We grow avocados in SB. Water is the basis for life . Agriculture provides food, which is life. Lack of water is death. Failure to provide adequate food and water for a huge population is sheer folly. Creating all the additional housing and cutting the supply of water is exactly what our government is doing. If we wanted a viable solution, we would increase water storage ( dams and reservoirs) to hold the rain and snow during years of abundant rain and snow. Have we done this? No. We are evidently obsessed with preserving the delta smelt. Could we emulate what the Israelis do, with massive desalination? Yes. Will we build the carbon neutral power source needed to do large scale desalination? No. Why not? We have shut down the majority of nuclear power plants in this country, aren’t really building more in adequate numbers, and persist in the insane idea that the grid can be powered by wind turbines and solar panels. Where will the electricity come from to power your electric vehicle and your all electric home? This plan is missing several zeroes on the production side of the equation. Housing and agriculture without adequate water is the definition of insanity.
In worshiping the mythical delta smelt a vast amount of water is diverted from replenishing the Central Valley aquifer and is instead sent directly out to sea. All over the state dams are being removed from rivers to encourage fish spawning. Take a drive through the center of the state and see vast tracts of desert that used to be farms and orchards. Science could do better if the priorities of government would get out of the way.
Pat, I drive through Central California often, back & forth between Goleta & Placerville. What is happening to the farmers & ranchers is criminal yet calculated. There was a time when California produced great quantities of food for many nations, not just ours. Politicians are great at creating a crisis, then taking advantage of it. We all need to vote to get rid of these unqualified leaders who are systematically destroying our state & threaten the livelihood of those who genuinely contribute to society in a positive way.
Mark Bottiani - all the signs along that route that say things like " PELOSI - WATER IS LIFE " have been on the roadsides so long they are as old and weathered as she is.
The need for housing is a bottomless pit. Until the border is closed, the number of migrants entering will exceed the number of taxpayers leaving. As government programs increase the cost of housing, look for the same government to offer assistance to whatever groups they select: ie, those who will vote for them.
I read this article by Ms. Donoavan titled "Where's the Water?" and I quote
"The question of where the water will come from to support the increasing housing developments has been a topic of discussion for many years. Residents have been inquiring about the plans of the City, County, and State regarding this crucial issue. It has been a pressing concern as the population grows and more housing projects are being pushed forward."
I will comment since out of Engineering University I was going to be a Drilling Engineer and I may know alittle about Drilling for things below the ground.
In one word for water "Reserviors" that California failed to Build see CAL MATTERS below>
Did you know that 90% the water in Lake Cachuma is earmarked to go directly to South County (Goleta, Santa Barbara, Carp, Summerland and Montecito)? Not may folks know this. That means, the residents of Santa Ynez, Solvang, Los Olivos, Ballard, Buellton, Lompoc and Vandenberg get the remaining 10%.
Also don't forget that South County gets all the water from the other dams too, Gibraltar and Juncal. Bet you didn't even know those dams.
Yet South County wants even more water as they are trying to block Solvang from getting water that they have rights to.
Then to top it off, the environmentalists with Cal Trout and other South County groups/agencies are telling folks of Santa Ynez Valley that they must give more of their measly 10% share of Lake Cachuma water to the Steelhead trout so the trout can survive.
Well I think that South County should GIVE BACK the water they took (90%). That is what killed off the Steelhead trout in the first place. Daha, if you take 90% of any species habitat, they will die!!!
South County, stop being so greedy, hypocritical and narcissistic.
In 2000 there were a total of 201,161 people living in the South Coast. In 2022 there were, wait for it, 204,635 people!
The City of SB population has decreased by 2,000 people.
So why are we allowing ourselves to be coerced into building housing?
Notice how we are also being coerced to build “inclusionary” housing, not market rate.
So who are they planning to invite, bring in to fill these new apartments built in downtown & mall areas?
And why is a the City spending millions to create housing for homeless in the downtown area? Do they have jobs? Do they have jobs in the area? And millions to house a handful.
What is the real plan ? We have seen our city be one of the most unfriendly and expensive to build in, purposely not allowing housing What’s changed?
Huntington Beach and other cities are suing the state to not build the mandatory housing.
I think the bulk of our Council is actively working to forever change Santa Barbara. Demolish Macy’s downtown and build a 7 story affordable housing complex?
80% of California's water is used for commercial agriculture that creates only 3% of our GDP.
Yes, we need to produce food. But do we need to export alfafa to China to to feed their cows? And 2/3 of our almonds are exported to over 90 countries.
Food security is important. Exporting water intensive crops is a waste of our water.
sometimes referred to as Thermodynamics. I spent alot of time in the Mathematics and Physics Dept at University of Utah and worked in the Labratories in the Engineering Dept. My mentor Professors, all LDS or Mormons, were the best, Dr Larry DeVries head of the Mechanical Engineering Dept University of Utah > https://www.mech.utah.edu/directory/faculty/k-l-devries-larry-distinguished-professor/ Larry was the best Engineer/Solver I have ever met and very lucky to have had him as my assigned Professor. Dr Issaacson whom I took alot of classes
Well timed article Bonnie. Planet earth is 70% water. We are constantly told ocean levels are rising due to climate change. Dr. Aijian is spot on with desalination as the source of water for the greater metropolitan areas of California. Here in Santa Barbara, the use of decommissioned oil platforms in the channel & converting to desalination plants is one solution. The brining process is done far enough offshore as to not negatively affect marine life closer to the beaches/shoreline. We have had two consecutive years of above average rainfall. If implementation of such plants was put in motion, now more than ever is the time. We will slip into a drought situation again. It is inevitable. It's also typical. Having grown up in a farming family in the Goleta Valley, we tracked weather cycles. There are wet cycles & dry cycles. Farming was a major industry on the south coast when The Cachuma Water Project was completed some 70 years ago. The main purpose of that project was for agricultural needs, not for the general population. Water has been used as a tool to slow the population growth in this area for decades. Anyone remember Dr. Bill Wallace? Now that Governor Newsom has mandated the expansion of the housing element, Santa Barbara County officials better get on the issue of a viable water source for the coastal communities before it becomes a crisis.
Thank you, Bonnie. The “housing shortage” is not about a lack of housing, it's about a wealth of opportunities for developers to destroy everything still working in this state. “Environmental conservation” isn't about keeping the health of our state's natural resources, it's about taxpayers being denied what they pay for the government to maintain so Newsom can sell it off to the highest bidder. In the 1970s the movie Chinatown dramatized the historical greed and corruption around water. The film had Americans entertained - and horrified - by what one evil person could do to a beautiful state like California. But the story didn't end with the theater lights coming on. Newsom is today's Noah Cross. As for those of us who want to fight it, remember the line: “Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown.”
Yet another example of liberal mismanagement of our natural resources. Whether it be water management, forest management or agriculture, liberals get a failing grade.
Can anyone imagine if Lake Cachuma, Lake Casitas or the SB Airport could even be built in today’s regulatory nightmare environment ?
Yet, they want to pile on a bunch of low-income housing!
I don't see an issue in preserving natural features like swamps that I belive SB airport was built off of. Why should I care for a noisy place that destroys the natural beauty of the land, especially when it isn't even providing something that most people need like water, food, electricity, etc?
Vital air service? Sorry I'm not wealthy, I can't afford to go on flights or on vacations (which aren't at all vital).
You do realize that air travel, especially regular air travel is a luxury right? Most people do not use such services. They either have no need or have no financial means to do so.
Thank you for writing. San Francisco has the Hetch Hechy water supply directly to the City. Furthermore the city uses the electricity from the HH dam to supply the city only utilities. This was very smart of them. As stated in comments, no new dams have been built because of environmentalists ideas. Dams are a a great idea storing water in drought and protecting down stream humanity/property when too much rain, etc. storage cisterns in our mountains (and on surface) could be easily built. De Sal plants is another way and could be powered by small nuclear plants. Water was always short in southern Cal and very annoying flying over LA confused by all the swimming pools and lawns.
When drought was here, I asked water dept officials why not dredge lake reservoirs of built up silt and they gave some BS answer of permits, etc.; trucking crap from Monticeto didn't seem a problem.
Housing is a commodity. It is not a "crisis" when one cannot afford to live where one wants to live. That is a fact of life. There is nothing new about this disconnect.
Zillow-surfing offers so many options today that better match one's needs and means. The whole word "crisis" needs to be taken out of the discussion. There is no "crisis". Please put a moratorium on that term. Housing has always been a "challenge"; matching means and desires. Nothing has changed in those fundamentals.
Great article! Thank you. I’d like to ask a question: why look where more water needs to come from, when we have wine vineyards popping up all over faster than weeds (each glass of wine requires 24 gallons of water, yikes), we have fresh water released into ocean to “supposedly save some little fish (evolution does not need is wasting resources), and why can the President of El Salvador (so far far away) know the ABSURD amount of money wasted on some “super train” that we all k le will NEVER be completed and who’s expense can’t be justified… be allocated to new dams!!! Heck I have seen dams like the one in Montecito just get filled with dirt instead of improvement. Where is our common sense? I can keep going on examples of waste here. Our city halls are filled with incompetence of painful levels. Are these people truly elected??? Or did Mr. Soros infiltrate every department of our country down to the drops of water?
Just another avenue that the corrupt dems are focusing on to make people compliant.. Control the water, control Life’ the people..
With Trump back in charge this all goes away and so does the green technology they are all investing into.. hahaha the scam will be over for them it’s awesome:)
Btw that green tech will only benefit them and their shareholders while we the people suffer the consequences as in more pollution, higher taxes and freedoms gone not to mention our farming gone the ability to feed ourselves gone, is the plan with the dems in charge of the water
We grow avocados in SB. Water is the basis for life . Agriculture provides food, which is life. Lack of water is death. Failure to provide adequate food and water for a huge population is sheer folly. Creating all the additional housing and cutting the supply of water is exactly what our government is doing. If we wanted a viable solution, we would increase water storage ( dams and reservoirs) to hold the rain and snow during years of abundant rain and snow. Have we done this? No. We are evidently obsessed with preserving the delta smelt. Could we emulate what the Israelis do, with massive desalination? Yes. Will we build the carbon neutral power source needed to do large scale desalination? No. Why not? We have shut down the majority of nuclear power plants in this country, aren’t really building more in adequate numbers, and persist in the insane idea that the grid can be powered by wind turbines and solar panels. Where will the electricity come from to power your electric vehicle and your all electric home? This plan is missing several zeroes on the production side of the equation. Housing and agriculture without adequate water is the definition of insanity.
In worshiping the mythical delta smelt a vast amount of water is diverted from replenishing the Central Valley aquifer and is instead sent directly out to sea. All over the state dams are being removed from rivers to encourage fish spawning. Take a drive through the center of the state and see vast tracts of desert that used to be farms and orchards. Science could do better if the priorities of government would get out of the way.
Pat, I drive through Central California often, back & forth between Goleta & Placerville. What is happening to the farmers & ranchers is criminal yet calculated. There was a time when California produced great quantities of food for many nations, not just ours. Politicians are great at creating a crisis, then taking advantage of it. We all need to vote to get rid of these unqualified leaders who are systematically destroying our state & threaten the livelihood of those who genuinely contribute to society in a positive way.
Mark Bottiani - all the signs along that route that say things like " PELOSI - WATER IS LIFE " have been on the roadsides so long they are as old and weathered as she is.
The need for housing is a bottomless pit. Until the border is closed, the number of migrants entering will exceed the number of taxpayers leaving. As government programs increase the cost of housing, look for the same government to offer assistance to whatever groups they select: ie, those who will vote for them.
I read this article by Ms. Donoavan titled "Where's the Water?" and I quote
"The question of where the water will come from to support the increasing housing developments has been a topic of discussion for many years. Residents have been inquiring about the plans of the City, County, and State regarding this crucial issue. It has been a pressing concern as the population grows and more housing projects are being pushed forward."
I will comment since out of Engineering University I was going to be a Drilling Engineer and I may know alittle about Drilling for things below the ground.
In one word for water "Reserviors" that California failed to Build see CAL MATTERS below>
https://calmatters.org/environment/2023/02/california-sites-reservoir/
So the State of California Once Again Failed it's Citizens but then aqain it always has.
Howard Walther, member of a Military Family
You nailed it Bonnie, how can we keep having to build more housing units, yes Mr. Governor where is the water going to come from? Flat stupid….
Did you know that 90% the water in Lake Cachuma is earmarked to go directly to South County (Goleta, Santa Barbara, Carp, Summerland and Montecito)? Not may folks know this. That means, the residents of Santa Ynez, Solvang, Los Olivos, Ballard, Buellton, Lompoc and Vandenberg get the remaining 10%.
Also don't forget that South County gets all the water from the other dams too, Gibraltar and Juncal. Bet you didn't even know those dams.
Yet South County wants even more water as they are trying to block Solvang from getting water that they have rights to.
Then to top it off, the environmentalists with Cal Trout and other South County groups/agencies are telling folks of Santa Ynez Valley that they must give more of their measly 10% share of Lake Cachuma water to the Steelhead trout so the trout can survive.
Well I think that South County should GIVE BACK the water they took (90%). That is what killed off the Steelhead trout in the first place. Daha, if you take 90% of any species habitat, they will die!!!
South County, stop being so greedy, hypocritical and narcissistic.
Do we need more housing?
In 2000 there were a total of 201,161 people living in the South Coast. In 2022 there were, wait for it, 204,635 people!
The City of SB population has decreased by 2,000 people.
So why are we allowing ourselves to be coerced into building housing?
Notice how we are also being coerced to build “inclusionary” housing, not market rate.
So who are they planning to invite, bring in to fill these new apartments built in downtown & mall areas?
And why is a the City spending millions to create housing for homeless in the downtown area? Do they have jobs? Do they have jobs in the area? And millions to house a handful.
What is the real plan ? We have seen our city be one of the most unfriendly and expensive to build in, purposely not allowing housing What’s changed?
Not population growth. Not job growth.
Huntington Beach and other cities are suing the state to not build the mandatory housing.
I think the bulk of our Council is actively working to forever change Santa Barbara. Demolish Macy’s downtown and build a 7 story affordable housing complex?
Ranger, the water table is going down in the Valley but stabilized about a year ago.
If you have a well up in Solvang (Valley) and it is no more than 300 feet down you may
have a problem 550 feet down goes about 100 feet below the water table. I had
two wells drilled up there at around 550 to 570 and works fine.
Howard
80% of California's water is used for commercial agriculture that creates only 3% of our GDP.
Yes, we need to produce food. But do we need to export alfafa to China to to feed their cows? And 2/3 of our almonds are exported to over 90 countries.
Food security is important. Exporting water intensive crops is a waste of our water.
https://fas.usda.gov/newsroom/cracking-open-new-markets-california-almonds
Hello Thomas John I hate to hear those numbers on CA Crops since I grew up on a farm
and farm-life is the root of America. Did not want go off to College Parents made me, said
"there is nothing for you here." Got a Engineering Degree specializing in Wave Mechanics
based first on Boltzman Mathmatics here>>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boltzmann_equation,
sometimes referred to as Thermodynamics. I spent alot of time in the Mathematics and Physics Dept at University of Utah and worked in the Labratories in the Engineering Dept. My mentor Professors, all LDS or Mormons, were the best, Dr Larry DeVries head of the Mechanical Engineering Dept University of Utah > https://www.mech.utah.edu/directory/faculty/k-l-devries-larry-distinguished-professor/ Larry was the best Engineer/Solver I have ever met and very lucky to have had him as my assigned Professor. Dr Issaacson whom I took alot of classes
the best teacher ever>>>https://www.deseret.com/1994/8/9/19124244/father-and-son-in-engineering-win-u-awards/ Farm Boy goes to High-Tech Engineering School and lucky to do so. Things happen in life.
Howard Walther. member of a Military Family
Well timed article Bonnie. Planet earth is 70% water. We are constantly told ocean levels are rising due to climate change. Dr. Aijian is spot on with desalination as the source of water for the greater metropolitan areas of California. Here in Santa Barbara, the use of decommissioned oil platforms in the channel & converting to desalination plants is one solution. The brining process is done far enough offshore as to not negatively affect marine life closer to the beaches/shoreline. We have had two consecutive years of above average rainfall. If implementation of such plants was put in motion, now more than ever is the time. We will slip into a drought situation again. It is inevitable. It's also typical. Having grown up in a farming family in the Goleta Valley, we tracked weather cycles. There are wet cycles & dry cycles. Farming was a major industry on the south coast when The Cachuma Water Project was completed some 70 years ago. The main purpose of that project was for agricultural needs, not for the general population. Water has been used as a tool to slow the population growth in this area for decades. Anyone remember Dr. Bill Wallace? Now that Governor Newsom has mandated the expansion of the housing element, Santa Barbara County officials better get on the issue of a viable water source for the coastal communities before it becomes a crisis.
Thank you, Bonnie. The “housing shortage” is not about a lack of housing, it's about a wealth of opportunities for developers to destroy everything still working in this state. “Environmental conservation” isn't about keeping the health of our state's natural resources, it's about taxpayers being denied what they pay for the government to maintain so Newsom can sell it off to the highest bidder. In the 1970s the movie Chinatown dramatized the historical greed and corruption around water. The film had Americans entertained - and horrified - by what one evil person could do to a beautiful state like California. But the story didn't end with the theater lights coming on. Newsom is today's Noah Cross. As for those of us who want to fight it, remember the line: “Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown.”
Yet another example of liberal mismanagement of our natural resources. Whether it be water management, forest management or agriculture, liberals get a failing grade.
Can anyone imagine if Lake Cachuma, Lake Casitas or the SB Airport could even be built in today’s regulatory nightmare environment ?
Yet, they want to pile on a bunch of low-income housing!
I don't see an issue in preserving natural features like swamps that I belive SB airport was built off of. Why should I care for a noisy place that destroys the natural beauty of the land, especially when it isn't even providing something that most people need like water, food, electricity, etc?
Seriously, how about a vital service like air travel? Sorry Bruh, not everyone can leisurely travel by Alpaca!
Vital air service? Sorry I'm not wealthy, I can't afford to go on flights or on vacations (which aren't at all vital).
You do realize that air travel, especially regular air travel is a luxury right? Most people do not use such services. They either have no need or have no financial means to do so.
Thank you for writing. San Francisco has the Hetch Hechy water supply directly to the City. Furthermore the city uses the electricity from the HH dam to supply the city only utilities. This was very smart of them. As stated in comments, no new dams have been built because of environmentalists ideas. Dams are a a great idea storing water in drought and protecting down stream humanity/property when too much rain, etc. storage cisterns in our mountains (and on surface) could be easily built. De Sal plants is another way and could be powered by small nuclear plants. Water was always short in southern Cal and very annoying flying over LA confused by all the swimming pools and lawns.
When drought was here, I asked water dept officials why not dredge lake reservoirs of built up silt and they gave some BS answer of permits, etc.; trucking crap from Monticeto didn't seem a problem.
This is not that difficult a problem to solve....
Housing is a commodity. It is not a "crisis" when one cannot afford to live where one wants to live. That is a fact of life. There is nothing new about this disconnect.
Zillow-surfing offers so many options today that better match one's needs and means. The whole word "crisis" needs to be taken out of the discussion. There is no "crisis". Please put a moratorium on that term. Housing has always been a "challenge"; matching means and desires. Nothing has changed in those fundamentals.
Californa has been removing dams which store water and protect communities from floods.
Demand communities to build houses that will change the quality of life and require more water, electricity, schools, hospitals etc.
Why don’t they build more reservoirs? We elected them to take care of our requirements.
I think I read 30% of our rain water washed into the ocean.
Great article! Thank you. I’d like to ask a question: why look where more water needs to come from, when we have wine vineyards popping up all over faster than weeds (each glass of wine requires 24 gallons of water, yikes), we have fresh water released into ocean to “supposedly save some little fish (evolution does not need is wasting resources), and why can the President of El Salvador (so far far away) know the ABSURD amount of money wasted on some “super train” that we all k le will NEVER be completed and who’s expense can’t be justified… be allocated to new dams!!! Heck I have seen dams like the one in Montecito just get filled with dirt instead of improvement. Where is our common sense? I can keep going on examples of waste here. Our city halls are filled with incompetence of painful levels. Are these people truly elected??? Or did Mr. Soros infiltrate every department of our country down to the drops of water?
Just another avenue that the corrupt dems are focusing on to make people compliant.. Control the water, control Life’ the people..
With Trump back in charge this all goes away and so does the green technology they are all investing into.. hahaha the scam will be over for them it’s awesome:)
Btw that green tech will only benefit them and their shareholders while we the people suffer the consequences as in more pollution, higher taxes and freedoms gone not to mention our farming gone the ability to feed ourselves gone, is the plan with the dems in charge of the water