So Lake Isabella, the reservoir that supplies the majority of water to Metro Bakersfield and the population of CA23 is nearing 8% capacity. California Water Service finally sent out a mailer detailing watering restrictions for customers. Seems a little late. Bakersfield City officials and county, state, and federal lawmakers have given little to no additional information or guidance to the seriousness of the situation. The water-use restrictions don’t go into effect until December 14th. It seems that leadership, McCarthy included, have buried their heads in our dry sands.
One acre-foot of water is 326,000 gallons and is enough to supply two families with water for one year. So right now there is 2,500 feet of water in Lake Isabella according to http://isabella.uslakes.info/Level/. Considering over 400,000 people, approximately 250,000 households, receive their water from Lake Isabella, we might run dry pretty soon. I have searched online but can’t find a contingency plan for when we run out of water.
I have addressed the water issues that plague rural CA23 before. It seems that others feel the same way. Jason Giannelli, a fourth-generation Kern County farmer wrote a Community Voice article for the Bakersfield Californian on November 18th of this year that pretty much sums up the struggle between the lack of political will of our lawmakers, local, state, and federal, to have the hard conversations about updating our dysfunctional water storage and distribution systems.
Giannelli explains that “very little has been done to offset the lost supply or improve our storage and conveyance infrastructure. There is more attention given to tearing down dams than there is in using the natural advantage of developing aquifer storage. None of the $2.7B allocated for storage by voters in 2014 has been spent. The pathway to project approval is expensive, unwieldy, and grueling, regardless of the true human cost.”
Though I might disagree with this Kern County farmer on some of the environmental issues surrounding water, I would like to sit down and discuss how we can move forward to balanced solutions such as effectively capturing water to recharge our natural aquifers as Giannelli suggests. I don’t know if he meets with McCarthy regularly, or has never seen him in the flesh like most of his constituents, to discuss his ideas, but I haven’t seen any evidence that McCarthy is listening.
In 2015, the last time water levels were dangerously low, McCarthy’s GOP colleague, Shannon Grove had her theory. The Californian reported, “The power of God disrupted normal weather patterns and meted out California’s ongoing drought as retribution for abortion, according to statements attributed to Assemblywoman Shannon Grove.” McCarthy was hiding, neck-deep in dry sand, silent on Grove’s absurd statement and ignoring the reality of our warming climate and how it is affecting the security of our water supply.
Some leadership would be nice, Kevin. Maybe if you stepped up, other lawmakers and city officials might follow suit and actually have a contingency plan for the 400,000 of your thirsty constituents and the California farmers that grow jobs and tax revenue for your district.
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