On May 13, 2017, Governor Brown outlined his revised budget proposal focusing the state’s financial resources on his High Speed Rail legacy project and renewing its efforts to fight the Trump Administration on multiple fronts. While he may have dropped the mic with an antagonistic $183 billion budget, points on the scorecard went to the Trump Administration that day. As Governor Brown unveiled his budget, Interior Secretary Zinke authorized grants awarding California $21 million for the state’s “planning, designing and constructing water recycling and reuse projects; developing feasibility studies; and researching desalination and water recycling projects.”

Ventura County may have survived the worst of the state’s drought, but if a severe dry spell returns and lasts more than five years, most local cities will be back in serious trouble. That’s the finding of a report issued this week by the Ventura County grand jury that evaluated plans of the county’s 10 cities to see whether local officials have adequately addressed their water needs now and in the future. Several cities, according to the report, rely too much on imported water and haven’t developed plans for an emergency water shortage.

California’s public lands and resources are under siege by a powerful corporation and its allies in Washington. Congressional Republicans used a recent must-pass government spending bill to pave the way for the Cadiz water extraction project, a particularly destructive project in California’s Mojave Desert. Cadiz seeks to create a loophole in an 1875 railroad law to drain an ancient desert aquifer without any federal oversight. The aquifer supports the abundant wildlife of California’s desert – from tortoises and bighorn sheep to breathtaking wildflower blooms that blanket the region.

One of the news media’s most important functions in a democracy is to constantly remind public agencies about that “public” part of their name. Too often, government officials try to conduct the public’s business in private, and the results can be disastrous for taxpayers (just ask those in the city of Bell). The California Public Records Act is a key tool in keeping public agencies public. Enacted nearly 50 years ago, the law assures all residents and the media have prompt access to most records — so we know what government is up to and can be involved in important decisions.