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This man is bankrolling a California ballot measure to force voter approval on big bonds. Would that kill projects like high-speed rail?

Dean Cortopassi makes no apologies for it: He’s angry about government debt. And his anger explains why he was willing to go it alone and bankroll the effort to place Proposition 53 on the Nov. 8 ballot.

A wealthy Central Valley farmer and tomato cannery owner, Cortopassi contends that politicians refuse to either fully disclose or accept the long-term cost of billions of dollars in local and state government borrowing. This proposition would require any revenue bond of $2 billion or more to be approved by California voters.

Groundwater Policy Confusion at State Level

Many residents in California’s agricultural regions rely on groundwater from private wells rather than from municipal supplies for clean drinkable water. Test results on many of these wells have revealed excess nitrates and other dangerous elements. Indisputably, all state residents deserve clean potable water. Cris Carrigan, director of the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) Office of Enforcement, issued confidential letters to growers in two regions, Salinas Valley and the Tulare Lake Basin, demanding these farmers supply potable water to the citizens in need.

‘Pee on 53’ – Brown Invokes Sutter Against Measure on Delta tunnels

After undergoing emergency surgery to remove life-threatening masses, Gov. Jerry Brown’s beloved corgi has again been called into service.

Sutter, having recently returned home following the cancer diagnosis, was at Brown’s side when he campaigned for a 2012 sales and income tax hike, Proposition 30. At the Capitol, amid tense budget negotiations, the pooch appeared on playing cards urging over-exuberant legislators to exercise some fiscal restraint, dispensing such wisdom as “bark if you hate deficits!” and “always keep a bone buried in the back yard.”

Permit to Reduce Wastewater Discharges to the Ocean in San Diego Proposed by EPA, State

Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board proposed a City of San Diego wastewater discharge permit to increase ocean water quality protection and water reuse. The proposed permit for the City’s Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant would ensure that all federal and state water quality standards are met.

In 2014, the City and environmental organizations signed an agreement for the City to implement a potable water reuse plan.

Desalination: Why Tapping Seawater Has Slowed to a Trickle in California

Once thought to be the wave of the future, turning seawater into drinking water is proving to be a tough sell in California. Desalination of ocean water has long held promise, but the dream of sticking a straw in the ocean and getting unlimited clean water by simply opening the spigot of technology — that’s looking less and less likely here.

Scarcely a decade ago, when “desal” was relatively new to the state and optimism was high, there were 22 different proposals for plants up and down the California coast.

Sacramento Region Sees One of Wettest Octobers on Record

Rainfall totals in October in the Sacramento area have reached 4 and one-third inches, a whopping 493 percent above normal. But that doesn’t mean California’s five year drought is over. “One good wet month does not a drought buster make,” said Doug Carlson, spokesperson for the Department of Water Resources.

Although in the past a wet October is followed by a wet winter, long-range forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration aren’t betting on it. All that rain isn’t affecting California reservoirs much since the ground is so dry that it is absorbing most of the rain.

Reservoir Levels Rise In California With Record October Rainfall

Rains have drenched Northern California, where most of the state’s largest reservoirs are located. The state had the second wettest October since the Department began keeping records in 1921.
“We are almost 400 percent of the normal amount of rain in October here in the north and even the San Joaquin and Tulare regions are well above their averages as well,” says Doug Carlson with the California Department of Water Resources. “But if history tells us anything it’s don’t predict what the weather is going to be two or three weeks from now.”

Study Blames High Temperatures For Low 2015 Snowpack

The western United States set records for low winter snowpack levels in 2015, and a new report blames high temperatures rather than low precipitation levels, according to a new study.

Greenhouse gases appear to be a major contributor to the high temperatures, according to the study published Monday in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

Scientists looked at snow-measurement sites in California, Oregon, Washington, western Nevada and western Idaho. They found that in 2015, more than 80 percent of those sites experienced record low snowpack levels as a result of much warmer-than-average temperatures.

Encinitas City Council Candidate Mark Muir

Encinitas City Council candidate Mark Muir, who is running for reelection after five years on the Council, has truly been serving the public for his entire adult life.

A native San Diegan, Muir was a career firefighter who eventually rose to the rank of fire chief for the city of Encinitas. In his five years on the Council, he has not accepted the retirement salary because “I’m retired and have the time to dedicate myself to protecting, preserving and promoting our wonderful city.”

OPINION: Ignored Problems Facing San Diego’s 79th Assembly District

The real water crisis in California is water management. Two northern California reservoirs have been delayed for a decade or more. The citizens living near the proposed reservoirs want the jobs they will provide. California taxpayers have funded Water Bonds almost every two years since 1970 (40 years) but still no new northern California reservoirs.