The D Word
I have spent much of the past two weeks on the beach. While much of the rest of the country continues to suffer through sub-zero temperatures, it has remained a balmy 72 and sunny here in Southern...
View ArticleStatewide Bag Ban on the horizon
With Senator de Leon, Senator Padilla, and Sarah Sikitch I came back to my desk on Wednesday to a pink Post-It note letting me know that state Sen. Kevin de León’s office had called. The note was...
View ArticleOn pie, storm drains and the Duke
If you have spent any time on a surf board you are probably familiar with Duke Paoa Kahanamoku — Hawaii’s legendary Olympic swimmer and surf evangelist. In 1912, he won the 100 meters freestyle in the...
View ArticlePrecious water: what price waste?
On Wednesday I joined Mayor Garcetti, Governor Brown and members of the President’s Task Force on Climate Preparedness and Resilience at a reception to kick off day-long talks about how the federal...
View ArticleLast call at the oasis: or are we screwed?
I don’t normally go in for depressing documentaries. But when the local art house is showing a documentary on water around the world (“Last Call at the Oasis“) followed by a panel discussion with some...
View ArticleAbstract Art in the Central Valley
I find the great Central Valley of California endlessly fascinating. From the air the irrigated farmland becomes an abstract painting worthy of any gallery of modern art. At one time it was a vast...
View ArticleMayor Garcetti’s bold drought move poses tough questions
Last week, Mayor Eric Garcetti announced some bold initiatives for the city of Los Angeles to address the ongoing drought. In brief, he’s calling for a 20 per cent reduction in use of fresh water by...
View ArticleFailing streets open up opportunities to build green infrastructure
Late last week, the Metropolitan Transportation Committee released a report on the state of the streets in the nine-county Bay Area. As anyone who has been jolted when there car or bike hit a pot hole,...
View ArticleIt’s a small flood!
I recently asked my oldest son what his favorite part of the Thanksgiving break was. Not the turkey, or pie, or playing in the park. It was playing in the rain during the, “small flood” that came along...
View ArticleIs it time to map and scale-up our rain gardens?
This past weekend’s storm here in the Bay Area brought a second “first flush” to the Bay. It was at least six weeks since the last storm, so plenty of time for a new layer of gunk and trash to coat...
View ArticleFloods force us to confront returning land to nature
I’ve just returned from two wet weeks in northern England visiting my family for the holidays. Let’s just say it was wet. Very wet. Over the last few weeks, England has suffered historic floods with no...
View ArticleWe need to redesign our water bills to drive conservation
Our water bill for the end of the year was among mail delivered after our trip to England. “Great,” I thought. “I can see how our efforts to save water are adding up.” I’d never really looked at the...
View ArticleWasting every drop? The north-south divide.
With El Niño finally starting to drench California, barely a day goes by without a news story covering it. Yesterday’s Marketplace had an in-depth report on the winter rains in Los Angeles that...
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