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Dear Friend of SSV,
Life moves at you fast in the Fall, even within this current edition of Pandemic Life, so we won't take up too much of your time. We present to you a highly-interactive newsletter allowing you to click on through and sort out a good chunk of the rest of your SSV year. Let's get to it!
Announcement #1: WET Talk 3 on the morning of Friday, November 6th will be a special presentation. It kicks off with a report on the Pacific Institute's ongoing Silicon Valley Water Reuse Assessment featuring Dr. Anne Thebo and Cora Kammeyer, followed by Sherwood Design's amazin' Amelia Luna explaining the context, approaches and thought processes behind satellite treatment system design, engineering and building. Pro Tip: register straight away, tickets are limited!
if you haven't yet caught up with our previous WET Talks, we've broken them down into delicious bite-size topic bits at the sustainablesv.org events page. Definitely worth a look and/or a listen.
Announcement #2: We are very excited to report that the WaterPalooza! Box Office is now officially open for early birds. We've teased you before, but we're serious now. Our annual really big water variety show takes place over two afternoons on Thursday & Friday December 3rd & 4th. It will be filled with a wondrous array of topics, provocative presentations, mini-keynotes, musical interludes and very special guests from near and far. And yes, there will be copious schmoozing!
This end-of-year timeframe will hopefully occur after the smoke of fires and civic discourse have passed and permit reflection, renewal, restoration, regeneration, reform, recommitment and other beneficial re-based actions for the year(s) ahead. The imperatives of a changing climate demand nothing less.
Announcement #3: Yes, there are all kinds of elections happening! We have some solid local measure suggestions on our Voter's Guide page + links to a number of links to allied org informational sites.
Stay Safe & Please Do Not Forget to smash all those Action buttons,
Dennis Murphy
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NOAA Climate.gov
La Niña: Is California heading into another drought?
Federal scientists say that La Niña — the phenomenon where Pacific Ocean waters off South America are cooler than normal — is underway this winter.
A commonly held assumption among many Californians is that La Niña means a dry winter is coming, and in years when the opposite occurs, El Niño, a wet winter is considered more likely.
So brown lawns and water rationing are just around the corner, right?
“The reality is that’s not always true,” said Jan Null, a meteorologist with Golden Gate Weather Services in Half Moon Bay.
Read more
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J Furtado/San Lorenzo Valley Water District
After Wildfires Stop Burning, a Danger in the Drinking Water
Wildfires, which turned skies a dim orange over cities from Seattle to Santa Cruz this year, are increasingly engulfing people’s homes, continuing to rage in California, Oregon, Washington and Colorado in recent weeks.
But even when homes don’t burn, other dangers arise in the aftermath, and experts are focusing more attention on what happens to municipal water systems after a fire, when released toxic chemicals can get pulled into plumbing systems, and other damage can linger in pipes for years.
Read more
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Webinar: Water Recommendations for the Next Administration
Wednesday, November 18th, 1:00-2:00 PM PT
America is at a crossroads. We can continue to overlook the nation’s water problems, even as scarcity, pollution, and climate changes increase risk, or we can take steps to make our water systems more effective, resilient, and equitable.
Join Pacific Institute President Jason Morrison, President Emeritus Dr. Peter Gleick, and Director of Research Heather Cooley for a discussion of the Institute’s water recommendations for the next administration. The webinar will include an overview of America’s current water woes and practical solutions on issues ranging from aging infrastructure to inequitable water access and climate change’s effects on water resources.
Register for free here
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PPIC Water Blog: How Water Justice Groups View Groundwater Sustainability Planning
Over-pumping of groundwater has caused domestic wells to go dry in the San Joaquin Valley. Yet many of the first round of plans prepared to comply with the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) do not yet propose ways to address this problem. We explored groundwater planning with three members of the environmental justice community—Angela Islas of Self-Help Enterprises, Justine Massey of the Community Water Center, and Amanda Monaco of the Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability.
Read more
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