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Mountain Democrat mtdemocrat.com
Wednesday, March 4, 2020
OPINION
Richard B. Esposito Publisher/Editor
Noel Stack Opinion Page Editor
Krysten Kellum Associate Editor
California Matters
Climate change and the state’s water supply
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alifornia, as everyone knows, receives virtually all of its precipitation during a few fall and winter months. In 2019 some early rain and snow storms promised a bountiful water year. This year Mother Nature kept that DAN WALTERS promise in Southern California, where precipitation is running at or above the normal, but Northern California — far more important from a water supply standpoint — has been a different story. The north has seen almost no precipitation since Christmas, the all-important Sierra snowpack is less than half its average depth and the region’s balmy, springlike weather shows no signs of ending. A stubborn high-pressure area off the coast has been blocking Arctic Ocean storms from dipping into California, leaving water managers hoping for a “March miracle” like the one that rescued the state from an even worse winter dry spell in 1991. Whatever happens this year, the abrupt end to what appeared initially to be a wet season is another reminder that California can never take its water supply for granted, especially given the forecasts of what climate change might wrought. The official expectation is that while overall precipitation may remain roughly the same, we would see less in the form of snow and more as rain. Were it to occur, mountain snowpacks, which are natural reservoirs that release their water slowly, would diminish, requiring more manmade storage to capture winter rains. A newly released “Water Resilience Portfolio,” drafted by a coalition of state agencies in response to an executive order from Gov. Gavin Newsom last year, warns, “California confronts more extreme droughts and floods, rising temperatures, depleted groundwater basins, aging infrastructure and other challenges magnified by climate change.” It calls for a “a broad, diversified approach” that includes not only more storage, but diversifying supply sources, improving natural systems where possible and building infrastructure to more easily move water from where it is to where it’s needed. The report embraces two big projects — the proposed Sites reservoir on the west side of the Sacramento Valley and a long-envisioned, ultracontroversial tunnel to carry Sacramento River water beneath the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Sites, in Colusa and Glenn counties, has been on the drawing boards for decades. It wouldn’t dam any major streams, but rather store diversions from the Sacramento River during high flows, up to 1.2 million acre-feet, for release when needed to meet downstream demands, particularly during dry periods. It’s somewhat similar to the state/federal San Juan Reservoir on the Pacheco Pass west of Merced. The single tunnel beneath the Delta is Newsom’s smaller, renamed version of the twin tunnels that ■
See WALTERS, page A5
Letters to the Editor It’s free? EDITOR:
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y business partner had only one response to all that “free” stuff – “Don’t eat that, LeRoy!” Do you (the people) really believe in the Tooth Fairy? I sneaked a peek and you know what? My parents put that quarter under my pillow. Yes, that’s the truth. Who’s going to pay for all that “free” stuff promised by Warren, Biden and Bernie, oh my? You are. There ain’t no free lunch. Wake up. DOUG ROSCOE Shingle Springs
Sprucing up our town EDITOR: o the Placerville City Council: Winter appears to be waning and spring is nigh. Time for ya’ll to look around and see what’s missing or needing some attention, if you will. Wasn’t that many moons ago that we all swelled up with pride as a fleet of surveyors, workers, scrapers, backhoes, concrete trucks and paving machines converged on downtown Placerville and created a magnificent new Main Street roadway. We are grateful for and more than pleased with the new crosswalks, planters, curbs, light poles and all the other what-not necessary to put more pizzazz in our unique little town. Then you got to the ugly duckling Broadway and stopped. How come? Surely it wasn’t unreasonable to keep going for another couple miles once you had all the road construction people and machines in place. For a long while we have watched with fingers crossed as lines were spray painted across Broadway in their traditional Day-Glocolors. Could this be the sign that grinders and hot tar trucks were close behind? Alas, all that ever came of it was nothing more than a new trench or two and more potholes. Broadway from Mosquito Road to Texerna Court is a mess. Severely worn and cracking asphalt, potholes and sunken pavement patches abound. Vehicles actually rock and sway even when traveling just 5 mph at the necessarily slow and short distance eastbound between Wiltse and Schnell
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School roads. Elsewhere it’s pick-and-choose from left to right to select the best portion of the roadway to drive on. It’s rumored that work will soon begin along upper Broadway to install sidewalks. If that is so, perhaps it would be a good time to kill two birds with one stone and repair and repave Broadway too. Doing that would go a long way toward reducing tire and front end alignment damage to our vehicles and would make driving on Broadway a pleasant and smooth experience again. Thank you very much in advance. HAL PETRIE Placerville
California Legislature changes needed EDITOR: aving a super-majority in the California Legislature, Democrats in recent years have passed about 1,000 new laws annually that impact us all. Having an opposition party of nearly even strength would create discussion to soften some of these harsh laws. I’m especially displeased with AB5, which prevents Californians from working as independent contractors in such occupations as writing, acting, driving trucks and many others. I don’t understand why Democrats have prevented so many artists, writers, actors and musicians from working in California. Perhaps residents who have been denied the right to work on their own terms will vote in future elections for candidates who favor individual liberty more than governmental control. One other aspect of California politics not often mentioned is the idea of representation that improves local control. One rumor I heard is that large organizations such as the teachers’ union exert enormous influence in the Legislature. Because state Assembly members represent 500,000 Californians each there is no time to consult with individuals. Assembly members mainly speak with lobbyists and representatives of large businesses. If you wish to find a way to make your voice heard go to ARR4all.org. There you will find a plan to improve your representation. CECIL RINGGENBERG Placerville
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The Rural Life
Do you want to communitcate better? First, connect
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Games) and a growing t would be fan base among those overstating interested in a kinder, the case to say more horse-centric everything method of training. I’ve learned about His methodology is communicating with my husband I learned from constantly evolving a horse trainer. because he’s continually It wouldn’t be entirely seeking more effective, wrong, either. more humane methods. Anyone in a He has what my relationship knows husband calls a growth JENNIFER FORSBERG mindset, as opposed to a communication is allimportant. My husband fixed mindset. MEYER and I thought it crucial “These days I’m all about the relationship enough to write it into our wedding vows, some 47 years ago. with the horse,” said Warwick. “That comes first and the training comes What I’ve learned from trainer second.” Warwick Schiller is that not all He builds that relationship by communication is equal and the connecting to the animal. For very best kind is possible only example, when he’s working a horse after establishing a certain kind of from the ground on a long line, connection. instead of watching what the horse’s I know it sounds abstract in a body is doing, he looks for signs that touchy-feely way. I hope to lay it out tell him where the horse’s mind is. for you plainly in a manner that hits “I pay attention to the small things home … the way this trainer did for — the ears, the eyes. I’m timing my me … and does for his horses. releases (which reward the horse) to Warwick is a California-based when the horse’s attention goes from clinician who has both traditional off me to on me, no matter what his horse-training cred (he represented body is doing.” A small flick of the his home country of Australia at the horse’s ear can tell him this, if he’s 2010 and 2018 World Equestrian
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aware of that and watching for it. Isn’t mindful awareness what we humans crave as well? When you’re having a conversation, what thrills you is when the person you’re speaking to really gets what you’re saying and understands the emotional content of the message. It’s more than simply being a “good listener”— as in paying attention and not interrupting. It’s perceiving at a deeper level that truly connects you to the other person. In Warwick’s horsemanship clinics many participants are women. “I ask them, Have you ever gotten a haircut and come home and you’re talking to your husband and waiting for him to notice? Then you ask him to do something — maybe take out the garbage — and he does it cheerfully, but you’re left feeling deflated? “And you think, He did what I asked but he never even noticed my haircut!” Warwick said people in this situation are disheartened because their partners aren’t “right there” with them, connected in that deep way that would’ve given them the clues needed to be able to notice the hair — and a whole lot more. “So, with the horse, when you
release the pressure when his ear simply flicks toward you it’s almost like letting him know you’ve ‘noticed his haircut.’ You’re tuned in to him. You prove to him that you’re aware, you’re connected.” And if you’re not connected in this way? “It makes a huge difference. The horses won’t give you their whole selves; they sort of hold stuff in reserve. It’s hard to explain, but they don’t feel totally trusting, so they don’t completely open up to you. “It’s like the woman and her husband,” he continued, circling back to his analogy. “When she realizes he’s not really connected to her at that level, there start to be little subtle things that indicate she’s not truly opening up to him in return.” This was a lightbulb moment I could relate to. To be truly connected you must do more than just being there, listening. You must actively try to gauge how your partner is feeling in the moment, then making him or her aware that you know how they feel by how you respond. That’s when connection clicks in. Warwick’s evolution in thinking
Snail Mail: Letters to the Editor P. O. Box 1088, Placerville 95667
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See FORSBERG MEYER, page A5
Main Office: 2889 Ray Lawyer Drive Placerville 95667
