That old threat?
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger last night dropped threats to veto more than 700 bills unless the legislature brought him a water package to his liking. Rather, saying a deal was near, he declared the legislature in special session.
While the official reversal was more dignified than the Tweet that the Governor sent out reading, “going all out, signing two bills at once,” the proclamation for a special session itself is loaded.
Even if the governor enjoyed the consensus necessary to resolve differences over whether or not to build a peripheral canal around the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, the proclamation makes a difficult task all but impossible.* It bundles with a Delta fix demands for two previously rejected dam projects — current estimated costs between $4 and $5bn.
The Los Angeles Times has the story on some of what got signed and what didn’t.
UPDATE: *Politicians disagree and are out in …
The week that was, 10/4-10/2009
With its limited appeal to lovers of swamps and turtles, it’s hard to imagine how David M. Carroll’s beautiful new book, his fifth, will find enough buyers to earn its advance, much less turn a profit. — October 4, 2009 Seattle Times review of David M. Carroll’s “Following the Water — a Hydromancer’s Notebook”
Was it really possible that power of such magnitude — diverting water supplies, building suburbs, playing a central role in the fastest growth any American city has ever seen — could be exercised from the offices of a newspaper publisher? — October 4, 2009 New York Times review of the PBS documentary “Inventing LA: The Chandlers and Their Times”
[Las Vegas] is probably the poster child for the most unsustainable city in the world. — former Las Vegas Sun …
Hot and cold: Summer 2009
CLICK on the maps to enlarge these graphic wrap-ups of summer 2009 from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration. Or click here to be taken to the NOAA Satellite and Information Service. …
Entering the age of Ritalin
WITH what is less a case of skepticism and more one of complete incomprehension, Chance of Rain has joined Twitter. The inconspicuousness of the icons, which are found at the bottom of each post, attest to the ambivalence. I owe the ironic reference to Ritalin to my friend, poet Amy Scattergood. What Twittering does apart from wrecking any hope of concentration and reducing us all to high school students is unclear to me, but there is something generous, free-wheeling and stupid-profound about it too, not to mention good for numbers. This much I can see from the clickometer of this website: When Aquadoc of WaterWired, aka Michael Campana of Oregon State University, thinks enough of something I’ve written to tweet it, people read it.
Relying on Michael to tweet indefinitely for me would be an abuse of his infinite obligations to just about anyone ready and willing to …
Western datebook
THE CALIFORNIA State Board of Food and Agriculture will hold its first 2010 Drought Meeting looking at how fluctuating supply affects water quality. The board will hear from speakers from the Central Valley Water Quality Control Board and conduct a panel discussion on “actionable solutions with agricultural farm organizations, water districts and state officials.” The word “actionable” usually refers to law suits, but in this case it connotes seriousness and is code for rent-a-mobs and posturing politicians to stay away. That said, public participation and comment is encouraged. Time: Wednesday, October 14, 10am-2pm. Place: Fresno Farm Bureau, 1274 West Hedges Avenue, Fresno, CA 93728
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