Currently, on both sides of Monterey Bay, key land use debates are taking place in the context of discussions about water supply. The Pajaro Valley groundwater basin, hugely overdrafted, is under the management of the Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency. That agency is seeking to change state law to allow it to use imported water for residential and industrial growth, instead of just for agriculture. A key land use debate in the guise of water supply planning.

In Monterey County, water agencies are seeking approval of a rather large desalination project, to address the water supply crisis on the Peninsula, and also to provide for additional growth. In North Santa Cruz County, the City of Santa Cruz and the Soquel Creek Water District are also proposing a desalination facility, and that, too, would facilitate growth.

One alternative to the proposed City-Soquel Creek desalination plant might be a water transfer arrangement. That topic is being addressed tonight by the City of Santa Cruz Water Commission. You can get information on the meeting in the transcript of today’s Land Use Report, and you can also get information on an upcoming "Garden Tour," scheduled for next Sunday, that will teach you how to have an attractive garden, using native plants, without using so much water. You need to register, so if you are interested, you should act soon.

More Information:

Gary Patton writes a daily blog, "Two Worlds / 365"
http://www.gapatton.net

Sentinel Article on PVWMA
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/localnews/ci_18188974

Monterey County Desalination Proposal
http://www.regionalwaterproject.org/

City Water Commission Agenda
http://www.cityofsantacruz.com/Modules/
ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=20558

Staff Report on Water Transfer
http://www.cityofsantacruz.com/Modules/
ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=20547

CNPS Garden Tour Information
http://www.californianativegardentour.org/

Garden Tour Registration Form
http://www.californianativegardentour.org/
gardens/tourgardens.htm

This may be "water week" on the Land Use Report. I talked about a number of water-related items yesterday, and I have another one to tell you about today. Let me first remind you, though, that you should register soon for a Native Plant Garden Tour, scheduled for next Sunday, and sponsored by the California Native Plant Society, if you’d like to find out how you can reduce your outside water use, and still have an attractive landscaping plan around your home.

Here’s my real item for today: Tomorrow afternoon, on June 8th, from 3:00 to 5:00 o’clock, Zoe Sofoulis, PhD., a researcher at the Centre for Cultural Research at the University of Western Sydney, in Australia, will discuss the potential for water customers to engage in conservation. Drought conditions in Australia mean they know about this topic down there. Sofoulis will also present her findings on the shifting understanding of water agency managers about their relationship to water customers; her presentation is entitled, "Changing Our Relationship to Water: The Evolving Roles of Water Providers and Water Users." It will take place at the India Joze Restaurant located at 418 Front Street in Santa Cruz. Hors d'oeuvres will be provided by Joe Schultz, if the meeting topic itself isn’t enough to entice you. There is more information, of course, in the transcript of today’s Land Use Report.

More Information:

Gary Patton writes a daily blog, "Two Worlds / 365"
http://www.gapatton.net

CNPS Garden Tour Information
http://www.californianativegardentour.org/

Garden Tour Registration Form
http://www.californianativegardentour.org/
gardens/tourgardens.htm

Information on the June 8th presentation
http://visitor.benchmarkemail.com/c/v?e=C94D4&c=F2BD&l
=413081C&email=cSdJHoo5FDxs%2BTrQheXCPEvVLhQ4jU9l
CJ%2FwYbRnGP0%3D&relid=D161D5FB

RSVP For June 8th Presentation to Julie Boudreau: Email - JulieBoudreau@msn.com Telephone - 831-374-7685

Land use and water issues are connected, and the future of the Monterey Bay Region will definitely be affected by the approaches we take to providing an adequate water supply for the needs of current water customers (including farmers, industrial and commercial users, and residential communities). Plus, the issue of water for new growth, of course, is also a key policy question.

Tomorrow, the Pajaro River Watershed Council will be meeting in Watsonville, from 1:30 to 5:00 p.m. The meeting will be held in the Community Rooms of the Watsonville Civic Plaza, on the 4th Floor. Lots of interesting information will be provided, with the following topics on the agenda:

• A Proposed Deep Water Desalination Project at Moss Landing
• Reservoir Operations in the Upper Pajaro Watershed, to Balance Water Conservation, Aquatic Habitat and Flood Management Objectives
• Possible Watershed Impacts of the Proposed California High Speed Rail Project in the North of Gilroy to Pacheco Pass Section; and
• The Sierra Club's Value Added Ideas for the Pajaro River Flood Reduction Project

I’ve been working, as an attorney, with the Sierra Club’s Pajaro River Watershed Committee, which is why I know about the meeting tomorrow. If you would like to find out more about key issues affecting our water (and hence our land use) future, this would be a good meeting to attend. There is more information on the KUSP website.

More Information:

Gary Patton writes a daily blog, "Two Worlds / 365"
http://www.gapatton.net

Pajaro Watershed Information Center
http://www.pajarowatershed.org/

Pajaro River Watershed Council Projects
http://www.centralcoastrcandd.org/pajaro.htm

This Sunday, the California Native Plant Society is sponsoring a "Native Plant Garden Tour." As I’ve mentioned before, if you’d like to take part, you will need to register. Registered participants will get the addresses of the various gardens on the tour. If you don’t register, you won’t know where to go. "How to" information will be provided to participants, and I’m encouraging KUSP listeners to sign up and get some time outdoors, maybe with your kids, as you view these very pleasant, but somewhat unusual, residential landscapes. Using native plants has lots of benefits. Most important, from my point of view, is that the conversion of residential landscaping to schemes based on native plants can significantly address what is truly a water supply crisis in the Monterey Bay Region.

Water "supply" needs to balance with water "demand," and as we look to the future, that equation doesn’t balance in our region. Hence, there are lots of new "supply" alternatives being proposed, most notably desalination proposals which can have truly horrendous environmental and global warming impacts. Another approach to balance is to reduce "demand" to meet existing supply. A huge percentage of our residential and commercial water use is devoted to landscape maintenance, and "going native" can make a big difference.

There is more information, including links to some pictures of the gardens, in the transcript of today’s Land Use Report.

More Information:

Gary Patton writes a daily blog, "Two Worlds / 365"
http://www.gapatton.net

CNPS Garden Tour Information
http://www.californianativegardentour.org/

Registration Form
http://www.californianativegardentour.org
/gardens/tourgardens.htm

Here’s a picture of some native plant gardens on the tour

UCSC Garden
http://www.californianativegardentour.org/
gardens/Garden-Arboretum.htm

Shadowbrook Garden
http://www.californianativegardentour.org/
gardens/Garden-Shadowbrook.htm

Presley Garden
http://www.californianativegardentour.org
/gardens/Garden-Presley.htm

Andrews Garden
http://www.californianativegardentour.org/
gardens/Garden-Andrews.htm

Clean Water Education Partnership
http://www.nccwep.org/involvement/house/water.php

This week has definitely been "water week" here on the Land Use Report. Let me end the week on a different topic: transportation.

I have only recently returned from a three-week trip abroad, during which I visited London, Copenhagen, Stockholm, St. Petersburg, and Moscow. I want to comment particularly on Stockholm, where I experienced a transportation system that was immensely attractive and functional. Friends of my wife, whom we visited in Stockholm, showed us a great time, but their best gift may have been our "access" passes. The access card, about as big as a credit card, provided easy entry to all: (1) buses, both in the city and in the archipelago; (2) the Stockholm tunnel-bana, the city's clean and efficient subway; (3) any of the electric tramcars that run throughout the city; and (4) the ferries between the islands comprising the city.

Stockholm is spectacular, and I do recommend a visit (in the summer, at least; I can't speak for the winter). But my advice is to buy an access pass before you go! The st rategy used in Stockholm is to approach transportation collectively, as opposed to individually, but then make it incredibly easy for individuals to access the collective network. Literally, you wave the "access" card over the sensor, and pass on through.

We could change the way we do transportation. My visit to Stockholm suggests we ought to give it a try.

More Information

Gary Patton writes a daily blog, "Two Worlds / 365"
http://www.gapatton.net

Patton Blog Entry on "Access" on June 4, 2011
http://www.gapatton.net/2011/06/155-access.html