It's late spring/early summer here
It's really interesting, I suppose, to see what's blooming now around here because it's all wacky but's it's clearly the new normal now. Rose Campion is in full bloom. It didn't used to bloom until the last week of June. We always expected it to be the way it is now on Independence Day. Well that was normal for the first 15 years we lived here, no longer.
Another thing that now blooms way ahead of schedule is the last-blooming iris. We have several different types that bloom at different times with small purple ones coming in first followed by tall white ones. Then later on the tall yellow iris blooms. That last ones to bloom are short white ones. Well the short white ones are blooming now. They used to do that in mid-June, so they are a month ahead.
Other plants in full bloom far ahead of what used to be normal are English Lavender, Hydrangea and Valerian. I'll include pics of all of these. I'm including a picture of a yellow rose that wasn't eaten by the deer. You can see the rest of the rose plant has been consumed by them. Why they left one rose is beyond me. Another pic is of the heavenly smelling "Fragrant Cloud" rose. I'll even throw in a picture of a Tiger Swallowtail feeding on California Buckeye.
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So Jerry Brown is lowering the boom. He recently said that those opposed to building the Twin Tunnels Project should, "shut up." The Twin Tunnels are slated to take essentially all the water from the Sacramento River and send it to Central and Southern California farms with some of the water also going to Los Angeles County and several cities in the East Bay. http://www.sfgate.com/...
Another very disappointing development is that a huge water project we just voted for in the last election has been modified by Jerry. To get Californian's to vote for a proposition this last election that authorized money for building another reservoir near here in Northern California (plus potentially a second new reservoir in Central California) there was a stipulation that a good part of the money would be used to rehabilitate the environment of watersheds all over the north state. 100,000 acres of land were to have been helped in this way.
The new reservoir that will be built in Northern California is called the Sites Reservoir. It's going to collect rain water from the east side of the Coastal Mountains before it gets into the Sacramento River. This water just rages into the Sacramento River during winter and then into the Pacific Ocean. It's seen as just being largely wasted as it's storm runoff water. Collecting it in a reservoir is not going to really do anything to harm the Delta or fish but will help a fair amount during the dry summer months.
Unlike other proposed reservoir projects in California, Sites would not directly affect fish migration because it is not located on a major river, and could be a source of additional cold water for fall-run chinook and coho salmon.
Well, there are always going to be environmental considerations no matter what and that's why so much money was going to be spent on protecting it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
I voted for this proposition as did the majority in the state. I personally voted for it hoping it would thwart the Twin Tunnel Project from happening. The Sites reservoir will hold up to 640,000 acre feet of water each year while also restoring significant watershed habitat. Had this project not been given the go ahead, the Twin Tunnel Project was a certainty, IMO. Also, the Sites Reservoir isn't a new thing as it's been in the works for decades and basically just needed the public to pass the funding of it.
Well, locally farmers were outraged that any of the money is to be spent on the environment. For days in my local paper the editorial page just viciously went after that part of it stating the entire money should be for water for farmers not tree-hugging environmental crap or water for salmon and other fish. Apparently the farmers got to Jerry (they always do). He now has decided to slash the 100,000 acres of environmental improvements down to just 30,000 acres. Heck that's about the same amount of land as the 29,000 acres of new almond orchards planted in the last couple years. Sheesh!
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Poor little 'ol Paradise. I've noted the state wants each city and town to save 25% of the amount of water they used in 2013. Many towns complained that that simply wasn't fair as different places did a good job last year while others did not. For instance in Paradise we were exemplary as we were in the 94th percentile of municipalities that saved water last year. Other places like Coachella, CA didn't even try.
Paradise is an interesting place. It has a total area of 18.3 square miles and over 99% of it is open land (i.e. not buildings or homes). Mining and lumbering were the first main economic activities here due to the Gold Rush starting in this very area. It wasn't even incorporated as a town until 1979.
As the gold rush days dwindled, farming and livestock became the main economic mainstays. In 1916 the farms and orchards created the Paradise Irrigation District to get water to them. Apple orchards were planted and Paradise became known as the apple center of California. In October 1937 the first Paradise Fair and Apple Show happened and lasted 5 days. In the center of the dance floor of the Memorial Hall was constructed a pyramid of 15,000 apples.
There are still several orchards and farms within the city limits of Paradise to this day including Sawmill Creek Farms, Noble Apple Orchards and KG Orchard just to name a few. There are bunches of places with horses and livestock and also two large Christmas Tree farms within the town limits.
So Paradise isn't a real town or city full of homes and businesses. It's still like living in a forest dotted with homes with a good number of farms, orchards and ranches with livestock. We all get our water from the Paradise Irrigation District which supplies homes with water now too. When Paradise became an incorporated town, boundaries were drawn for the area supplied by PID, not just residential parts.
This has now come back to bite us in the butt.
SO, the state of California has looked at how much water is used per person in Paradise and has decided to ding us. We will be required to save 36% of the water we used in 2013 which is the most water savings of any place in California. Paradise has tried to appeal that by letting the state know we aren't a typical town because we have farms, orchards and a couple Christmas Tree farms that really skew the stats in water consumption per person. The state says it doesn't care. They are looking at water used per person and that's that.
In Paradise we use 241 gallons per person during the months of July-Sept (the hottest driest months). Of course this includes what the farms and orchards use too. Here's a map of the state showing how much water is used by communities. Just scroll your mouse over the areas: http://www.nytimes.com/...
This sucks, but it is what it is. Personally I believe the state should actually look at what property is zoned for and decide water usage accordingly. Paradise as a total, even when including the farms and orchards, still did a magnificent job of saving water (94th percentile!) Oh well.
What do you want to kibitz about tonight?
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Kitchen Table Kibitzing is a community series for those who wish to share part of the evening around a virtual kitchen table with kossacks who are caring and supportive of one another. So bring your stories, jokes, photos, funny pics, music, and interesting videos, as well as links—including quotations—to diaries, news stories, and books that you think this community would appreciate. Readers may notice that most who post diaries and comments in this series already know one another to some degree, but newcomers should not feel excluded. We welcome guests at our kitchen table, and hope to make some new friends as well.
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