The Sacramento San Joaquin Delta, which covers 1,153 square miles, is one of the largest estuaries in western North America. It supplies California with half of its fresh water, and is facing ecological collapse.
Greetings from Sacramento, here in the heart of Northern California, which today is bathed in a golden autumn glow.
Most weeks, it’s our job to bring you pieces of reliable news—small facts that add up to something we might call The Big Truth. This week, another chapter in the neverending story of Building Democracy in the Golden State.
So ... this thing I am today branding The Big Truth, in a nutshell: As we face this moment in which many of us feel that democracy faces grave peril, let’s today embrace the radical notion that we are currently still in possession of something worth saving. By paying close attention to news in the ten counties we currently serve, we’ve determined that there are people and institutions engaged in civic life, throughout California, working hard to make this place better.
The Big Truth is that our democracy still lives—especially here in California. Evidence can be found in the workings of many (certainly not all) city councils, county boards of supervisors, planning commissions, etc. And the hard work of democratic governance can be found happening right out in the open, at public meetings that anyone can attend. In our News Digest below, you will very likely be able to see what your elected representatives are up to in your county, warts and all.
This week, we are also featuring an ambitious multimedia investigative piece, from our friends at Bay City News and Local News Matters, which looks at several public agencies and individuals dealing with maybe the gnarliest of political problems in California—water. Specifically, one of California’s most precious and threatened natural treasures—the Sacramento San Joaquin Delta.
The Politics of Water Today
“California has one of the most ambitious and highly engineered water delivery systems on the planet, and it’s being eyed for a new extension. The Delta Conveyance Project is Governor Gavin Newsom’s proposal for a 45-mile underground tube that would tap fresh water from its source in the north and carry it beneath a vast wetland to users in the south.” Here is what you need to know.
From Local News Matters: Water War on the Delta
“This is a local story about a global issue, the future of water. In a three-part series of field reports and podcasts, Bay City News reporter Ruth Dusseault looks at the tunnel’s stakeholders, its engineering challenges, and explores the preindustrial Delta and its future restoration."
A strain of bird flu that imperiled California poultry and cattle has jumped to people. In humans, the symptoms are mild and the virus has not been transmitted among people.
(10/29/2024) CalMatters
California motorists buy and consume a billion gallons of gasoline each month and are very sensitive about pump prices, which are markedly higher than those in other states. Naturally, they are a political football.
(10/29/2024) CalMatters
Proposition 33 on local rent control and the related Proposition 34 are attracting the most campaign cash by far of the 10 ballot measures. But the amount pales to what was spent on dueling sports betting measures in 2022.
(10/28/2024) CalMatters
The state air board will vote on changes to its landmark clean fuel program that would cut more greenhouse gases but could raise the cost of gas and diesel.
(10/24/2024) CalMatters
Growers support a federal and state proposal for operating California’s massive systems that send river water south. But it could harm more salmon and other endangered fish.
(10/24/2024) CalMatters
Only one-third of the California GOP congressional delegation has pledged to accept the 2024 presidential election results. And only two incumbents in office in 2021 voted to certify President Joe Biden’s win over Donald Trump in the 2020 race.
(10/23/2024) CalMatters
Use our tool to search through investigations opened by the state’s campaign law watchdog. The data updates weekly.
(10/23/2024) CalMatters
Most of us operate on the calendar year — the 12 months that begin on January 1 and end on December 31.
(10/23/2024) CalMatters
With proponents of Proposition 36 raising nearly $15 million so far — about three times as much as its opponents — and 71% of likely voters in support, it appears the statewide ballot measure will pass in November.
And that’s exactly what immigrant rights advocates are worried about.
(10/22/2024) CalMatters
More than half of the school board races in 49 counties analyzed won't appear on the November ballot because either no one is running for the seat or a single candidate is unopposed.
(10/21/2024) EdSource
Capturing and storing carbon underground is a big part of California’s efforts to tackle climate change but community members and environmentalists say it prolongs the life of fossil fuels.
(10/21/2024) CalMatters
