Water Supply
From: Theo Douglas,
Bakersfield Californian
Due to historically low levels of
melting snow, the Kern River watershed is experiencing its third driest year in
more than a century. Snowmelt runoff levels in the Kern for 2013 are at 21
percent of a 100 percent runoff, a measurement that ties with the
Depression-era year of 1931, according to Bakersfield Water Resources Manager
Art Chianello.
The city began keeping records of
water levels 120 years ago, in 1893. Two years are considered to be the
watershed's second driest: 1924 and 1977. During each of those years, the Kern
yielded 20 percent of a 100 percent snowmelt runoff.
Technology
From: Stacy
Finz, SF Chronicle
Up until a few years ago, Chris
Drew measured the moisture levels of Sea Mist Farms in Salinas by hiking up and
down thousands of artichoke rows, sticking a metal rod into the soil as he went
and feeling the dirt he pulled up with his fingers. Now he can do it with a
high-tech sensor and an iPhone while eating his Wheaties. "Farming will never
be able to be done from behind a desk," said Drew, the farm's production
manager. "But technology provides us with more useful information than we
had before."
Dams
From: Editorial, Chico
Enterprise-Record
Our view: The government has been
studying the feasibility of raising Shasta Dam for decades. The studies are a
waste of time and money. The federal government is seeking comments on whether
it should raise Shasta Dam. Here's our comment, short and sweet: Quit wasting
taxpayer money. Well-paid bureaucrats and their similarly well-paid consultants
have spent 10 years studying it, even though they know it's not a legitimate
possibility. And if they go farther down this road with more studies, well-paid
lawyers will get in the gravy train line because the lawsuits are sure to fly.
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