote.html" target="_blank">increasing the velocity and bank erosion of the roaring river at flood stage</a>. Many large eucalyptus trees and other large riparian trees can be expected to fall and form dams at the bridges, and possibly take homes right off the bank, such as those built on the banks downstream of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_30">William</span> Street.</span><span style="font-size: 130%;">It seems that a 35-year old flood diversion channel, built then to protect a new cash register for the City of San Jose called <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_31">Eastridge</span>, coupled with a flood channelization project that forces even more water into the main channel of the river, in order to protect other homes somewhat remote from the river, is a pretty good case for inverse condemnation of the adjacent creek-side homeowners. Surely these properties will be damaged to a much greater degree when the extra 4000 <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_32">CFS</span> flows though the main channel of the river, instead of down their natural courses of the Silver Creek to its confluence with Coyote Creek.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 130%;"><br />The question I raise at this point is this: <span style="font-weight: bold;">Should the City of San Jose again fear </span><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_33" style="font-weight: bold;">FEMA</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> and their</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_34" style="font-weight: bold;">subrogation</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> lawyers when the next flood occurs in San Jose, and claims are paid by </span><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_35" style="font-weight: bold;">FEMA</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> on homes damaged by the flood that will someday pass through the mid-Coyote?</span></span>Never Thirst! Pat Ferrarohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13523261897628526771noreply@blogger.com0