It's been a long time, almost 6 years, since I last posted here. That last one was a 2015 Father's Day tribute to my dad, Thomas E. Sebourn (a.k.a Tom Sr., or Tommy). He passed away this year.
What a downer. A truly painful loss. A reminder of my own mortality.
I think we have all had to endure hardships and losses, especially these last 18 months.
I'm ready to turn a page and share again. Are you?
The MWD had been analyzing our water supply and the possibilities of an allocation for the last few months. It was agreed upon and agendized for discussion at our April committee and board meetings. Governor Brown beat us to the punch with his April 1 announcement.The MWD was very successful at moving water to the San Luis Reservoir during the large December storms. The discussions in February and March were centered around a Level 2 allocation, but as March went by it became clear that the snowpack was going to be very low. The snowpack measurement combined with Governor Brown's mandatory reduction caused the MWD to rethink it's allocation level. The allocation debate at the water planning and stewardship committee meeting on April 13th had varying opinions. The discussion was centered around a Level 3 or Level 4 allocation. A Level 3 being a 15% cut, and a Level 4 being a 20% cut in water use by MWD customers. The arguments for either level of allocation had merit. In the end, it was agreed to go with a Level 3 allocation with a monthly review that potentially could bring a revote to change the allocation.The MWD's water supply situation is not completely finished for this year. We may face some shortfalls in our water transfer program. The MWD contracted for a 100,000 acre feet of water from the rice farms north of the delta. We were informed on Friday April 10th, that the transfers were being halted by the state. That transfer is uncertain. Our fallowing program with the Palo Verde irrigation district will be utilized fully this year, but our stored water in Lake Mead has a slight chance of not being released if Lake Mead's level falls into emergency status. This condition seems unlikely, but nonetheless there is a small chance. These scenarios could trigger a deeper allocation.I discussed the Level 3 allocation with our water manager Dave Schickling. His opinion is that we can meet a Level 3 allocation without penalty from the MWD. The penalty is over $1,400 per acre foot. It goes without saying that we should make every effort to conserve water over the next 9 months. Governor Brown's order for a 25% reduction will be tougher to attain, but if we can reach that level, or near it, the MWD's Level 3 allocation will not be an issue.I have attached General Manager Kightlinger's letter to the state water resource control board. This letter outlines the MWD's position and provides a proposed framework for the mandatory cutbacks. I have also attached a letter to Governor Brown from Chairman Record. These letters were crafted through discussions in various committees, and they are enlightening about past water conditions, conservation, and our current situation. They are well worth reading.On Tuesday April 14th, the board of directors voted to support a Level 3 allocation. I voted in support of the Level 3 allocation. I have also attached the summary report for April. There are 2 other items worth noting. We appropriated 41 million dollars to rehabilitate the filters at the Weymouth treatment plant. These filters are almost 80 years old. The new filters are an enhanced design that is compatible with the new ozone equipment being installed at the Weymouth plant. The other item of interest took place in communication and legislation committee. This action authorized the general manager to express support for SB 385 (Hueso, D-San Diego) primary drinking water standards: Hexavalent Chromium. This bill sets attainable standards for the presence of Hexavalent in our water supply.As always if you have any questions, give me a call.[redacted]Pete Beard
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| The Star Spangled Banner over Fort McHenry, Baltimore Maryland. |
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He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
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