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Thursday, April 30, 2015

April Update

Dear Member:

It’s here, the first signs of summer with several days in the 90’s last week. Our gardens are growing and our lawns are beginning to green.
It’s best to water between 10:00PM to 6:00AM to reduce loss of moisture due to evaporation. It’s difficult to see if your sprinklers are working correctly during this time period, because most of us are not yet awake. It’s also a good idea to operate your sprinkler systems in a test cycle to see if sprinklers are working and aimed properly. Watering the street does nothing for your lawn and flower beds and wastes precious water.


Please do not irrigate during peak hours. Much of the water used during this time evaporates rather than irrigating your plants. PG&E summer electrical peak time rates (1:00PM to 7:00PM) began May 1 and run to October 31. These rates are nearly four times the cost of off-peak rates. The cost of pumping increases during peak periods contributes to higher water rates.

Although the cities of Fresno and Clovis have reduced watering days, BWC is still on a Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday schedule until further notice.



Thank you for your support,
Board of Directors

Friday, April 10, 2015

California’s Farm-Water Scapegoat

Wall Street Journal 


Bay Area greens have been starving agriculture for years.

Perhaps the only issue on which Bay Area liberals and conservatives down California’s coastline agree is that farmers use too much water and should be rationed. The fortunate in Silicon Valley and Marin County need a tutorial in Golden State water allocation.

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Monday, April 6, 2015

Water for Farms – a briefing by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC)



CDFA, Office of Public Affairs

California’s farms face growing water management challenges

California is an agricultural powerhouse—the nation’s largest farm state and a world market leader, with 2012 sales of $48 billion (Note – the California Agricultural Statistics Service reports $46.4 billion in farm receipts in 2013). California’s dry summers make irrigation essential.

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Saturday, April 4, 2015

California Drought Tests History of Endless Growth



New York Times

LOS ANGELES — For more than a century, California has been the state where people flocked for a better life — 164,000 square miles of mountains, farmland and coastline, shimmering with ambition and dreams, money and beauty. It was the cutting-edge symbol of possibility: Hollywood, Silicon Valley, aerospace, agriculture and vineyards.

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Thursday, April 2, 2015

5 Things California Can Do To Survive A Megadrought



FastCompany

You think a few years of no water is bad? Try a few decades.

It's year four of the California drought. A few remote communities have already run out of water. The governor just announced aggressive water restrictions. But what will happen to the state if the drought doesn't end?

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Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Governor Brown Directs First Ever Statewide Mandatory Water Reductions


Office of the Governor

SACRAMENTO - Following the lowest snowpack ever recorded and with no end to the drought in sight, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced actions that will save water, increase enforcement to prevent wasteful water use, streamline the state's drought response and invest in new technologies that will make California more drought resilient.

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