"Californians have not built a major reservoir since the New Melones Dam more than 30 years ago."
That's cuz Raygun put a stop to dam building.
Killing the Giant Dam
Published: May 7, 1995
To the Editor:
As a former director of public affairs for Gov. Ronald Reagan, I would like to reply to Marc Reisner's review of "The River Stops Here" (March 26), Ted Simon's book about Richard Wilson's campaign to save Round Valley in California from a giant dam. Mr. Reisner describes Governor Reagan as "the one person who could kill the project at a stroke." He then refers to Mr. Reagan's "ambivalence about the dam's fate."
In fact, Ronald Reagan did kill the Dos Rios dam with a stroke. On May 13, 1969, he directed California's Department of Water Resources "to work with the U.S. Corps of Engineers to make further analyses of possible water development plans on the Eel River watershed." He thus withheld his approval of the proposed dam. He was upset that a Corps of Engineers report had offered no alternatives to the huge dam, and he was already sympathetic to the plight of the Indian ranchers of Round Valley, whose property and ancestral burial grounds would have been flooded.
Mr. Reagan's action was widely understood at the time to have killed the Dos Rios dam. The San Francisco Chronicle's account carried the headline "Governor Refuses to O.K. Dos Rios," and an editorial was entitled "Reagan Shelves Dos Rios Dam." PETER D. HANNAFORD Washington
nytimes.com
Then, 4 years after Prop 13 and 6 years after the first state-wide drought, we voted down Jerry Brown's water plan in '82.
ballotpedia.org
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Then, Tues, 2 years after the Dems gained a supermajority in Sacto and we the people voted for a tax increase, we voted up Jerry Brown's water plan.
ballotpedia.org
In 2014, nature yet again reminded California just how fragile — and often pretentious — a place it has become.
Sao Paulo is the California of Brazil. Don't know how pretentious they are.
Sao Paulo Drought Leaves Brazil's Biggest City Desperate For Water
 | By By ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON
Posted: 11/07/2014 12:02 am EST Updated: 11/07/2014 10:59 am EST
A reservoir used by Itu has fallen to 2 percent of capacity and, because its system relies on rain and groundwater rather than rivers, the city is suffering more than others.
In Itu, desperation is taking hold. Police escort water trucks to keep them from being hijacked by armed men. Residents demanding restoration of tap water have staged violent protests.
huffingtonpost.com |
