The Drought and the Oil Spill -- another Weekend in California
I got tar on my sneakers yesterday -- on a beach walk. Little tar balls are common on Santa Barbara beaches because of natural oil seeps. It's been that way for as long as anybody can remember, but yesterday it seemed to be worse. We're about ten miles down the coast from the oil spill, so it would not surprise me if there is more tar than usual coming our way.
We don't have special plans for this weekend, but we are heading down to the harbor in a bit to hear the ukelele players. They are a local group of ukelele players who meet every Saturday at 1 p.m. under the flame tree next to the Harbor Master's office. Maybe a dozen faithful players and singers. We don't play, but we like to listen to them and sing along.
This is how we deal with serious problems in California. And it works.
Big Farm, Small Farm. Size
doesn't matter. Some farms are big, some farms are small. Some farms
are good places to work, some farms are not. I have worked at three
small organic farms since moving to California five years ago. They were
okay. The pay was all right, and the product was good -- we grew some
good, honest veggies and bodacious flowers and herbs of good quality.
But
I am not in the movement. I am not a believer. The trouble with organic
people is the high incidence of wing nuts, airheads and conspiracy
fanatics on these farms -- okay this is California and we do grow a lot
of fruit, so I guess it's going around. They breed here -- bio-dynamic
ghostbusters, psychic healers, aromatherapy zealots. An organic farm is a
rural homeless shelter for folks who are a little bit strange. But you
need to humor them. Don't say Roundup out loud -- they start screaming
and falling faint. They pull crumpled citations out of their pockets and
insist you read the research. Outer space beings are coming to save us
soon! In the meantime place these heirloom seeds in a corner of your
cheek and suck on them slowly..... Seriously, I'm glad these people have
a place to go. Modern life can be daunting and we all need shelter.
These little farms got me settled in California and I am grateful, but, as I said, I am not of the true faith.
These little farms got me settled in California and I am grateful, but, as I said, I am not of the true faith.
I'm
looking for another job, probably a farm, a greenhouse, or a produce
stand. My intention is to work with rational people, people with common
sense, folks who know how to tell a joke, who know how to laugh at
themselves. Working with good people is my goal.
But whether it's organic or not, whether it's big or small, doesn't matter.
I
don't hate Monsanto. You would think Beelzebub, the devil himself, runs
a chemical company out of St. Louis, with a plot to take over the world
and destroy all life.
I
don't think so. My own associations go like this -- Monsanto? from St.
Louis? Oh, they must be nice people. I have cousins in St. Louis, and
they sure have a great baseball team. I love those Cardinals. And the
Clydesdale horses at the Budweiser brewery -- you never saw such pretty
horses. Now, what were you saying about Monsanto?
Gulley Report.
The coyotes in the gulley in the back of the house are howling a lot.
We don't know why. But we hope they kill all the gophers, because the
gophers are running rampant. Kill all the gophers, but leave the cats
alone.Our cats aren't stupid. They stick by the house and they come in
at night. Good kitties.
Skunk News. Unbelievable,
but we just today discovered a mama skunk and six baby skunks emerging
from the culvert under the pepper tree very near to the house, and we
have noticed an odor these past few days. The baby skunks wrestle and
prance around. Don't tell the coyotes about this.
Tree Report. The
eucalyptus trees, across the gulley and up the other side, look weather
beaten and water-starved with poor leaves. The drought might kill them.
The big sycamore, growing right at the bottom of the gulley, has old
deep roots and plentiful green foliage. It will survive. The Valencia
orange tree in the back yard died, but it was more than 30 years old,
and it may have just been a natural finish. The camelias in the front of
the house have not been getting any water and they look to be
suffering. The roses get the dish water, carried out in a bucket, but I
am diverting some to the camelias out of compassion.
Water Issues. Okay,
I made some wisecracks about the organic foo-foos. I hope they don't
mind. I care a lot about these things, I just don't care to give
evidence of my concern.
I
am getting involved in water issues. The Goleta Water District where we
live is just outside of Santa Barbara -- 89,000 people on 27,000 acres
of foothills and ocean-side flatlands. The water comes from Lake
Cachuma, a fast dwindling reservoir, plus the state canal which is
getting parsimonious in deliveries, plus ground water.
Goleta
has 8 producing wells, which were wisely re-pumped with surplus waters
during past rainier winters. Still, the situation is dire with not a
gallon to spare, and every gallon to fight over.
Comes
now the wealthy enclave of Montecito to the south of Santa Barbara with
billionaires and polo fields and wealth beyond your imagination. But no
groundwater -- no groundwater but tons of money.
Comes
now the Slippery Rock Ranch adjacent to the Goleta Water District. The
ranch has 750 acres of avocados and pasture and a recently discovered
aquifer of enormous proportions.
"We're sitting on a gold mine of water!" the ranch owners shouted with glee. Indeed they are.
Well,
it only took a few morning coffee conversations at Jeanine's Cafe in
downtown Montecito to come up with this idea -- pump the water out of
the ranch and sell it to the mansion millionaires.
Comes
now the Goleta Water District saying the water on that ranch is from
the same pool as the Goleta Water District -- you pump one, you pump all
and they sued the ranch.
I studied the law suit, Goleta Water District v. Slipper Rock Ranch,
all nine pages, and clearly written. The summons declares that the
Goleta Water District is suing the Slippery Rock Ranch for stealing the
water that rightfully belongs to the district. The Ranch replies that
"water under our ranch is ours and we want to drill it out, truck it
down to the rich folks in Montecito, and thereby profit." But the Water
District claims, and will prove, that water flows downstream and is
thereby influenced by the law of gravity and since the Slippery Rock
Ranch aquifer is some what above and adjacent to the Goleta water
district, it is substantially in the same pool and YOUS CAN'T HAVE IT, ipso facto.
I
am on the side of the district, but first I will need to be convinced,
so I spoke with Brian Trautwein, the resident water expert at the
Environmental Defense Center, who rattled off facts and figures that
support a writ of condemnation against Slippery Rock, that they are
water thieves plain and simple.
But I have decided, being prudent, to also talk with the ranch owners who have enough money to hire their own expert.
I
found the name and phone number of their attorney, Steve Amerikaner. I
researched his legal career, which is long and distinguished, and I read
some of his common pleas and found him to be intelligent and
fair-minded. In short, I set out intending to hate him, but I like him
instead -- which doesn't make him right.... I will call him this week.
Are
you interested in hearing all this? Water rights and water usage are of
vital importance. The conflict between Goleta Water and Slippery Rock
is just one piece of a larger struggle. My intention is to study this
particular issue and so to be of some use to the greater good -- while
we wait and pray for rain.
Stay tuned. And be happy. And keep an image of those ukelele players making pretty music by the Santa Barbara Harbor -- that's California.
Frog
Hospital Subscriptions.
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Fred Owens
1105 Veronica Springs RD
Santa Barbara, CA 93105
Santa Barbara, CA 93105
Thank you very much,
Fred Owens
1 comment:
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