(With expanded coverage of all the Western States)
by Patrick Ruckert
www.californiadroughtupdate.org/20230608-California-Water-and-Infrastructure-Report.pdf
A Note to Readers
The Feature this week revisits the 1876 Centennial Celebration held in Philadelphia in an article by my colleague Robert Ingraham, “President Trump Makes Himself the Personal Rallying Point for the Principles of 1776.”
“On May 31, on his Agenda 47 web page, Donald Trump released a new video titled ‘Celebration of 250 Years of American Independence at the Iowa State Fairgrounds.’ In that video, Trump proposes to create a year-long “Salute to America”—to honor the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.”
So begins the article. But, then the article focuses on what should such a celebration feature, and reviews in great detail the 1876 Centennial Celebration that occurred in Philadelphia.
That celebration demonstrated to the American people, and the world, that the U.S. was now the leading industrial power in the world.
Reviewing that history, we are struck by how we have shrunk. When once we were a nation that challenged the frontiers of science and technology, built great infrastructure projects that transformed the nation and provided inspiration to millions throughout the world, now we are most famous for insane wars, deviant behavior and more than 100,000 deaths per year from drug overdoses.
The article provides the challenge, as does President Trump’s call for a great celebration for the nation’s 250th birthday, that we must take up.
The rest of this week’s report:
The U.S. Drought Monitor, as usual begins the report. It shows no change from last week, and probably won’t for a couple of months.
El Nino has officially begun, states annoucement of the weather phenomenon. “The natural climate phenomenon is marked by warmer ocean temperatures in the equatorial Pacific, which drives hotter weather around the world.”
Next are a couple of items discussing the winter’s immense amount of water that remains in the snowpack or on the ground, and the second, that the drought will return. So, I think the author of the second writes the obvious. But, that is journalism today.
An update on the Sites Reservoir moving closer to actual construction reports on the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) ruling that “the reservoir’s water right application was deemed complete.”
One of many articles now appearing argues that the water rights held by farmers is outdated and must be reformed, comes next. This is obviously opposed by the water rights holders, as they feel threatened by any reforms put forth by the Democrat dominated legislature.
That the U.S. labor force has lost its skills as we transitioned to the insane consumer economy is not a new story. But this article makes the point that now California does not have the skilled manpower to build even the green economy infrastructure funded by Biden’s funding: “Limited workforce may hinder California’s infrastructure upgrade.”
There is not much new on the Colorado River crisis this week, but spending more than $1 billion for farmers to fallow their land and not use water, which is a central point of policy to deal with the crisis on the Colorado River, may not produce the water savings that those promoting it expect. An article included below makes that point.
