Capturing rain
Posted on | October 13, 2009 | No Comments
Simple steps such as redirecting water from downspouts into permeable beds prevent rainwater from reaching streets, where it picks up a host of pollutants before exiting the storm system into the Pacific. Source: TreePeople
From Reuters via Aquafornia: Despite threats by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to kill all of the 704 bills on his desk unless legislators reached an agreement, the Governor decided to approve SB 790, also known as the Stormwater Resource Planning Act. SB 790 creates a new framework encouraging California municipalities to address the stormwater issues in a new way. It encourages municipalities to manage stormwater for beneficial uses such as augmenting water supply, preventing floods, mitigating stormwater pollution, creating green space and enhancing wildlife habitat. To keep reading, click here.
It’s too late for Angelenos who presently direct rainwater from their property into the street to do much in advance of a large storm now bearing down on California. But simple steps could give parched gardens a much needed soaking. TreePeople has them. To keep reading, click here.
The Dry Garden: Irises happen
Posted on | October 12, 2009 | No Comments
IN THE fleeting scheme of nature, irises happen. This story is about a concentration of them in Moorpark.
Part of a larger family of that includes lilies, crocuses and gladiolas, irises are native to many parts of the world. The fire-prone hills of southern Ventura County are not one of them, nurseryman Bob Sussman says. It’s too hot. He reckons that their native range in California ends roughly in Santa Barbara.
Yet irises started appearing in Moorpark in numbers when Sussman began breeding them here five years ago.
To keep reading this week’s Los Angeles Times column “The Dry Garden” click here
Image of the day
Posted on | October 12, 2009 | No Comments
Click here to be taken to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration’s satellite imaging of water vapor over the US
Rain in Los Angeles
Posted on | October 12, 2009 | No Comments
Tuesday night, rain, low 61 F
Wednesday, rain, high 68F
Wednesday night, partly cloudy, low 59F
- Thursday sunny, high 80F
Click on the icons to be taken to the National Weather Service. This post was last updated at 6.40pm, October 13th, 2009.
Tags: chance of rain > Emily Green > National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
That old threat?
Posted on | October 12, 2009 | No Comments
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 force cheerleading for a potential deal. On KPCC’s AirTalk, Larry Mantle’s guests are LA Times reporter Michael Rothfeld, Northern Californian Senator Sam Aanestad (R-4th Distrist) and Assembly Member Anna Caballero (D-Salinas). As Aanestad has it, the sticking points include ground-water monitoring and 20% conservation goals for rural conservatives. Caballero, who is heading negotiations for Assembly Democrats, says that, while split, they may accede to the governor’s demand for dams (she authored a $12bn draft bond measure AB 752). She hopes for a deal by the end of the week.
VIA Aquafornia: Senate Speaker pro tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) and Assembly Speaker Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles) are on YouTube discussing what they now describe as a $9.4bn bill. “Water is considered one of the unsolvable issues in this state,” said Steinberg. “There has been a seeming barrier for decades in terms of resolving California’s water challenges. We believe that we are on the verge of breaking that barrier.” According to Bass, the items covered by the legislation are: Statewide 20% water reduction by 2020, statewide ground-water monitoring, increased water rights supervision and formation of a Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta stewardship council and conservancy.
UPDATE OCT. 13, 2009: A Field Poll gives the legislature and governor record low job approval numbers. To read it, click here.
For the full press rundown on water, go to Aquafornia. This post has been updated.
For the text of the Governor’s proclamation, click here
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