Here are some facts from a recent edition of Xasáuan Today, a blog that posts interesting articles about Monterey County, and that proclaims “Nature Bats Last.”

• Number of months since a month of average … rainfall: 13
  
  
• Amount of water that has flowed … into lakes San Antonio and Nacimiento this year: None
  
  
• Number of feet the water level in Lake San Antonio has dropped over the past twelve months: 92
  
  
• Additional feet the water level in Lake San Antonio can drop before it reaches the “dead pool” level of the outlet pipes: 10
  
  
• Combined capacity of Lakes San Antonio and Nacimiento: 729,000 acre feet
• Amount currently in storage: 95,330 acre feet
  
  
• Chance that current drought will exacerbate nearly all Salinas Valley water problems: 100%

The Monterey County Board of Supervisors has held numerous closed meetings (possibly illegal meetings) in which they have discussed using an allocation of potentially available water from the Salinas River for urban uses, including new development, instead of using the water to address current overdraft and other problems. Farmers are very concerned about what’s going to happen to this water allocation, as a recent article in the Monterey County Herald makes clear. The Herald article is worth reading. Check the links below.

More Information

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Herald Article on Farmers’ Fears
• Xasáuan Today – Salinas Valley Drought Index

We had some rain last week. That was good! The drought is still with us, though, and groundwater overdraft is still a huge problem in both Monterey and Santa Cruz counties. Tonight, the Soquel Creek Water District is holding another meeting about groundwater. The meeting will be held at 7:00 p.m. at the Capitola City Hall (420 Capitola Avenue in Capitola), and will include the following presentations:

• An overview of California groundwater law and management by attorney Russell McGlothlin.
  
  
• Santa Cruz County’s role and responsibilities in addressing mid-county groundwater issues by John Ricker, Santa Cruz County Water Resources Division Director.
  
  
• Current and future groundwater management activities by Soquel Creek Water District by Kim Adamson, General Manager of the Soquel Creek Water District.

There is another water-related meeting tonight, too. The Coastal Watershed Council and the San Lorenzo River Alliance are hosting a meeting about the future of the San Lorenzo River at the Museum of Art and History, in downtown Santa Cruz, located at 705 Front Street, running from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. A Facebook item asks this question: “What would you like to see on the San Lorenzo River? Water taxis and bars, as on San Antonio’s Riverwalk?” This is only one possibility!

A series of meetings about the future of the San Lorenzo River will be held over the next several months. I’ll try to keep you posted.

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Coastal Watershed Council Website
• San Lorenzo River Alliance
• Information on Groundwater Meeting

The UCSC Student Environmental Center is presenting its 13th Annual “Earth Summit” on Thursday, March 6th. That’s tomorrow! The Earth Summit will be held in the College 9/10 Multipurpose Room, and while UCSC students are the target audience, members of the public, including KUSP listeners, are invited to attend. The event will run from 10:00 o’clock in the morning until 4:00 o’clock in the afternoon. Again, that’s tomorrow. The theme of this year’s Earth Summit is: Imitate, Innovate, Initiate.

If you go, be prepared to learn about waste prevention, water and energy conservation, green building, social and environmental justice, transportation, and much more! There will be fresh local foods, informative and fun workshops, tabling, keynote speakers, and wonderful entertainment! The bulletin published by the Earth Summit sponsors put the following statement in caps: “Did we mention it's all FREE?”

On a personal note, I am not quite sure about the “Imitate” part of the theme. I hope the sponsors mean that we should “imitate” some good examples. Our current methods of living together, in my opinion, don’t much meet the “sustainability” objectives that the Earth Summit will be promoting. But “Innovating” and “Initiating?” That sounds good. If you’d like to attend the Earth Summit tomorrow, you can get more information below.

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• UCSC Earth Summit Facebook Page
• Information on Earth Summit

Today, I would like to alert you to some recently introduced legislation, now pending in the California State Legislature. Assembly Member Susan Talamantes Eggman, who represents Stockton and surrounding areas, has introduced Assembly Bill 1961, to require county governments to develop and include in their General Plans a “Sustainable Farmland Strategy.” There is a link to this bill in the transcript of today’s Land Use Report, so you can read it in detail. You might also like to “subscribe” to the bill, which you can do at the state’s LegInfo website. If you subscribe, you will get an emailed notice every time something significant happens, so you can make sure you are up to date, and can fire off letters or make telephone calls if you have a position on the bill.

Thanks to the passage of Measure J by the voters of Santa Cruz County, in 1978, Santa Cruz County already has strong protections for farmland built into its General Plan. Measure J established the following rule, the strongest in the state: “It shall be the policy of Santa Cruz County that prime agricultural lands and lands which are economically productive when used for agriculture shall be preserved for agricultural use [period].”

Eggman’s bill outlines many reasons why preserving California farmland is both economically and environmentally important. Check it out below

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Assembly Member Eggman’s Website
• Information on AB 1961
• State LegInfo Website
• AB 1961 (Eggman)

I have been teaching some Legal Studies courses at UCSC over the last couple of Quarters. It is good to see young people confronting the challenges ahead, and making plans for what they are going to do when they graduate. Getting a good job is high on the list, of course, but so is finding some way to help our society make progress on the immense economic, environmental, and social problems that we need to confront. On Wednesday, I mentioned the “Earth Summit,” held on campus yesterday. Today, let me alert you to an event being held tonight at the UCSC Kresge Town Hall.

At 6:00 o’clock this evening, you can treat yourself to a free vegetarian dinner and hear what I think will be an inspiring presentation by City Repair Project founder Mark Lakeman. He will be addressing the topic “Reclaiming the Commons: Uniting for Our Shared Future.”

City Repair began in Portland, with the idea that localization  (of culture, of economy, of decision making) is a necessary foundation for sustainability. City Repair educates and inspires communities and individuals creatively to transform the places where they live. By reclaiming urban spaces to create community-oriented places, City Repair says we plant the seeds for greater neighborhood communication, empower our communities, and nurture our local culture.

Find out more below.

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• UCSC Kresge Common Ground Center
• Reclaiming The Commons – Facebook Announcement
• The City Repair Website