trailblazer87
Curve Hound
To begin, I am in a semi intoxicated state, thanks to Coney Island Brewing Company and and a Belgian Tripel earlier. (Thank God for spell check)
Now for the rant....
For those of you who may not know I live in the center of Central California, about 20 miles from the geographic center of the state. Not near the beach, its about 3 hours to the west. The 2 major population centers of the state are very liberal (left leaning, pro-environmentalism) while the rest of the state is rather right leaning. With some inter mixing around the borders of these areas. This can lead to rather intense politics in the state, but a general rule of thumb seems to be, as California goes so does the rest of the country.
Now that the preface is done I will dive in.
The San Joaquin Valley makes of the bulk of the center of the state and it has a farm based economy centered on the City of Fresno, I live in a town just to the north. This area has been undergoing what we call the water wars for as long as I have been around. This is an arid (we average 11 inches of rain each year) but fertile region, most of the nations non-grain crops are grown here as well as most of the WORLDS raisins and pistachios. California has a vast and efficient water distribution system, we can shove lakes of water from on e end of the state to the other easily. Most of this water system has been built for agricultural and flood control purposes, with electrical generation as a secondary benefit. No river or tributary is untouched or in a truly natural state anymore and hasn't been fro nearly 50 years, nor can it ever be returned to its original state.
In a region we call the west side (an area comprising 1.5 million acres of arable land) the farmers signed contracts with the federal government for water as the native water was too loaded with selenium to allow to be used for crops and was damaging birds and causing birth defects within water fowl populations, in essence an exchange was done. The federal and state governments have contractual obligations to fill San Luis Reservoir annually so that the crops can be irrigated.
There was recently discovered that a species of shad (minnows) called the Delta Smelt have been having falling populations in the Sacramento River Delta (an unnatural river delta). The reason for the dying fish as given by the Sierra Club and similar organizations has been the pumping of water from the Delta to the San Luis Reservoir even though there are screens and other devices to prevent the fish entering the pumps. The real reason, though the politicians in Sacramento won't admit it, is there are several sewage treatment plants that discharge into the river with semi treated sewage and the cost to retrofit these would be several hundred million dollars which in these economic times is unpalatable.
Just for the record the Delta Smelt is genetically identical to other populations of these fish in other rivers, they are a 2-3 inch long fish which is a feeder fish for the salmon that don't run through the region any more.
Because of a law suit and environmental law the pumps have been kept turned off for the drout we have been under going for the past several years. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has the legal authority to turn the pumps on for 90 days. He has joined a march/ protest recently done to get the pumps turned on. He even led a shouting session of "OPEN THE PUMPS!" and then refused to turn them on.
This state of affairs has become dire, farmers are fallowing fields (which if we don't till at least once a year they become untouchable as environmental preserves), and trying other desperate measures to save the permanent crops, like almonds and grapes.
We on the east side of the Valley have been rationed to 85% of last years deliveries (already short).
There are people now ready to commit acts of violence asuch as poisoning the Delta Smelt with anhydrous ammonia, blockading the population centers of California (basically starve them into submission), and even more extreme measures. When we call them the water wars we mean it.
The current unemployment rate is approaching 20% in many areas of the Central Valley.
We need water, more than a 2" long minnow does.
We need water storage in the form of dams, also blocked by environmentalist lobby, and underground water banks.
We have plenty of water now if allowed to use it.
I guess I just needed to vent.
Thank you all.
Now for the rant....
For those of you who may not know I live in the center of Central California, about 20 miles from the geographic center of the state. Not near the beach, its about 3 hours to the west. The 2 major population centers of the state are very liberal (left leaning, pro-environmentalism) while the rest of the state is rather right leaning. With some inter mixing around the borders of these areas. This can lead to rather intense politics in the state, but a general rule of thumb seems to be, as California goes so does the rest of the country.
Now that the preface is done I will dive in.
The San Joaquin Valley makes of the bulk of the center of the state and it has a farm based economy centered on the City of Fresno, I live in a town just to the north. This area has been undergoing what we call the water wars for as long as I have been around. This is an arid (we average 11 inches of rain each year) but fertile region, most of the nations non-grain crops are grown here as well as most of the WORLDS raisins and pistachios. California has a vast and efficient water distribution system, we can shove lakes of water from on e end of the state to the other easily. Most of this water system has been built for agricultural and flood control purposes, with electrical generation as a secondary benefit. No river or tributary is untouched or in a truly natural state anymore and hasn't been fro nearly 50 years, nor can it ever be returned to its original state.
In a region we call the west side (an area comprising 1.5 million acres of arable land) the farmers signed contracts with the federal government for water as the native water was too loaded with selenium to allow to be used for crops and was damaging birds and causing birth defects within water fowl populations, in essence an exchange was done. The federal and state governments have contractual obligations to fill San Luis Reservoir annually so that the crops can be irrigated.
There was recently discovered that a species of shad (minnows) called the Delta Smelt have been having falling populations in the Sacramento River Delta (an unnatural river delta). The reason for the dying fish as given by the Sierra Club and similar organizations has been the pumping of water from the Delta to the San Luis Reservoir even though there are screens and other devices to prevent the fish entering the pumps. The real reason, though the politicians in Sacramento won't admit it, is there are several sewage treatment plants that discharge into the river with semi treated sewage and the cost to retrofit these would be several hundred million dollars which in these economic times is unpalatable.
Just for the record the Delta Smelt is genetically identical to other populations of these fish in other rivers, they are a 2-3 inch long fish which is a feeder fish for the salmon that don't run through the region any more.
Because of a law suit and environmental law the pumps have been kept turned off for the drout we have been under going for the past several years. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has the legal authority to turn the pumps on for 90 days. He has joined a march/ protest recently done to get the pumps turned on. He even led a shouting session of "OPEN THE PUMPS!" and then refused to turn them on.
This state of affairs has become dire, farmers are fallowing fields (which if we don't till at least once a year they become untouchable as environmental preserves), and trying other desperate measures to save the permanent crops, like almonds and grapes.
We on the east side of the Valley have been rationed to 85% of last years deliveries (already short).
There are people now ready to commit acts of violence asuch as poisoning the Delta Smelt with anhydrous ammonia, blockading the population centers of California (basically starve them into submission), and even more extreme measures. When we call them the water wars we mean it.
The current unemployment rate is approaching 20% in many areas of the Central Valley.
We need water, more than a 2" long minnow does.
We need water storage in the form of dams, also blocked by environmentalist lobby, and underground water banks.
We have plenty of water now if allowed to use it.
I guess I just needed to vent.
Thank you all.
