Fun read about California water politics
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January 12, 2016, 8:00 pm
Filed under: economics, Real Science Content | Tags: California water, water politics
Filed under: economics, Real Science Content | Tags: California water, water politics
I’m getting an education in California water issues right now, courtesy of a blog, On the public record, which was “outed” in an recent article in the Los Angeles Times.
“On the public record” is written by a mid-level bureaucrat somewhere in one of California’s water agencies. Except for her gender, that she went to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and has at least two degrees, she’s so far remained anonymous (no small feat). She’s been blogging for about seven years, calling it as she sees it.
This blog is a real education for me in how California water politics, regulation, and economics work, and it’s well written too. If this is something you’re interested in, check it out.
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Putting the life back in science fiction 
Do none of the local politicians (or staff) ever look at overseas projects? The Aral Sea is a pretty clear message about what happens when you put too much water into one crop basket.
Comment by SFreader January 12, 2016 @ 8:16 pmNot a clue. I suspect at least some of the bureaucrats know, but it’s also clear that this doesn’t filter upwards and outwards in a predictable way.
Part of the problem is that California still sees growth as inevitable, so discussions have to be bent to accommodate this perception.
While I haven’t come across the blog posts, onthepublicrecord.org does talk about things like population limits and the problems with big export crops (this last was about almonds and written in 2008, before they became a big crop in California). That’s why I’m reading this blog.
Comment by Heteromeles January 12, 2016 @ 8:19 pmRe: ‘California still sees growth as inevitable’ … even with all of the fires and drought? Or is this more a matter of other neighboring states are not doing any better weather and job-wise?
Comment by SFreader January 12, 2016 @ 8:53 pmNeither. It’s a central tenant of capitalism as currently practiced, that the economy will continue to grow. Without that growth, there will be winners and losers. With the growth, everyone has at least the possibility of raising their standard of living.
Besides, if California said it had hit its limits of growth, what do you think that would do to the California economy?
Comment by Heteromeles January 12, 2016 @ 11:21 pm