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"bio": "\u003cstrong>Benjamin Burress\u003c/strong> has been a staff astronomer at Chabot Space & Science Center since July 1999. He graduated from Sonoma State University in 1985 with a bachelor’s degree in physics (and minor in astronomy), after which he signed on for a two-year stint in the Peace Corps, where he taught physics and mathematics in the African nation of Cameroon. From 1989-96 he served on the crew of NASA’s Kuiper Airborne Observatory at Ames Research Center in Mountain View, CA. From 1996-99, he was Head Observer at the Naval Prototype Optical Interferometer program at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, AZ.\r\n\r\nRead his \u003ca href=\"http://science.kqed.org/quest/author/ben-burress/\">previous contributions\u003c/a> to \u003ca href=\"http://science.kqed.org/quest/\">QUEST\u003c/a>, a project dedicated to exploring the Science of Sustainability.",
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"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_30369\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 1024px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/05/lake_mcclure-1024x683.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/05/lake_mcclure-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Lake McClure, on the Merced River downstream from Yosemite, reached its lowest level ever in February. The reservoir, used mostly for irrigation in the San Joaquin Valley, is one of the 10 largest in California. (Dan Brekke/KQED)\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" class=\"size-large wp-image-30369\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lake McClure, on the Merced River downstream from Yosemite, reached its lowest level ever in February. The reservoir, used mostly for irrigation in the San Joaquin Valley, is one of the 10 largest in California. (Dan Brekke/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Nearly nine in 10 Californians believe the drought is serious, according to a new California Field Poll.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But only about half say they could easily use less water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The poll surveyed 1,664 Californians on their beliefs about California’s drought. We asked \u003ca href=\"http://www.field.com/fieldpoll/\">The Field Poll\u003c/a> Director Mark DiCamillo to walk us through the highlights.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>KQED Science: What finding struck you as the most interesting?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>DiCamillo:\u003c/strong> Californians are strongly supportive of the Governor’s call to require urban water districts to \u003ca href=\"http://www.mercurynews.com/drought/ci_28052142/california-drought-first-ever-mandatory-water-conservation-rules\">reduce their water use\u003c/a> by an average of 25 percent statewide. This is the first measurement of that and we’re seeing broad-based support: 65 percent in favor of the governor’s plan, just 23 percent opposed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The public is recognizing the severity of the situation and is getting behind its political leaders to try to do something about it.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">“If only half say ‘it’s easy for me to meet the goals,’ then you’re only going to get half the savings.”\u003ccite>–Mark DiCamilloDirector, The Field Poll\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>But when you ask people whether they, personally, can cut back, you get a different story.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The problem is found later in the poll. It’s when you ask homeowners — who are actually the ones paying water bills for their own properties — “how easy or difficult would it be for your household to cut back?” and a large proportion say it would be difficult, 44 percent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And that actually increases to 48 percent among the upper-income segment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>But half say they \u003cem>can \u003c/em>cut their household’s water use easily. That’s good news right?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If only half say “it’s easy for me to meet the goals,” then you’re only going to get half the savings. You’d want a large majority saying [they] can do this, and there’s a large proportion saying it’s going to be difficult.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Meanwhile, people do believe farms can cut back. \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We’re asking Californians: “can the state’s agricultural users reduce the amount of water that they’re using by changing crops or using water more efficiently, without creating real hardships”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fifty-seven percent say yes; 26 percent say no. So the public is expecting that agricultural users will be able to cut back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>This isn’t the first time Californians have found themselves in a drought. Have attitudes changed?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The last serious drought the state faced was in ’77. And at that time, 51 percent of Californians said that they thought the situation was “extremely serious.” Now we’re at 66 percent. So same direct question, asked during a different drought, more people now believe this has greater severity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/206204986″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The public is recognizing the severity of the situation and is getting behind its political leaders to try to do something about it.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">“If only half say ‘it’s easy for me to meet the goals,’ then you’re only going to get half the savings.”\u003ccite>–Mark DiCamilloDirector, The Field Poll\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>But when you ask people whether they, personally, can cut back, you get a different story.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The problem is found later in the poll. It’s when you ask homeowners — who are actually the ones paying water bills for their own properties — “how easy or difficult would it be for your household to cut back?” and a large proportion say it would be difficult, 44 percent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And that actually increases to 48 percent among the upper-income segment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>But half say they \u003cem>can \u003c/em>cut their household’s water use easily. That’s good news right?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If only half say “it’s easy for me to meet the goals,” then you’re only going to get half the savings. You’d want a large majority saying [they] can do this, and there’s a large proportion saying it’s going to be difficult.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Meanwhile, people do believe farms can cut back. \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We’re asking Californians: “can the state’s agricultural users reduce the amount of water that they’re using by changing crops or using water more efficiently, without creating real hardships”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fifty-seven percent say yes; 26 percent say no. So the public is expecting that agricultural users will be able to cut back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>This isn’t the first time Californians have found themselves in a drought. Have attitudes changed?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The last serious drought the state faced was in ’77. And at that time, 51 percent of Californians said that they thought the situation was “extremely serious.” Now we’re at 66 percent. So same direct question, asked during a different drought, more people now believe this has greater severity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cdiv class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__shortcodes__shortcodeWrapper'>\n \u003ciframe width='”100%”' height='”166″'\n scrolling='no' frameborder='no'\n src='https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/206204986″&visual=true&”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false”'\n title='”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/206204986″'>\n \u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/div>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"audio-wrap\">\n\u003ch2>Listen:\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>http://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/science/2015/05/20150518Sciencewomeninscience.mp3\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_30322\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 1024px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/05/Mukhopadhyay-Biofuels-FULLQUALITY.mov.01_01_17_03.Still002-1024x576.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-30322 size-large\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/05/Mukhopadhyay-Biofuels-FULLQUALITY.mov.01_01_17_03.Still002-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"Aindrila Mukhopadhyay (right) is a staff scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and leads a biofuels and systems biology team that is 70 percent female, an unusual occurrence in her field. (Josh Cassidy/KQED)\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">At the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Staff scientist Aindrila Mukhopadhyay (right) leads a biofuels research and systems biology team, which includes many female postdoctoral researchers from diverse backgrounds. (Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thousands of college students across California are graduating this month with science degrees. Some dream of careers as researchers and professors, like the people who taught them. But women working toward doctoral degrees in science face gender barriers that can derail their progress.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/sed/2013/digest/theme1.cfm\">Data from\u003c/a> the National Science Foundation show the number of women earning Ph.D.s in all branches of science has trended up over the last two decades. By 2013, women made up half the doctorates awarded in life sciences. That’s the good news. The bad news is having a doctorate in any branch of science doesn’t eliminate gender bias, and the percentages of women with Ph.D.s in the physical sciences and engineering remain stubbornly low.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even early in college, those fields attract relatively few women. For instance, \u003ca href=\"http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/2015/nsf15311/tables/pdf/tab2-8.pdf\">an NSF table shows \u003c/a>in 2012, 3.9 percent of female freshmen declared an intention to major in engineering, compared to 18.3 percent of males. That pattern holds at the high end of the academic food-chain as well: \u003ca href=\"http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/2015/nsf15311/tables/pdf/tab9-5.pdf\">data show\u003c/a> 20,000 women with doctorates are employed in the physical sciences, compared to 85,000 men with doctorates.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">‘What’s going on here is that the ideal worker is being defined as someone with a stay-at-home wife.’\u003ccite>\u003cbr>\n— Joan Williams,\u003cbr>\nUC Hastings law professor\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>This complex, multifarious problem for women making their way into science professions has a beguilingly simple name: “the leaky pipeline.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Not An Issue Of Personal Choice\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>University of Michigan earth sciences professor Ingrid Hendy says there’s a common argument that women in their 30s, wanting to be both moms and professors, are making choices to drop out for a bit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m rolling my eyes at this point,” Hendy says. “It’s a lot more complex than that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Indeed, says Joan Williams, law professor at UC Hastings and director of the \u003ca href=\"http://worklifelaw.org/\">Center for WorkLife Law\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I also think it’s misleading to talk about this in terms of women making hard choices about their families,” Williams says. “That’s not what’s going on here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She says scientists want to hire someone who can be hunched over their laptop working at 2 a.m. – not, say, caring for a sick kid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What’s going on here is that the ideal worker is being defined as someone with a stay-at-home wife,” says Williams. “I call that sex discrimination, not women’s choices.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And while it’s true that in certain branches of science, relatively few women ever start the path to a Ph.D., Williams says the problem of gender bias is pervasive across the field. Lots of female scientists report gender bias, and studies have demonstrated it — like one from researchers at Yale University in 2012 called “\u003ca href=\"http://www.pnas.org/content/109/41/16474.full.pdf\">Science faculty’s subtle gender biases favor male students\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers sent more than a hundred faculty members identical resumes – half with a male applicant’s name, half with a female name – and asked, “Would you hire this person to run your lab?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/05/All-PHDs-by-sex.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-large wp-image-30295\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/05/All-PHDs-by-sex-1024x480.jpg\" alt=\"Print\" width=\"1024\" height=\"480\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though it was the exact same resume, both male and female faculty members viewed the male applicant as more competent. Not only that, they offered the female applicant fewer mentorship opportunities and lower starting pay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Williams says there are ways to make a dent in this problem. For instance, just \u003ca href=\"https://hbr.org/2014/10/hacking-techs-diversity-problem\">put the words “salary negotiable”\u003c/a> on a job posting. While women are less likely to negotiate their salaries than men, a study showed those two words can disrupt this pattern, and markedly narrow the pay gap between men and women.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s a good example of a bias interrupter,” Williams says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Engineering Change\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it’s also just one small point along the pipeline from school to research and faculty positions. The pipeline is long, and its attendant leaks start long before graduate school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s a huge drop-off after high school education,” says Lina Nilsson, at Berkeley’s \u003ca href=\"http://blumcenter.berkeley.edu/\">Blum Center for Developing Economies\u003c/a>. Nilsson recently wrote an \u003ca href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/27/opinion/how-to-attract-female-engineers.html\">op-ed in the New York Times\u003c/a> titled “How to Attract Female Engineers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Engineering tends to rank on the very low end for female participation, with barely one in four doctorates awarded to women in 2013. Nilsson’s program, though, is drawing women in droves. The class has roughly equal numbers of women and men.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Without even at any point explicitly planning to target women,” Nilsson says, “we’re seeing these massive increases.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The key, she says, seems to be connecting engineering to social impact – issues like poverty and inequality. Nilsson’s specialty is development engineering: helping countries get clean water, diagnose disease and so on. She says women are filling up similar classes across the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_30280\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 1024px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/05/marie-1024x768.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-30280\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/05/marie-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"Marie Champagne loads samples into a centrifuge at UC Berkeley. Champagne studies paleo-climate, but says until just a few years ago, being a scientist wasn't at all on her radar. (Daniel Potter / KQED)\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Marie Champagne loads samples into a centrifuge at UC Berkeley. Champagne says she didn’t know she loved science until nearly the end of community college. (Daniel Potter / KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>‘I Would’ve Had No Idea’\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a lab one building over at Berkeley, Marie Champagne uses a powerful acid to prepare lake-bottom samples, which she spins in a centrifuge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These samples are a window to what the climate was like thousands of years ago, Champagne says, based on clues like bits of pollen visible under a microscope.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Growing up, I would’ve had no idea what paleo-climate was, let alone that I wanted to go into it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Champagne grew up near a small town in Mendocino County. She says there weren’t a lot of scientists in her life. She gravitated toward English as she entered community college. There, she had a teacher who was pivotal in identifying and developing her interests in earth science.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I used to be a little bit more frightened of taking like a physics class,” Champagne says. “I didn’t take physics until I was a senior — and I loved it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Champagne starts her Ph.D. this fall at UC Santa Cruz.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/div>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_30322\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 1024px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/05/Mukhopadhyay-Biofuels-FULLQUALITY.mov.01_01_17_03.Still002-1024x576.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-30322 size-large\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/05/Mukhopadhyay-Biofuels-FULLQUALITY.mov.01_01_17_03.Still002-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"Aindrila Mukhopadhyay (right) is a staff scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and leads a biofuels and systems biology team that is 70 percent female, an unusual occurrence in her field. (Josh Cassidy/KQED)\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">At the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Staff scientist Aindrila Mukhopadhyay (right) leads a biofuels research and systems biology team, which includes many female postdoctoral researchers from diverse backgrounds. (Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thousands of college students across California are graduating this month with science degrees. Some dream of careers as researchers and professors, like the people who taught them. But women working toward doctoral degrees in science face gender barriers that can derail their progress.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/sed/2013/digest/theme1.cfm\">Data from\u003c/a> the National Science Foundation show the number of women earning Ph.D.s in all branches of science has trended up over the last two decades. By 2013, women made up half the doctorates awarded in life sciences. That’s the good news. The bad news is having a doctorate in any branch of science doesn’t eliminate gender bias, and the percentages of women with Ph.D.s in the physical sciences and engineering remain stubbornly low.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even early in college, those fields attract relatively few women. For instance, \u003ca href=\"http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/2015/nsf15311/tables/pdf/tab2-8.pdf\">an NSF table shows \u003c/a>in 2012, 3.9 percent of female freshmen declared an intention to major in engineering, compared to 18.3 percent of males. That pattern holds at the high end of the academic food-chain as well: \u003ca href=\"http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/2015/nsf15311/tables/pdf/tab9-5.pdf\">data show\u003c/a> 20,000 women with doctorates are employed in the physical sciences, compared to 85,000 men with doctorates.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">‘What’s going on here is that the ideal worker is being defined as someone with a stay-at-home wife.’\u003ccite>\u003cbr>\n— Joan Williams,\u003cbr>\nUC Hastings law professor\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>This complex, multifarious problem for women making their way into science professions has a beguilingly simple name: “the leaky pipeline.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Not An Issue Of Personal Choice\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>University of Michigan earth sciences professor Ingrid Hendy says there’s a common argument that women in their 30s, wanting to be both moms and professors, are making choices to drop out for a bit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m rolling my eyes at this point,” Hendy says. “It’s a lot more complex than that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Indeed, says Joan Williams, law professor at UC Hastings and director of the \u003ca href=\"http://worklifelaw.org/\">Center for WorkLife Law\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I also think it’s misleading to talk about this in terms of women making hard choices about their families,” Williams says. “That’s not what’s going on here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She says scientists want to hire someone who can be hunched over their laptop working at 2 a.m. – not, say, caring for a sick kid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What’s going on here is that the ideal worker is being defined as someone with a stay-at-home wife,” says Williams. “I call that sex discrimination, not women’s choices.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And while it’s true that in certain branches of science, relatively few women ever start the path to a Ph.D., Williams says the problem of gender bias is pervasive across the field. Lots of female scientists report gender bias, and studies have demonstrated it — like one from researchers at Yale University in 2012 called “\u003ca href=\"http://www.pnas.org/content/109/41/16474.full.pdf\">Science faculty’s subtle gender biases favor male students\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers sent more than a hundred faculty members identical resumes – half with a male applicant’s name, half with a female name – and asked, “Would you hire this person to run your lab?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/05/All-PHDs-by-sex.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-large wp-image-30295\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/05/All-PHDs-by-sex-1024x480.jpg\" alt=\"Print\" width=\"1024\" height=\"480\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though it was the exact same resume, both male and female faculty members viewed the male applicant as more competent. Not only that, they offered the female applicant fewer mentorship opportunities and lower starting pay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Williams says there are ways to make a dent in this problem. For instance, just \u003ca href=\"https://hbr.org/2014/10/hacking-techs-diversity-problem\">put the words “salary negotiable”\u003c/a> on a job posting. While women are less likely to negotiate their salaries than men, a study showed those two words can disrupt this pattern, and markedly narrow the pay gap between men and women.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s a good example of a bias interrupter,” Williams says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Engineering Change\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it’s also just one small point along the pipeline from school to research and faculty positions. The pipeline is long, and its attendant leaks start long before graduate school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s a huge drop-off after high school education,” says Lina Nilsson, at Berkeley’s \u003ca href=\"http://blumcenter.berkeley.edu/\">Blum Center for Developing Economies\u003c/a>. Nilsson recently wrote an \u003ca href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/27/opinion/how-to-attract-female-engineers.html\">op-ed in the New York Times\u003c/a> titled “How to Attract Female Engineers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Engineering tends to rank on the very low end for female participation, with barely one in four doctorates awarded to women in 2013. Nilsson’s program, though, is drawing women in droves. The class has roughly equal numbers of women and men.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Without even at any point explicitly planning to target women,” Nilsson says, “we’re seeing these massive increases.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The key, she says, seems to be connecting engineering to social impact – issues like poverty and inequality. Nilsson’s specialty is development engineering: helping countries get clean water, diagnose disease and so on. She says women are filling up similar classes across the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_30280\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 1024px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/05/marie-1024x768.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-30280\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/05/marie-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"Marie Champagne loads samples into a centrifuge at UC Berkeley. Champagne studies paleo-climate, but says until just a few years ago, being a scientist wasn't at all on her radar. (Daniel Potter / KQED)\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Marie Champagne loads samples into a centrifuge at UC Berkeley. Champagne says she didn’t know she loved science until nearly the end of community college. (Daniel Potter / KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>‘I Would’ve Had No Idea’\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a lab one building over at Berkeley, Marie Champagne uses a powerful acid to prepare lake-bottom samples, which she spins in a centrifuge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These samples are a window to what the climate was like thousands of years ago, Champagne says, based on clues like bits of pollen visible under a microscope.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Growing up, I would’ve had no idea what paleo-climate was, let alone that I wanted to go into it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Champagne grew up near a small town in Mendocino County. She says there weren’t a lot of scientists in her life. She gravitated toward English as she entered community college. 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"title": "NASA Co-Discovers the Most Distant Extrasolar Planet Yet",
"headTitle": "NASA Co-Discovers the Most Distant Extrasolar Planet Yet | KQED",
"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_30179\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/05/aplanetfar.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-30179\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/05/aplanetfar.jpg\" alt=\"Diagram of the Milky Way galaxy showing the distances to known extrasolar planets. (JPL-CalTech/NASA)\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Diagram of the Milky Way galaxy showing the distances to known extrasolar planets. (JPL-CalTech/NASA)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>We’ve recently discovered one of the most distant extrasolar planets known to date. Or rather, \u003ca href=\"http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/6053-sig15-006-Map-of-Exoplanets-Found-in-Our-Galaxy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope\u003c/a> and Poland’s \u003ca href=\"http://ogle.astrouw.edu.pl/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment\u003c/a> (OGLE) have.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Extrasolar planets (exoplanets) are planets that orbit stars other than our sun, and in the past two decades we have detected over 1,800 of them. Most of these alien worlds belong to stars in our galaxy that are relatively close to our solar system, but scientists have used different techniques for detecting and studying exoplanets at greater distances.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The newly discovered exoplanet, called OGLE-2014-BLG-0124L, has about half the mass of Jupiter and orbits a star 13,000 light years from Earth, close to the crowded, star-rich central core of our galaxy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The observing campaign to find and study far-flung exoplanets like this one is aimed at giving us a clearer understanding of the distribution of exoplanets across the galaxy, and insight into the conditions under which planetary systems form.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Computing the Exoplanet’s Distance\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>OGLE and Spitzer made the detection through “\u003ca href=\"http://www.planetary.org/explore/space-topics/exoplanets/microlensing.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">gravitational microlensing\u003c/a>” observations, which take advantage of the situation when a star passes between us and another star.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_30180\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 400px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/05/gravlensdiagram.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-30180\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/05/gravlensdiagram.jpg\" alt=\"Diagram of a star and planet focusing the light of a more distant star toward on observer on Earth.\" width=\"400\" height=\"189\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Diagram of a star and planet focusing the light of a more distant star toward on observer on Earth.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Just as a telescope’s glass lens bends and focuses light to produce a brighter image of a distant object, a star’s gravity can do the same trick, but on a much grander scale.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When a star passes between us and a more distant star, its gravity can bend and focus the farther star’s light, causing a temporary increase in its brightness. If there happens to be a planet orbiting the intermediate star, its light also may be magnified and detected.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Measuring the distance to this far-off exoplanet was accomplished by comparing observations made by an Earth-based OGLE telescope and NASA’s Spitzer, which orbits the sun far from Earth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By noting the difference in the times of the lensing event as observed by OGLE and Spitzer, scientists were able to triangulate the distance of 13,000 light years—or 78 quadrillion miles! And by pinpointing the distance, the estimate of the exoplanet’s half-Jupiter mass was also possible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Polling the Galactic Core\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Polling the population of exoplanets in the star-dense region of the galactic core adds to our knowledge of exoplanets both near and far, providing data to help answer questions like: are exoplanets more or less common in the galactic core, versus the spiral arms where our solar system resides? Scientists seek to explore how planetary formation may be influenced by a star system’s location in the galaxy, so the more we know about the nature of exoplanetary systems in different regions, the better.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_30181\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 193px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/05/gravlens-193x162.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-30181 size-medium\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/05/gravlens-193x162.jpg\" alt=\"A gravitational lens of a much greater scale: a giant elliptical galaxy focusing the light of a more distant galaxy into a ring shape. (HST/NASA)\" width=\"193\" height=\"162\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A gravitational lens of a much greater scale: a giant elliptical galaxy focusing the light of a more distant galaxy into a ring shape. (HST/NASA)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Microlensing detections made by a single observatory cannot always yield much more than an exoplanet’s presence. A very distant star detected with this technique isn’t normally visible, making the determination of its exact distance (and that of any planets it may possess) difficult to impossible. Of the 30 exoplanets detected through gravitational microlensing, the farthest being 25,000 light years away, we know the distance to only about half of them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another factor in this type of observation is the chance nature of the star crossings, which we can only observe once for any given pair of stars. So, we may have only one chance to make a planet detection, with no possible follow-up observations. Still, the far greater concentration of stars in and near the galactic core provides many more star crossings and opportunities to make exoplanet detections.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Exoplanets Closer to Home\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Closer to home, the more common techniques for finding exoplanets—either by measuring the wobble of a star caused by an orbiting planet or the dimming of its light when a planet transits in front of it—has yielded \u003ca href=\"http://exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">over 1800 confirmed worlds\u003c/a>, mostly orbiting stars much closer to our solar system’s neighborhood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>NASA’s Kepler space telescope, which pursues exoplanets using the transit method, is responsible for the bulk of those finds, as well as most of the detections of \u003ca href=\"http://phl.upr.edu/projects/habitable-exoplanets-catalog\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Earth-sized planets\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At least 65 exoplanets have been confirmed within 50 light years of Earth—close enough for the television and radio transmissions that we began broadcasting in the middle of the 20th century to have reached. As of next year, in fact, the first broadcasts of Star Trek (the original series) will have reached all 65 of these closest exoplanets!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for the prospects of visiting any of these exoplanets in person—well, that may take a while. The \u003ca href=\"http://science.kqed.org/quest/2012/10/19/found-in-space-exoplanet-alpha-centauri-bb/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">closest known exoplanet\u003c/a>, which orbits the nearest star to our solar system, Alpha Centauri, is 4.36 light years away, or 26.16 trillion miles, a distance that would take the fastest spacecraft we’ve ever flown almost 60,000 years to reach.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "A collaboration between NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and Poland's Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE) project has recently discovered one of the most distant extrasolar planets known to date. ",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_30179\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/05/aplanetfar.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-30179\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/05/aplanetfar.jpg\" alt=\"Diagram of the Milky Way galaxy showing the distances to known extrasolar planets. (JPL-CalTech/NASA)\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Diagram of the Milky Way galaxy showing the distances to known extrasolar planets. (JPL-CalTech/NASA)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>We’ve recently discovered one of the most distant extrasolar planets known to date. Or rather, \u003ca href=\"http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/6053-sig15-006-Map-of-Exoplanets-Found-in-Our-Galaxy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope\u003c/a> and Poland’s \u003ca href=\"http://ogle.astrouw.edu.pl/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment\u003c/a> (OGLE) have.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Extrasolar planets (exoplanets) are planets that orbit stars other than our sun, and in the past two decades we have detected over 1,800 of them. Most of these alien worlds belong to stars in our galaxy that are relatively close to our solar system, but scientists have used different techniques for detecting and studying exoplanets at greater distances.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The newly discovered exoplanet, called OGLE-2014-BLG-0124L, has about half the mass of Jupiter and orbits a star 13,000 light years from Earth, close to the crowded, star-rich central core of our galaxy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The observing campaign to find and study far-flung exoplanets like this one is aimed at giving us a clearer understanding of the distribution of exoplanets across the galaxy, and insight into the conditions under which planetary systems form.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Computing the Exoplanet’s Distance\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>OGLE and Spitzer made the detection through “\u003ca href=\"http://www.planetary.org/explore/space-topics/exoplanets/microlensing.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">gravitational microlensing\u003c/a>” observations, which take advantage of the situation when a star passes between us and another star.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_30180\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 400px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/05/gravlensdiagram.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-30180\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/05/gravlensdiagram.jpg\" alt=\"Diagram of a star and planet focusing the light of a more distant star toward on observer on Earth.\" width=\"400\" height=\"189\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Diagram of a star and planet focusing the light of a more distant star toward on observer on Earth.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Just as a telescope’s glass lens bends and focuses light to produce a brighter image of a distant object, a star’s gravity can do the same trick, but on a much grander scale.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When a star passes between us and a more distant star, its gravity can bend and focus the farther star’s light, causing a temporary increase in its brightness. If there happens to be a planet orbiting the intermediate star, its light also may be magnified and detected.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Measuring the distance to this far-off exoplanet was accomplished by comparing observations made by an Earth-based OGLE telescope and NASA’s Spitzer, which orbits the sun far from Earth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By noting the difference in the times of the lensing event as observed by OGLE and Spitzer, scientists were able to triangulate the distance of 13,000 light years—or 78 quadrillion miles! And by pinpointing the distance, the estimate of the exoplanet’s half-Jupiter mass was also possible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Polling the Galactic Core\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Polling the population of exoplanets in the star-dense region of the galactic core adds to our knowledge of exoplanets both near and far, providing data to help answer questions like: are exoplanets more or less common in the galactic core, versus the spiral arms where our solar system resides? Scientists seek to explore how planetary formation may be influenced by a star system’s location in the galaxy, so the more we know about the nature of exoplanetary systems in different regions, the better.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_30181\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 193px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/05/gravlens-193x162.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-30181 size-medium\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/05/gravlens-193x162.jpg\" alt=\"A gravitational lens of a much greater scale: a giant elliptical galaxy focusing the light of a more distant galaxy into a ring shape. (HST/NASA)\" width=\"193\" height=\"162\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A gravitational lens of a much greater scale: a giant elliptical galaxy focusing the light of a more distant galaxy into a ring shape. (HST/NASA)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Microlensing detections made by a single observatory cannot always yield much more than an exoplanet’s presence. A very distant star detected with this technique isn’t normally visible, making the determination of its exact distance (and that of any planets it may possess) difficult to impossible. Of the 30 exoplanets detected through gravitational microlensing, the farthest being 25,000 light years away, we know the distance to only about half of them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another factor in this type of observation is the chance nature of the star crossings, which we can only observe once for any given pair of stars. So, we may have only one chance to make a planet detection, with no possible follow-up observations. Still, the far greater concentration of stars in and near the galactic core provides many more star crossings and opportunities to make exoplanet detections.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Exoplanets Closer to Home\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Closer to home, the more common techniques for finding exoplanets—either by measuring the wobble of a star caused by an orbiting planet or the dimming of its light when a planet transits in front of it—has yielded \u003ca href=\"http://exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">over 1800 confirmed worlds\u003c/a>, mostly orbiting stars much closer to our solar system’s neighborhood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>NASA’s Kepler space telescope, which pursues exoplanets using the transit method, is responsible for the bulk of those finds, as well as most of the detections of \u003ca href=\"http://phl.upr.edu/projects/habitable-exoplanets-catalog\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Earth-sized planets\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At least 65 exoplanets have been confirmed within 50 light years of Earth—close enough for the television and radio transmissions that we began broadcasting in the middle of the 20th century to have reached. As of next year, in fact, the first broadcasts of Star Trek (the original series) will have reached all 65 of these closest exoplanets!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for the prospects of visiting any of these exoplanets in person—well, that may take a while. The \u003ca href=\"http://science.kqed.org/quest/2012/10/19/found-in-space-exoplanet-alpha-centauri-bb/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">closest known exoplanet\u003c/a>, which orbits the nearest star to our solar system, Alpha Centauri, is 4.36 light years away, or 26.16 trillion miles, a distance that would take the fastest spacecraft we’ve ever flown almost 60,000 years to reach.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "As Delta Smelt Nears Extinction, New Concerns Emerge Over Dredging",
"headTitle": "As Delta Smelt Nears Extinction, New Concerns Emerge Over Dredging | KQED",
"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_30199\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 1024px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/05/smelt-1024x576.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-30199\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/05/smelt-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"A Delta smelt caught during a spring survey. Biologists warn the fish is close to extinction. (Lauren Sommer/KQED)\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Delta smelt caught during an annual fish survey. Biologists warn the fish is close to extinction. (Lauren Sommer/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Hated by many, loved by few, the tiny Delta smelt has long been the symbol for California’s water wars and the struggle between the state’s environmentalists and farmers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, as the state struggles through its fourth year of historic drought, the fish is dangerously close to extinction after years of decline, biologists warn. And that’s igniting new scrutiny over the impacts that could drive the species over the brink, including one that isn’t well-known – the annual dredging of shipping channels in the San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Wednesday, regulators with the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board will vote on whether dredgers \u003ca href=\"http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/sanfranciscobay/board_decisions/tentative_orders/USACE/USACE%202015-2019%20OM%20Dredging%20TO_3-20-15.pdf\">must use different equipment\u003c/a> in some channels to avoid killing threatened fish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Maritime Highways\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco Bay’s cargo ship traffic goes far beyond the Port of Oakland, extending all the way to Sacramento and Stockton, where ports disperse California’s fresh produce and agricultural goods. The only way ships can safely make their way inland is through deep-water channels that are cut through the sediment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Most of San Francisco Bay is shallow enough for a person to stand in or touch the bottom,” said Jessica Burton Evans, Navigation Program Manager with the Army Corps of Engineers in San Francisco. “So we really need to maintain those deep channels so that the ships can move safely and not run aground.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Corps is responsible for dredging and maintaining the shipping lanes, which involves clearing millions of cubic yards of mud, sand and silt every year. It’s often done with a hydraulic dredge or “hopper dredge,” which works like a giant, underwater vacuum cleaner that sucks in sediment and water.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">‘These fish are in dire and extreme danger of extinction.’\u003ccite>— Jon Rosenfield, Bay Institute biologist \u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>“A hopper dredge is a relatively large piece of equipment compared to those fish,” said Burton Evans. “If they get too close, they just aren’t able to swim fast enough.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to an analysis done in 2013 by the Corps, the dredging could be killing thousands of Delta smelt a year. In 2011, the impact was estimated at between 3 and 29 percent of the population. That was based on looking for fish in a small amount of dredge material, and state biologists say a larger sample is needed to validate the findings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The longfin smelt, another fish that’s listed as threatened under the California Endangered Species Act, is also harmed. Dredging can also create loud, underwater noise and sediment plumes that can stress smelt or hurt their ability to feed, scientists say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If the higher estimates of harm are true, “that is just an exceptional amount of impact and something that is surprising,” said Jon Rosenfield, biologist with the Bay Institute, an environmental group based in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Population Crash\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Delta smelt populations have been in freefall for several years, due to a variety of reasons, according to biologists. Its fate has been at the center of the state’s water wars long before the drought began.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Delta smelt lives in the same estuary that supplies water to 25 million Californians and irrigates millions of acres of farmland. Huge pumps at the southern edge of the Delta near Tracy pull water into canals that go from Silicon Valley to San Diego. In some years, more than 50 percent of the fresh water that would normally be flowing out to San Francisco Bay is diverted away from the Delta. In the process, the pumping kills Delta smelt and shrinks its habitat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a result, federal biologists have ordered water pumping be slowed down during times when smelt are vulnerable, which reduces water deliveries to farms and cities. Some farmers blame the smelt for the current water shortages, although the last time water pumping was slowed to protect the smelt was in 2013.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With the extreme drought conditions this year, an annual survey for Delta smelt run by state biologists caught the lowest numbers of fish ever recorded — just one fish this spring. In other years, they’ve found hundreds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_30224\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1024px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/05/17444167446_4b96dc6fbd_o-1024x649.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/05/17444167446_4b96dc6fbd_o-1024x649.jpg\" alt=\"The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers supervises dredging in the Delta to allow passage of ocean-going ships like the Maria Theo, pictured on the San Joaquin River near Antioch. (Dan Brekke/KQED)\" width=\"1024\" height=\"649\" class=\"size-large wp-image-30224\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers supervises dredging in the Delta to allow passage of ocean-going ships like the Maria Theo, pictured on the San Joaquin River near Antioch. (Dan Brekke/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Rosenfield believes the water pumping is still the largest impact on the Delta smelt by far, but because its numbers have dropped so low, no threats to the fish should be overlooked.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We haven’t taken care of these populations prior to this year well enough,” said Rosenfield. “We haven’t allowed them to thrive when conditions are good or even average because we take so much water out of this estuary.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So once we get into a drought and populations begin to crash, well, then everybody has to go through exceptional measures to stop having an impact because there just aren’t that many fish to spare,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Delta smelt are also harmed by dredging done farther east into the Delta, past the Suisun Bay channel, in the deep water ship channels that extend to Sacramento and Stockton. That dredging is handled in a separate permitting process at the water board. The Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declined to release data or comment about the numbers of fish that are killed in those projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Proposed Dredging Rules\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In order to protect both the Delta smelt and longfin smelt, the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board is considering changes to the way the Corps conducts its dredging.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead of the large, hydraulic dredges, the Corps would have to use smaller clamshell dredges, which remove material bucket-by-bucket and are thought to be less harmful to fish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The order would require a clamshell dredge be used in the Suisun Bay shipping channel near Pittsburg. The Corps would have the option to use a hopper dredge in either the Richmond Outer Harbor and Pinole Shoal channels, but if a hopper dredge is used, the Corps must monitor for killing fish and must make up for the impact through habitat restoration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our duty is to protect water quality, protect the fish and ensure the potential impacts to dredging are lessened,” said Naomi Feger, Planning Division Chief at the water board.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The order before the board does balance,” she said. “It allows for navigational dredging to continue in the bay but we’ve lessened those significant impacts where it’s feasible. We think it’s feasible to use clamshell dredge.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Army Corps of Engineers says having the flexibility to use different equipment in each year is key for its operations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The dredges are not always available for us, so it’s important to consider when we can get equipment here to do the work for us,” said Burton Evans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Corps estimates the change will cost an added $3-10 million a year and projects that take weeks today could take as much as three times as long. Burton Evans says the Corps is already using new measures to protect the smelt species, including keeping the dredge’s mouth close to the bottom so it pulls in fewer fish. Dredging is already limited to the second half of the year to prevent harm to threatened fish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are watching it very closely and it’s important that we’re balancing the economy and the environment,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If California’s drought drags on, state and federal wildlife agencies may have to reexamine any project that harms the Delta smelt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These fish are in dire and extreme danger of extinction,” said Rosenfield. “In a year like this, impacts really need to be avoided.”\u003cbr>\n[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/205298767″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "The tiny Delta smelt is famous for being a target in California's water wars, but it's dangerously close to extinction. That's bringing attention to anything that could harm the fish, including something rarely discussed: dredging Delta waterways for big cargo ships.",
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"description": "The tiny Delta smelt is famous for being a target in California's water wars, but it's dangerously close to extinction. That's bringing attention to anything that could harm the fish, including something rarely discussed: dredging Delta waterways for big cargo ships.",
"title": "As Delta Smelt Nears Extinction, New Concerns Emerge Over Dredging | KQED",
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"headline": "As Delta Smelt Nears Extinction, New Concerns Emerge Over Dredging",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_30199\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 1024px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/05/smelt-1024x576.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-30199\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/05/smelt-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"A Delta smelt caught during a spring survey. Biologists warn the fish is close to extinction. (Lauren Sommer/KQED)\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Delta smelt caught during an annual fish survey. Biologists warn the fish is close to extinction. (Lauren Sommer/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Hated by many, loved by few, the tiny Delta smelt has long been the symbol for California’s water wars and the struggle between the state’s environmentalists and farmers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, as the state struggles through its fourth year of historic drought, the fish is dangerously close to extinction after years of decline, biologists warn. And that’s igniting new scrutiny over the impacts that could drive the species over the brink, including one that isn’t well-known – the annual dredging of shipping channels in the San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Wednesday, regulators with the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board will vote on whether dredgers \u003ca href=\"http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/sanfranciscobay/board_decisions/tentative_orders/USACE/USACE%202015-2019%20OM%20Dredging%20TO_3-20-15.pdf\">must use different equipment\u003c/a> in some channels to avoid killing threatened fish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Maritime Highways\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco Bay’s cargo ship traffic goes far beyond the Port of Oakland, extending all the way to Sacramento and Stockton, where ports disperse California’s fresh produce and agricultural goods. The only way ships can safely make their way inland is through deep-water channels that are cut through the sediment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Most of San Francisco Bay is shallow enough for a person to stand in or touch the bottom,” said Jessica Burton Evans, Navigation Program Manager with the Army Corps of Engineers in San Francisco. “So we really need to maintain those deep channels so that the ships can move safely and not run aground.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Corps is responsible for dredging and maintaining the shipping lanes, which involves clearing millions of cubic yards of mud, sand and silt every year. It’s often done with a hydraulic dredge or “hopper dredge,” which works like a giant, underwater vacuum cleaner that sucks in sediment and water.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">‘These fish are in dire and extreme danger of extinction.’\u003ccite>— Jon Rosenfield, Bay Institute biologist \u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>“A hopper dredge is a relatively large piece of equipment compared to those fish,” said Burton Evans. “If they get too close, they just aren’t able to swim fast enough.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to an analysis done in 2013 by the Corps, the dredging could be killing thousands of Delta smelt a year. In 2011, the impact was estimated at between 3 and 29 percent of the population. That was based on looking for fish in a small amount of dredge material, and state biologists say a larger sample is needed to validate the findings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The longfin smelt, another fish that’s listed as threatened under the California Endangered Species Act, is also harmed. Dredging can also create loud, underwater noise and sediment plumes that can stress smelt or hurt their ability to feed, scientists say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If the higher estimates of harm are true, “that is just an exceptional amount of impact and something that is surprising,” said Jon Rosenfield, biologist with the Bay Institute, an environmental group based in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Population Crash\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Delta smelt populations have been in freefall for several years, due to a variety of reasons, according to biologists. Its fate has been at the center of the state’s water wars long before the drought began.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Delta smelt lives in the same estuary that supplies water to 25 million Californians and irrigates millions of acres of farmland. Huge pumps at the southern edge of the Delta near Tracy pull water into canals that go from Silicon Valley to San Diego. In some years, more than 50 percent of the fresh water that would normally be flowing out to San Francisco Bay is diverted away from the Delta. In the process, the pumping kills Delta smelt and shrinks its habitat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a result, federal biologists have ordered water pumping be slowed down during times when smelt are vulnerable, which reduces water deliveries to farms and cities. Some farmers blame the smelt for the current water shortages, although the last time water pumping was slowed to protect the smelt was in 2013.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With the extreme drought conditions this year, an annual survey for Delta smelt run by state biologists caught the lowest numbers of fish ever recorded — just one fish this spring. In other years, they’ve found hundreds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_30224\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1024px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/05/17444167446_4b96dc6fbd_o-1024x649.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/05/17444167446_4b96dc6fbd_o-1024x649.jpg\" alt=\"The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers supervises dredging in the Delta to allow passage of ocean-going ships like the Maria Theo, pictured on the San Joaquin River near Antioch. (Dan Brekke/KQED)\" width=\"1024\" height=\"649\" class=\"size-large wp-image-30224\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers supervises dredging in the Delta to allow passage of ocean-going ships like the Maria Theo, pictured on the San Joaquin River near Antioch. (Dan Brekke/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Rosenfield believes the water pumping is still the largest impact on the Delta smelt by far, but because its numbers have dropped so low, no threats to the fish should be overlooked.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We haven’t taken care of these populations prior to this year well enough,” said Rosenfield. “We haven’t allowed them to thrive when conditions are good or even average because we take so much water out of this estuary.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So once we get into a drought and populations begin to crash, well, then everybody has to go through exceptional measures to stop having an impact because there just aren’t that many fish to spare,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Delta smelt are also harmed by dredging done farther east into the Delta, past the Suisun Bay channel, in the deep water ship channels that extend to Sacramento and Stockton. That dredging is handled in a separate permitting process at the water board. The Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declined to release data or comment about the numbers of fish that are killed in those projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Proposed Dredging Rules\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In order to protect both the Delta smelt and longfin smelt, the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board is considering changes to the way the Corps conducts its dredging.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead of the large, hydraulic dredges, the Corps would have to use smaller clamshell dredges, which remove material bucket-by-bucket and are thought to be less harmful to fish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The order would require a clamshell dredge be used in the Suisun Bay shipping channel near Pittsburg. The Corps would have the option to use a hopper dredge in either the Richmond Outer Harbor and Pinole Shoal channels, but if a hopper dredge is used, the Corps must monitor for killing fish and must make up for the impact through habitat restoration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our duty is to protect water quality, protect the fish and ensure the potential impacts to dredging are lessened,” said Naomi Feger, Planning Division Chief at the water board.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The order before the board does balance,” she said. “It allows for navigational dredging to continue in the bay but we’ve lessened those significant impacts where it’s feasible. We think it’s feasible to use clamshell dredge.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Army Corps of Engineers says having the flexibility to use different equipment in each year is key for its operations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The dredges are not always available for us, so it’s important to consider when we can get equipment here to do the work for us,” said Burton Evans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Corps estimates the change will cost an added $3-10 million a year and projects that take weeks today could take as much as three times as long. Burton Evans says the Corps is already using new measures to protect the smelt species, including keeping the dredge’s mouth close to the bottom so it pulls in fewer fish. Dredging is already limited to the second half of the year to prevent harm to threatened fish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are watching it very closely and it’s important that we’re balancing the economy and the environment,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If California’s drought drags on, state and federal wildlife agencies may have to reexamine any project that harms the Delta smelt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These fish are in dire and extreme danger of extinction,” said Rosenfield. “In a year like this, impacts really need to be avoided.”\u003cbr>\n\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cdiv class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__shortcodes__shortcodeWrapper'>\n \u003ciframe width='”100%”' height='”166″'\n scrolling='no' frameborder='no'\n src='https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/205298767″&visual=true&”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false”'\n title='”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/205298767″'>\n \u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/div>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Will California Drought Force Changes In Historic Water Rights?",
"headTitle": "Will California Drought Force Changes In Historic Water Rights? | KQED",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"audio-wrap\">\n\u003ch2>Listen:\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>http://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/science/2015/05/20150511science.mp3\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Update, May 11, 2015:\u003c/strong> Once again this year, state officials have ordered thousands of junior water-rights holders to stop pumping water due to the drought. They’ve also warned that senior water-rights holders could be limited sometime later this year, if the limits on junior rights holders aren’t enough. In April, Governor Brown said if the dry conditions continue, the state’s entire water rights system could be up for examination.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Original post (Dec. 8, 2014):\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After three years of historically dry and hot weather, the images of California’s drought have become familiar: empty fields, brown lawns, dry stream beds. But for every one of those scenes, there are other parts of the state where water has been flowing freely and the effects of drought are hard to see.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s all tied to California’s system of water rights — the complex hierarchy that governs who gets water during a drought and who doesn’t. After unprecedented cutbacks this year that left many farmers scrambling for water, some critics say the hierarchy is a historical relic that makes it harder for the state to deal with drought.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The system is largely invisible, buried in legal contracts, court decisions and stacks of century-old papers. To get a sense of what it all means, there is a place you can go to actually see water rights in action: east of Interstate 5, near Los Banos, in the Central Valley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The Haves and the Have Nots\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is probably the most catastrophic water year we’ve ever had,” says Lon Martin, assistant manager at the San Luis Water District. He gave me a tour of the district at the height of the summer growing season this year, but there wasn’t much to see.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Very brown, desolate agriculture,” he says, eyeing the unplanted fields.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">‘It doesn’t necessarily amount to a fair system or an efficient system.’\u003ccite>— Buzz Thompson,\u003cbr>\nStanford University\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>Farmers in the area rely on water from the federal Central Valley Project, but with the extreme drought, they didn’t get a single drop of their usual supply. Some laid off workers and ripped out almond orchards while others tried to \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/audio/some-california-farmers-fallow-fields-others-sell-water-for-big-profits/\">buy more expensive water\u003c/a> on the open market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then, as we sped down the road, the fields suddenly were green. There were rows of tomatoes and alfalfa, almost as if we’d crossed an invisible line.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It turns out, we had – into a different water district.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s an obvious dividing line,” Martin says. “They have much more senior rights.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Farmers in the Central California Irrigation District were getting the majority of the water they normally do. The difference is water rights — the pecking order of who gets water first in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Senior vs. Junior\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“California has one of the most complicated water rights systems in the United States, if not the world,” says Buzz Thompson, professor of law at Stanford University. Thompson is one of the few people in California who can actually explain the intricacies of this pecking order.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The first in line for water in California are people who own land next to a river or stream. They have “riparian” water rights, as they’re known.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the vast majority of Californians don’t live on a waterway. So for most everyone, including cities and the majority of agricultural areas, it all depends on when they claimed water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Whoever gets to a river first gets the senior right to take water out of that river or stream,” Thompson says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_24581\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/almond.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-24581\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/almond.jpg\" alt=\"almond\" width=\"640\" height=\"373\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">This ripped-up almond orchard is in the San Luis Water District, which is supplied by junior water rights. (Lindsey Hoshaw/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Early in California’s history, water claims could be made by nailing a piece of paper to a tree, as the \u003ca href=\"http://books.google.com/books?id=SQ0OAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA96&lpg=PA96&dq=san+francisco+mayor+water+rights+notice+phelan+oak+tree&source=bl&ots=Cc6Fo6irel&sig=UU1JMay60Vogrzu7M2LyoE8F3ng&hl=en&sa=X&ei=NM98VMT_CMzooATJkoC4DQ&ved=0CCsQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=san%20francisco%20mayor%20water%20rights%20notice%20phelan%20oak%20tree&f=false\">mayor of San Francisco famously did\u003c/a> to claim Tuolumne River water in 1901.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People who got in early have senior rights. Everyone who made claims later has secondary or “junior” rights – and they only get water once the senior rights holders get the water they’ve claimed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s as if, to get a cup of coffee at work, you had to line up with all your coworkers in order of how long you’ve all worked there. Sometimes, the coffee pot runs dry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In a period of drought, it means some people, the junior people, don’t get any water at all,” Thompson says. “And the more senior appropriators may get all of the water they’re entitled to.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While San Francisco has very old water claims, latecomers like the Santa Clara Valley Water District, which serves Silicon Valley, legally have to wait for their turn to take water, after other cities and farming districts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Although that’s our legal system, it doesn’t necessarily amount to a fair system or an efficient system,” Thompson says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This pecking order kicked in this year in a widespread way for only the second time in California’s history. State regulators ordered thousands of junior-rights holders not to use water from streams and rivers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It might make more sense in a drought, Thompson says, for everyone to pitch in and cut back equally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/RS13428_Water-allocation-copy-hpf.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-24529\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/RS13428_Water-allocation-copy-hpf.jpg\" alt=\"RS13428_Water allocation copy-hpf\" width=\"426\" height=\"530\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in California — where \u003ca href=\"http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/01/28/107647/twains-whiskeywater-quote-appears.html\">whiskey’s for drinking and water’s for fighting\u003c/a> — it’s not a popular suggestion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You get a lot of people who rise up in arms,” Thompson says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Paul Wenger, president of the California Farm Bureau Federation, agrees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re going to fight,” he says. “It’s just not going to be with clubs and pitchforks. It’s going to be with attorneys and engineers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wenger says water rights are the backbone of the state’s multibillion dollar agricultural industry. The value of land is based on water rights.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is part of your property right,” he says. “When you go buy an acre of ground, it’s going to be reflective of how solid are your water rights, how senior are your water rights.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This all adds up to mean that any idea of changing the system is a political non-starter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I consider that to be thermonuclear in California,” says the state’s Secretary for Natural Resources John Laird. “We’ve had the water rights system for over 100 years. It’s determined. Everybody lives by it. It’s 38 million people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So where does that leave California, with droughts inevitable and climate change only expected to make things worse? There may be two things the state could do.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sorting Out the Rights\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state’s water claims are filed inside an old bank safe, in a back room of the Division of Water Rights in Sacramento. Records custodian Matthew Jay turns the combination lock and cranks open the door. The safe is filled with thousands of pieces of yellowing paper, each with a gold seal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The further you go back in time, the more brittle they get,” Jay says. “It’s all the water rights of the entire state.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Actually, only to a point, he says. The oldest one, signed in 1915, isn’t technically the oldest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Water claims were made early in the state’s history, even before the Gold Rush, but it wasn’t until 100 years ago that California started keeping track by requiring licenses and permits for water rights.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People would think you have it all massively nailed down,” says Felicia Marcus, chair of the State Water Resources Control Board, the agency that oversees water rights.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But what’s on paper often doesn’t reflect what’s happening in the real world. According to a \u003ca href=\"http://news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=10999\">study\u003c/a> from UC Davis this year, the state has handed out rights for five times more water than there is in an average year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Senior water-rights holders, with rights dating before 1914, \u003ca href=\"http://bigstory.ap.org/article/californias-flawed-water-system-cant-track-usage\">aren’t required to have permits\u003c/a> with the state and only started reporting their water use officially in 2009, after the state legislature passed a bill requiring it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_24576\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/waterright.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-24576\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/waterright.jpg\" alt=\"waterright\" width=\"640\" height=\"400\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The first water right was licensed in California in 1915, but there are thousands of senior water-rights holders that have earlier claims. (Lauren Sommer/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A few other Western states have actually gone through and verified all their water rights – a process known as “adjudication.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They haven’t changed the rights,” Marcus says, “but they’ve spelled it out more so there’s less uncertainty.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That process took \u003ca href=\"http://bigstory.ap.org/article/justice-scalia-speaks-idaho-water-conference\">30 years in Idaho\u003c/a> and is taking 50 years in Montana. Sorting out the rights in California’s Central Valley alone could cost an estimated $100 million, according to Richard Roos-Collins, an attorney with the Water and Power Law Group.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While it would make the water rights system more accurate when cutbacks kick in, it wouldn’t change anything about how the system operates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are many years where there’s more than enough water to meet all of the water rights out there,” says Marcus. “Does that mean the water rights system couldn’t be tuned up and operated more efficiently? Of course, we could improve it and we would love the resources to be able to improve it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But if California’s drought drags on, some say the state may need to address how water is used, not just who uses it. It turns out, the authority to do that already exists.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Unreasonable Water Use\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we are looking for is Article 10,” says Buzz Thompson of Stanford Law, flipping through the California Constitution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“California has a constitutional provision specifically to avoid the problem of people wasting water when other people needed it,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The provision says, “The waste or unreasonable use or unreasonable method of use of water is prohibited.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is powerful language, Thompson says. During a drought, regulators could say that certain water uses are unreasonable and can’t be done, like growing crops that use a lot of water or overwatering our yards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Politically, that would be a bombshell. State officials say they’d continue with water conservation measures, both voluntary and mandatory, first.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The idea of picking a particular crop or particular use and saying it’s not reasonable -– that’s something people should only do after a tremendous amount of thought,” says Felicia Marcus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in a future of more extreme drought, grappling with water rights may be unavoidable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we have a really very severe drought that, say, lasted another five years,” Thompson says, “I would be surprised if State Water Resources Control Board and the Governor did not seriously think about adopting a new way of allocating water.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[edge_animation id=”12″]\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Here’s the thing: Water rights in California are based on who got there first. It’s as if you had to line up with all your coworkers to get a cup of coffee at work, and maybe the pot’s empty when the new guy gets to the front. Some are asking, in a drought like the one we’ve been having, is that really fair?",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Update, May 11, 2015:\u003c/strong> Once again this year, state officials have ordered thousands of junior water-rights holders to stop pumping water due to the drought. They’ve also warned that senior water-rights holders could be limited sometime later this year, if the limits on junior rights holders aren’t enough. In April, Governor Brown said if the dry conditions continue, the state’s entire water rights system could be up for examination.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Original post (Dec. 8, 2014):\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After three years of historically dry and hot weather, the images of California’s drought have become familiar: empty fields, brown lawns, dry stream beds. But for every one of those scenes, there are other parts of the state where water has been flowing freely and the effects of drought are hard to see.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s all tied to California’s system of water rights — the complex hierarchy that governs who gets water during a drought and who doesn’t. After unprecedented cutbacks this year that left many farmers scrambling for water, some critics say the hierarchy is a historical relic that makes it harder for the state to deal with drought.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The system is largely invisible, buried in legal contracts, court decisions and stacks of century-old papers. To get a sense of what it all means, there is a place you can go to actually see water rights in action: east of Interstate 5, near Los Banos, in the Central Valley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The Haves and the Have Nots\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is probably the most catastrophic water year we’ve ever had,” says Lon Martin, assistant manager at the San Luis Water District. He gave me a tour of the district at the height of the summer growing season this year, but there wasn’t much to see.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Very brown, desolate agriculture,” he says, eyeing the unplanted fields.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">‘It doesn’t necessarily amount to a fair system or an efficient system.’\u003ccite>— Buzz Thompson,\u003cbr>\nStanford University\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>Farmers in the area rely on water from the federal Central Valley Project, but with the extreme drought, they didn’t get a single drop of their usual supply. Some laid off workers and ripped out almond orchards while others tried to \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/audio/some-california-farmers-fallow-fields-others-sell-water-for-big-profits/\">buy more expensive water\u003c/a> on the open market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then, as we sped down the road, the fields suddenly were green. There were rows of tomatoes and alfalfa, almost as if we’d crossed an invisible line.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It turns out, we had – into a different water district.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s an obvious dividing line,” Martin says. “They have much more senior rights.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Farmers in the Central California Irrigation District were getting the majority of the water they normally do. The difference is water rights — the pecking order of who gets water first in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Senior vs. Junior\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“California has one of the most complicated water rights systems in the United States, if not the world,” says Buzz Thompson, professor of law at Stanford University. Thompson is one of the few people in California who can actually explain the intricacies of this pecking order.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The first in line for water in California are people who own land next to a river or stream. They have “riparian” water rights, as they’re known.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the vast majority of Californians don’t live on a waterway. So for most everyone, including cities and the majority of agricultural areas, it all depends on when they claimed water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Whoever gets to a river first gets the senior right to take water out of that river or stream,” Thompson says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_24581\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/almond.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-24581\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/almond.jpg\" alt=\"almond\" width=\"640\" height=\"373\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">This ripped-up almond orchard is in the San Luis Water District, which is supplied by junior water rights. (Lindsey Hoshaw/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Early in California’s history, water claims could be made by nailing a piece of paper to a tree, as the \u003ca href=\"http://books.google.com/books?id=SQ0OAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA96&lpg=PA96&dq=san+francisco+mayor+water+rights+notice+phelan+oak+tree&source=bl&ots=Cc6Fo6irel&sig=UU1JMay60Vogrzu7M2LyoE8F3ng&hl=en&sa=X&ei=NM98VMT_CMzooATJkoC4DQ&ved=0CCsQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=san%20francisco%20mayor%20water%20rights%20notice%20phelan%20oak%20tree&f=false\">mayor of San Francisco famously did\u003c/a> to claim Tuolumne River water in 1901.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People who got in early have senior rights. Everyone who made claims later has secondary or “junior” rights – and they only get water once the senior rights holders get the water they’ve claimed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s as if, to get a cup of coffee at work, you had to line up with all your coworkers in order of how long you’ve all worked there. Sometimes, the coffee pot runs dry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In a period of drought, it means some people, the junior people, don’t get any water at all,” Thompson says. “And the more senior appropriators may get all of the water they’re entitled to.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While San Francisco has very old water claims, latecomers like the Santa Clara Valley Water District, which serves Silicon Valley, legally have to wait for their turn to take water, after other cities and farming districts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Although that’s our legal system, it doesn’t necessarily amount to a fair system or an efficient system,” Thompson says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This pecking order kicked in this year in a widespread way for only the second time in California’s history. State regulators ordered thousands of junior-rights holders not to use water from streams and rivers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It might make more sense in a drought, Thompson says, for everyone to pitch in and cut back equally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/RS13428_Water-allocation-copy-hpf.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-24529\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/RS13428_Water-allocation-copy-hpf.jpg\" alt=\"RS13428_Water allocation copy-hpf\" width=\"426\" height=\"530\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in California — where \u003ca href=\"http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/01/28/107647/twains-whiskeywater-quote-appears.html\">whiskey’s for drinking and water’s for fighting\u003c/a> — it’s not a popular suggestion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You get a lot of people who rise up in arms,” Thompson says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Paul Wenger, president of the California Farm Bureau Federation, agrees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re going to fight,” he says. “It’s just not going to be with clubs and pitchforks. It’s going to be with attorneys and engineers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wenger says water rights are the backbone of the state’s multibillion dollar agricultural industry. The value of land is based on water rights.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is part of your property right,” he says. “When you go buy an acre of ground, it’s going to be reflective of how solid are your water rights, how senior are your water rights.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This all adds up to mean that any idea of changing the system is a political non-starter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I consider that to be thermonuclear in California,” says the state’s Secretary for Natural Resources John Laird. “We’ve had the water rights system for over 100 years. It’s determined. Everybody lives by it. It’s 38 million people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So where does that leave California, with droughts inevitable and climate change only expected to make things worse? There may be two things the state could do.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sorting Out the Rights\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state’s water claims are filed inside an old bank safe, in a back room of the Division of Water Rights in Sacramento. Records custodian Matthew Jay turns the combination lock and cranks open the door. The safe is filled with thousands of pieces of yellowing paper, each with a gold seal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The further you go back in time, the more brittle they get,” Jay says. “It’s all the water rights of the entire state.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Actually, only to a point, he says. The oldest one, signed in 1915, isn’t technically the oldest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Water claims were made early in the state’s history, even before the Gold Rush, but it wasn’t until 100 years ago that California started keeping track by requiring licenses and permits for water rights.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People would think you have it all massively nailed down,” says Felicia Marcus, chair of the State Water Resources Control Board, the agency that oversees water rights.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But what’s on paper often doesn’t reflect what’s happening in the real world. According to a \u003ca href=\"http://news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=10999\">study\u003c/a> from UC Davis this year, the state has handed out rights for five times more water than there is in an average year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Senior water-rights holders, with rights dating before 1914, \u003ca href=\"http://bigstory.ap.org/article/californias-flawed-water-system-cant-track-usage\">aren’t required to have permits\u003c/a> with the state and only started reporting their water use officially in 2009, after the state legislature passed a bill requiring it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_24576\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/waterright.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-24576\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/12/waterright.jpg\" alt=\"waterright\" width=\"640\" height=\"400\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The first water right was licensed in California in 1915, but there are thousands of senior water-rights holders that have earlier claims. (Lauren Sommer/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A few other Western states have actually gone through and verified all their water rights – a process known as “adjudication.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They haven’t changed the rights,” Marcus says, “but they’ve spelled it out more so there’s less uncertainty.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That process took \u003ca href=\"http://bigstory.ap.org/article/justice-scalia-speaks-idaho-water-conference\">30 years in Idaho\u003c/a> and is taking 50 years in Montana. Sorting out the rights in California’s Central Valley alone could cost an estimated $100 million, according to Richard Roos-Collins, an attorney with the Water and Power Law Group.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While it would make the water rights system more accurate when cutbacks kick in, it wouldn’t change anything about how the system operates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are many years where there’s more than enough water to meet all of the water rights out there,” says Marcus. “Does that mean the water rights system couldn’t be tuned up and operated more efficiently? Of course, we could improve it and we would love the resources to be able to improve it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But if California’s drought drags on, some say the state may need to address how water is used, not just who uses it. It turns out, the authority to do that already exists.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Unreasonable Water Use\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we are looking for is Article 10,” says Buzz Thompson of Stanford Law, flipping through the California Constitution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“California has a constitutional provision specifically to avoid the problem of people wasting water when other people needed it,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The provision says, “The waste or unreasonable use or unreasonable method of use of water is prohibited.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is powerful language, Thompson says. During a drought, regulators could say that certain water uses are unreasonable and can’t be done, like growing crops that use a lot of water or overwatering our yards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Politically, that would be a bombshell. State officials say they’d continue with water conservation measures, both voluntary and mandatory, first.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The idea of picking a particular crop or particular use and saying it’s not reasonable -– that’s something people should only do after a tremendous amount of thought,” says Felicia Marcus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in a future of more extreme drought, grappling with water rights may be unavoidable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we have a really very severe drought that, say, lasted another five years,” Thompson says, “I would be surprised if State Water Resources Control Board and the Governor did not seriously think about adopting a new way of allocating water.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "'Aggressive' New Drought Rules for California: Now Comes the Hard Part",
"headTitle": "‘Aggressive’ New Drought Rules for California: Now Comes the Hard Part | KQED",
"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_30065\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 3264px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/05/IMG_2956.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-30065\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/05/IMG_2956.jpg\" alt='\"Brown is the new green\" is the rallying cry for fighting the current drought. But will Californians take up the cause? (Craig Miller/KQED)' width=\"3264\" height=\"2448\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">“Brown is the new green” is the rallying cry for fighting the current drought. But will Californians take up the cause? (Craig Miller/KQED) \u003ccite>(Craig Miller/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The clock is ticking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After state regulators approved California’s \u003ca title=\"Q-Sci - post\" href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/audio/state-passes-historic-water-conservation-rules/\">first-ever statewide water restrictions\u003c/a> on Tuesday, it’s now up to nearly 3,000 local water agencies, big and small, to make it work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Water agencies throughout California bear the burden of \u003ca title=\"Lowdown - water\" href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/lowdown/2015/04/03/how-much-water-do-californians-use-and-what-would-a-25-percent-reduction-look-like/\">achieving the 25 percent reduction\u003c/a> in water use ordered by Governor Jerry Brown on April 1. The state will start keeping score officially on June 1, when cities and water districts need to start carving between eight and 36 percent off their 2013 water use, and keep it up on a month-to-month basis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You’re on the front lines, you know that,” Brown told a gathering of water managers at the Association of California Water Agencies in Sacramento. “And we’re here to back you up.” Brown, however, as much as admitted that it was easy for him to say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We just kind of launch the missile, and then you particularize and talk to your neighbors, and get ’em to do it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Or not. When it comes to the hard choices such as tearing out lawns, replacing water-gulping toilets and appliances, it remains to be seen how Californians will respond.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What worries me most is that I think a lot of Californians are not yet quite ready to do that,” says Dave Bolland, who manages special projects for ACWA, “to embrace that \u003ca title=\"ACWA - Save Our Water\" href=\"http://saveourwater.com/\">new water use ethic\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_30063\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 855px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/05/WaterConservation_1503.jpeg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-30063\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/05/WaterConservation_1503.jpeg\" alt=\"State figures indicate that another 25 percent water savings could be a tall order for California consumers. (State Water Resources Control Board)\" width=\"855\" height=\"629\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">State figures indicate that another 25 percent water savings could be a tall order for California consumers. (State Water Resources Control Board)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Recent conservation trends would seem to bear him out. According to figures gathered by the state water board, water savings averaged only 3.6 percent in March, compared to 2013 levels of water consumption. That’s far below the 20 percent voluntary cutbacks that Brown asked for a year ago, and even more dismal compared to \u003ca title=\"SWRCB - tiers\" href=\"http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/drought/docs/emergency_regulations/supplier_tiers_20150428.pdf\">new targets\u003c/a> that individual communities will now be required to attain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are some very aggressive targets in this mandate,” notes Bolland. More than 80 local agencies have been assigned the highest, 36 percent, savings quota.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many cities have gotten a head start and some, like San Francisco and Santa Barbara, are already ahead of the quotas assigned to them by the state. But others are still worried about the impact on their local communities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Going down to one day a week watering, we’ll be seeing brown lawns, we’ll be seeing a lot of vegetation dying,” Jennifer Hanson told the state water board in a last-ditch appeal on Tuesday. Hanson heads public services for the city of Lincoln, northeast of Sacramento, which has been assigned to the highest “tier” of required conservation. She says even cutting outdoor watering to one day per week might not be enough to meet her local mandate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Trying to go down to zero days a week watering to try to meet our 36 percent on average throughout the year, may even require more stringent measures for outdoor water use.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cutting 36 percent of deliveries will also strike a major blow to revenues, even as water agencies are expected to promote and enforce conservation, which will mean selling less water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are a lot of agencies that, you know, that’s a third of their resources in terms of their water revenues, so there are substantial fiscal impacts,” says Bolland. “So there are some significant challenges that these water agencies face.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But business-as-usual isn’t an option, says Brown. “We’ve got to change,” he told the ACWA gathering. “And how we use water is not exempt from that.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "State officials officially hand the ball to local water agencies to squeeze 25 percent more water savings out of their customers. And ultimately, it is up to those customers to respond -- or not.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_30065\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 3264px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/05/IMG_2956.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-30065\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/05/IMG_2956.jpg\" alt='\"Brown is the new green\" is the rallying cry for fighting the current drought. But will Californians take up the cause? (Craig Miller/KQED)' width=\"3264\" height=\"2448\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">“Brown is the new green” is the rallying cry for fighting the current drought. But will Californians take up the cause? (Craig Miller/KQED) \u003ccite>(Craig Miller/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The clock is ticking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After state regulators approved California’s \u003ca title=\"Q-Sci - post\" href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/audio/state-passes-historic-water-conservation-rules/\">first-ever statewide water restrictions\u003c/a> on Tuesday, it’s now up to nearly 3,000 local water agencies, big and small, to make it work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Water agencies throughout California bear the burden of \u003ca title=\"Lowdown - water\" href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/lowdown/2015/04/03/how-much-water-do-californians-use-and-what-would-a-25-percent-reduction-look-like/\">achieving the 25 percent reduction\u003c/a> in water use ordered by Governor Jerry Brown on April 1. The state will start keeping score officially on June 1, when cities and water districts need to start carving between eight and 36 percent off their 2013 water use, and keep it up on a month-to-month basis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You’re on the front lines, you know that,” Brown told a gathering of water managers at the Association of California Water Agencies in Sacramento. “And we’re here to back you up.” Brown, however, as much as admitted that it was easy for him to say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We just kind of launch the missile, and then you particularize and talk to your neighbors, and get ’em to do it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Or not. When it comes to the hard choices such as tearing out lawns, replacing water-gulping toilets and appliances, it remains to be seen how Californians will respond.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What worries me most is that I think a lot of Californians are not yet quite ready to do that,” says Dave Bolland, who manages special projects for ACWA, “to embrace that \u003ca title=\"ACWA - Save Our Water\" href=\"http://saveourwater.com/\">new water use ethic\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_30063\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 855px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/05/WaterConservation_1503.jpeg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-30063\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/05/WaterConservation_1503.jpeg\" alt=\"State figures indicate that another 25 percent water savings could be a tall order for California consumers. (State Water Resources Control Board)\" width=\"855\" height=\"629\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">State figures indicate that another 25 percent water savings could be a tall order for California consumers. (State Water Resources Control Board)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Recent conservation trends would seem to bear him out. According to figures gathered by the state water board, water savings averaged only 3.6 percent in March, compared to 2013 levels of water consumption. That’s far below the 20 percent voluntary cutbacks that Brown asked for a year ago, and even more dismal compared to \u003ca title=\"SWRCB - tiers\" href=\"http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/drought/docs/emergency_regulations/supplier_tiers_20150428.pdf\">new targets\u003c/a> that individual communities will now be required to attain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are some very aggressive targets in this mandate,” notes Bolland. More than 80 local agencies have been assigned the highest, 36 percent, savings quota.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many cities have gotten a head start and some, like San Francisco and Santa Barbara, are already ahead of the quotas assigned to them by the state. But others are still worried about the impact on their local communities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Going down to one day a week watering, we’ll be seeing brown lawns, we’ll be seeing a lot of vegetation dying,” Jennifer Hanson told the state water board in a last-ditch appeal on Tuesday. Hanson heads public services for the city of Lincoln, northeast of Sacramento, which has been assigned to the highest “tier” of required conservation. She says even cutting outdoor watering to one day per week might not be enough to meet her local mandate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Trying to go down to zero days a week watering to try to meet our 36 percent on average throughout the year, may even require more stringent measures for outdoor water use.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cutting 36 percent of deliveries will also strike a major blow to revenues, even as water agencies are expected to promote and enforce conservation, which will mean selling less water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are a lot of agencies that, you know, that’s a third of their resources in terms of their water revenues, so there are substantial fiscal impacts,” says Bolland. “So there are some significant challenges that these water agencies face.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But business-as-usual isn’t an option, says Brown. “We’ve got to change,” he told the ACWA gathering. “And how we use water is not exempt from that.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"audio-wrap\">\n\u003ch2>Listen:\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>http://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/science/2015/05/20150504science.mp3\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_29943\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 3264px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/IMG_2962.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-29943\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/IMG_2962.jpg\" alt=\"A lush lawn may be part of the American Dream--and the new California nightmare. (Craig Miller/KQED)\" width=\"3264\" height=\"2448\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A lush lawn may be part of the American Dream–and the new California nightmare. (Craig Miller/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>UPDATE: After an extended session on Tuesday, the State Water Resources Control Board approved final rules to bring about the 25 percent reduction in water use ordered by Governor Jerry Brown in early April. The \u003ca title=\"Q-Sci - post\" href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/2015/04/28/state-mostly-standing-its-ground-on-tough-new-water-rules/\">statewide water restrictions\u003c/a> go into effect on June 1.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We know we’re not asking people to do things that are easy,” said board chair Felicia Marcus right before the unanimous vote.\u003cbr>\n“But this is the moment to rise to the occasion.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Local water agencies are racing to get programs in place to cut urban water use anywhere from eight to 36 percent, depending on how much water their residents have been using on a per-capita basis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the actual savings that cities will have to achieve vary much more widely than that range of \u003ca title=\"SWRCB - tiers\" href=\"http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/drought/docs/emergency_regulations/supplier_tiers_20150428.pdf\">state-assigned “tiers”\u003c/a> would suggest. Just as important are the savings achieved over roughly the past year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Silicon Valley city of Mountain View, for example, has been assigned a savings “tier” of 16 percent; that’s the reduction that local water officials will have to attain on on month-by-month basis, starting in June. But since Mountain View has already managed to cut water use by 15 percent, residents there will, in effect, only have to squeeze out another one percent savings to comply with the governor’s mandate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few locales — like Santa Rosa, Livermore, and Santa Cruz, have already exceeded their assigned levels and could theoretically use more water this summer and still comply with the drought mandate — not that anybody’s openly encouraging that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other cities have their work cut out for them. Water consumption in Lodi, for example, actually rose by one percent, so the city will have to cut back by slightly more than its assigned 36 percent target, which is the highest tier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/California-Water-Restrictions-map-1.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-29971\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/California-Water-Restrictions-map-1-850x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Water Cuts\" width=\"350\" height=\"422\">\u003c/a>Last week, Governor Brown \u003ca title=\"Gov. Jerry Brown - release\" href=\"http://gov.ca.gov/news.php?id=18936\">rolled out legislation\u003c/a> that could help cities attain their assigned goals, ratcheting up maximum fines that local officials are allowed to assess for unrepentant water wasters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It will be at least mid-July before there are indications of whether the new conservation measures are taking hold — just as the peak outdoor watering season is hitting its stride.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And that’s when we really need to see significant reductions in outdoor water use,” warns Max Gomberg, a senior scientist at the State Water Resources Control Board. “If we don’t get those reductions during the summer, we’re simply not gonna make the overall reduction target.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The governor’s April 1 list of mandates is designed to cut statewide water use by 25 percent, on average.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You might think of this as just another installment on a long enterprise to live with the changing climate and with a drought of uncertain duration,” Brown told reporters after a meeting with California mayors last week. That last point is crucial; no one can say at this point whether we’re in the last year of a four-year drought, or year four of a ten-year “Big Dry,” \u003ca title=\"Q-Sci - post\" href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/audio/drought-lessons-from-down-under/\">such as Australians endured\u003c/a> at the start of the century.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People face different environmental challenges,” Brown said, “and out of this very complex state we’re gonna do everything we can to save water and to get it done.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Getting it done will now be largely in the hands of local water officials and consumers. The state has weighed in; now it’s on us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>See the \u003ca title=\"SWRCB - tiers\" href=\"http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/drought/docs/emergency_regulations/supplier_tiers_20150428.pdf\">complete list\u003c/a> of cities and their assigned water conservation targets.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "The state-mandated water conservation \"tiers\" assigned to local water agencies don't tell the whole story. Some cities are already there, some have a lot more work to do.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/div>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_29943\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 3264px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/IMG_2962.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-29943\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/IMG_2962.jpg\" alt=\"A lush lawn may be part of the American Dream--and the new California nightmare. (Craig Miller/KQED)\" width=\"3264\" height=\"2448\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A lush lawn may be part of the American Dream–and the new California nightmare. (Craig Miller/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>UPDATE: After an extended session on Tuesday, the State Water Resources Control Board approved final rules to bring about the 25 percent reduction in water use ordered by Governor Jerry Brown in early April. The \u003ca title=\"Q-Sci - post\" href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/2015/04/28/state-mostly-standing-its-ground-on-tough-new-water-rules/\">statewide water restrictions\u003c/a> go into effect on June 1.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We know we’re not asking people to do things that are easy,” said board chair Felicia Marcus right before the unanimous vote.\u003cbr>\n“But this is the moment to rise to the occasion.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Local water agencies are racing to get programs in place to cut urban water use anywhere from eight to 36 percent, depending on how much water their residents have been using on a per-capita basis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the actual savings that cities will have to achieve vary much more widely than that range of \u003ca title=\"SWRCB - tiers\" href=\"http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/drought/docs/emergency_regulations/supplier_tiers_20150428.pdf\">state-assigned “tiers”\u003c/a> would suggest. Just as important are the savings achieved over roughly the past year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Silicon Valley city of Mountain View, for example, has been assigned a savings “tier” of 16 percent; that’s the reduction that local water officials will have to attain on on month-by-month basis, starting in June. But since Mountain View has already managed to cut water use by 15 percent, residents there will, in effect, only have to squeeze out another one percent savings to comply with the governor’s mandate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few locales — like Santa Rosa, Livermore, and Santa Cruz, have already exceeded their assigned levels and could theoretically use more water this summer and still comply with the drought mandate — not that anybody’s openly encouraging that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other cities have their work cut out for them. Water consumption in Lodi, for example, actually rose by one percent, so the city will have to cut back by slightly more than its assigned 36 percent target, which is the highest tier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/California-Water-Restrictions-map-1.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-29971\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/California-Water-Restrictions-map-1-850x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Water Cuts\" width=\"350\" height=\"422\">\u003c/a>Last week, Governor Brown \u003ca title=\"Gov. Jerry Brown - release\" href=\"http://gov.ca.gov/news.php?id=18936\">rolled out legislation\u003c/a> that could help cities attain their assigned goals, ratcheting up maximum fines that local officials are allowed to assess for unrepentant water wasters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It will be at least mid-July before there are indications of whether the new conservation measures are taking hold — just as the peak outdoor watering season is hitting its stride.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And that’s when we really need to see significant reductions in outdoor water use,” warns Max Gomberg, a senior scientist at the State Water Resources Control Board. “If we don’t get those reductions during the summer, we’re simply not gonna make the overall reduction target.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The governor’s April 1 list of mandates is designed to cut statewide water use by 25 percent, on average.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You might think of this as just another installment on a long enterprise to live with the changing climate and with a drought of uncertain duration,” Brown told reporters after a meeting with California mayors last week. That last point is crucial; no one can say at this point whether we’re in the last year of a four-year drought, or year four of a ten-year “Big Dry,” \u003ca title=\"Q-Sci - post\" href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/audio/drought-lessons-from-down-under/\">such as Australians endured\u003c/a> at the start of the century.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People face different environmental challenges,” Brown said, “and out of this very complex state we’re gonna do everything we can to save water and to get it done.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Getting it done will now be largely in the hands of local water officials and consumers. The state has weighed in; now it’s on us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>See the \u003ca title=\"SWRCB - tiers\" href=\"http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/drought/docs/emergency_regulations/supplier_tiers_20150428.pdf\">complete list\u003c/a> of cities and their assigned water conservation targets.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Governor Brown's New Climate Offensive in Five Jerryesque Quotes",
"headTitle": "Governor Brown’s New Climate Offensive in Five Jerryesque Quotes | KQED",
"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_29879\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 1024px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/Brown_MilkenInst.edit_-1024x723.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-29879\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/Brown_MilkenInst.edit_-1024x723.jpg\" alt=\"Governor Brown discussing his new greenhouse gas targets in Los Angeles. (Credit: Milken Inst.)\" width=\"1024\" height=\"723\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Governor Brown discussing his new greenhouse gas targets in Los Angeles. (Credit: Milken Inst.)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Governor Jerry Brown is pursuing a new set of targets for reducing the amount of greenhouse gas released in the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s the Associated Press \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2015/04/29/brown-orders-ambitious-new-cuts-in-greenhouse-gases\">write-up\u003c/a>, and \u003ca href=\"http://www.latimes.com/local/political/la-me-pc-jerry-brown-orders-emission-targets-for-climate-change-20150429-story.html\">this\u003c/a> from the Los Angeles Times.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in a nutshell:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brown’s plan is an extension of the state’s original “\u003ca href=\"http://blogs.kqed.org/climatewatch/?s=AB32\">AB 32\u003c/a>” goals – passed into law when Arnold Schwarzenegger was governor – that called for the state to return to its 1990 levels of carbon pollution by 2020. A follow-up Schwarzenegger plan tightened the screws even further, calling for an eighty-percent reduction by 2050.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">“When Hitler was marching on Germany, we didn’t have any airplane factories…we transformed the whole economy.”\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://documents.latimes.com/gov-jerry-browns-executive-order-greenhouse-gas-emissions/\">Yesterday’s executive order\u003c/a> sets a concrete “intermediate target” between those two goals. By 2030, Brown wants California – “the state of imagination” as he put it — to be putting out 40 percent less greenhouse gas than we did in 1990.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.milkeninstitute.org/events/conferences/global-conference/global-conference-2015/panel-detail/5462\">Speaking \u003c/a>at the Milken Institute in Los Angeles, Brown compared the fight against climate change to World War II, railed against climate change deniers in Washington, and suggested Californians might need to open their minds to the idea of drinking recycled toilet water, among other things.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some highlights:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Expressing contempt for lawmakers in Washington who still debate whether climate change is real or driven by human activity:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>\u003cem>“In California, there is something called global warming. We’re four degrees warmer than we were historically. Our forest fire season is months longer. It’s almost year-round. This is real stuff.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>The new plan is ambitious, sure, he said. But we’ve done it before.\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>\u003cem>“When Hitler was marching on Germany [sic], we didn’t have any airplane factories going and tank factories. But with Roosevelt leading, we transformed the whole economy. Dealing with the threat of climate change is going to require an analogous mobilization.” \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>Meeting the new goals and responding to California’s epic drought will require cleaner cars, greater energy efficiency, and coming to terms with new \u003ca href=\"http://science.kqed.org/quest/audio/toilet-to-tap/\">sources of drinking water\u003c/a> that may make some Californians squeamish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>\u003cem>“They don’t like to think of toilet to tap. You know, like drinking your toilet water. But you can make it as clean as the water on that table! You have to confidence in this filtration system!”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>Comparing the slow crisis of climate change to headline news like the recent events in Baltimore:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>\u003cem>“\u003c/em>\u003cem>You’ve got the problems in the Middle East, Iranian nuclear deal and all that…we’ve got violence in Baltimore. Those are hot and they’re immediate. But we’ve got a slow, rolling crisis that if we don’t deal with it, before we know it we will have passed a tipping point, an irreversible tendency that will be melting the Antarctic ice cap in Greenland, raising sea level, causing temperature rises. I don’t want to go through all the parade of horribles. But it’s serious, it’s catastrophic and it’s longer term.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>And finally, whether he, a self-described “old fogey,” can appreciate the kind of radical innovation it will take for Californians to find solutions for its drought woes and other environmental crises:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>\u003cem>“I’m very optimistic on California because we’re not bound by the obvious. We’re not hampered by so many old-fogey ideas. And even though I’m kind of an old fogey, I’m still a radical thinker when it comes to California and what we can do.” \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brown has not specified how to achieve his new emissions target. His 2030 target adds to an \u003ca title=\"Q-Sci - post\" href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/2015/01/05/governor-unveils-ambitious-new-climate-goals/\">ambitious list of climate goals\u003c/a> that he outlined in his State of the State address in January.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "In promoting his new greenhouse gas reduction targets, the governor invokes World War II, climate-change deniers in Washington, and the recycled toilet water in our future.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_29879\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 1024px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/Brown_MilkenInst.edit_-1024x723.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-29879\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/Brown_MilkenInst.edit_-1024x723.jpg\" alt=\"Governor Brown discussing his new greenhouse gas targets in Los Angeles. (Credit: Milken Inst.)\" width=\"1024\" height=\"723\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Governor Brown discussing his new greenhouse gas targets in Los Angeles. (Credit: Milken Inst.)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Governor Jerry Brown is pursuing a new set of targets for reducing the amount of greenhouse gas released in the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s the Associated Press \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2015/04/29/brown-orders-ambitious-new-cuts-in-greenhouse-gases\">write-up\u003c/a>, and \u003ca href=\"http://www.latimes.com/local/political/la-me-pc-jerry-brown-orders-emission-targets-for-climate-change-20150429-story.html\">this\u003c/a> from the Los Angeles Times.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in a nutshell:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brown’s plan is an extension of the state’s original “\u003ca href=\"http://blogs.kqed.org/climatewatch/?s=AB32\">AB 32\u003c/a>” goals – passed into law when Arnold Schwarzenegger was governor – that called for the state to return to its 1990 levels of carbon pollution by 2020. A follow-up Schwarzenegger plan tightened the screws even further, calling for an eighty-percent reduction by 2050.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">“When Hitler was marching on Germany, we didn’t have any airplane factories…we transformed the whole economy.”\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://documents.latimes.com/gov-jerry-browns-executive-order-greenhouse-gas-emissions/\">Yesterday’s executive order\u003c/a> sets a concrete “intermediate target” between those two goals. By 2030, Brown wants California – “the state of imagination” as he put it — to be putting out 40 percent less greenhouse gas than we did in 1990.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.milkeninstitute.org/events/conferences/global-conference/global-conference-2015/panel-detail/5462\">Speaking \u003c/a>at the Milken Institute in Los Angeles, Brown compared the fight against climate change to World War II, railed against climate change deniers in Washington, and suggested Californians might need to open their minds to the idea of drinking recycled toilet water, among other things.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some highlights:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Expressing contempt for lawmakers in Washington who still debate whether climate change is real or driven by human activity:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>\u003cem>“In California, there is something called global warming. We’re four degrees warmer than we were historically. Our forest fire season is months longer. It’s almost year-round. This is real stuff.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>The new plan is ambitious, sure, he said. But we’ve done it before.\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>\u003cem>“When Hitler was marching on Germany [sic], we didn’t have any airplane factories going and tank factories. But with Roosevelt leading, we transformed the whole economy. Dealing with the threat of climate change is going to require an analogous mobilization.” \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>Meeting the new goals and responding to California’s epic drought will require cleaner cars, greater energy efficiency, and coming to terms with new \u003ca href=\"http://science.kqed.org/quest/audio/toilet-to-tap/\">sources of drinking water\u003c/a> that may make some Californians squeamish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>\u003cem>“They don’t like to think of toilet to tap. You know, like drinking your toilet water. But you can make it as clean as the water on that table! You have to confidence in this filtration system!”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>Comparing the slow crisis of climate change to headline news like the recent events in Baltimore:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>\u003cem>“\u003c/em>\u003cem>You’ve got the problems in the Middle East, Iranian nuclear deal and all that…we’ve got violence in Baltimore. Those are hot and they’re immediate. But we’ve got a slow, rolling crisis that if we don’t deal with it, before we know it we will have passed a tipping point, an irreversible tendency that will be melting the Antarctic ice cap in Greenland, raising sea level, causing temperature rises. I don’t want to go through all the parade of horribles. But it’s serious, it’s catastrophic and it’s longer term.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>And finally, whether he, a self-described “old fogey,” can appreciate the kind of radical innovation it will take for Californians to find solutions for its drought woes and other environmental crises:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>\u003cem>“I’m very optimistic on California because we’re not bound by the obvious. We’re not hampered by so many old-fogey ideas. And even though I’m kind of an old fogey, I’m still a radical thinker when it comes to California and what we can do.” \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brown has not specified how to achieve his new emissions target. His 2030 target adds to an \u003ca title=\"Q-Sci - post\" href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/2015/01/05/governor-unveils-ambitious-new-climate-goals/\">ambitious list of climate goals\u003c/a> that he outlined in his State of the State address in January.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Environmentalists Urge Changes to Protect Whales From Crab Lines",
"headTitle": "Environmentalists Urge Changes to Protect Whales From Crab Lines | KQED",
"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_29821\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 1024px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/RyanBerger-1024x683.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-29821\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/RyanBerger-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Whale Entanglement Team members try to untangle a humpback whale. (Ryan Berger/Whale Entanglement Team, MMHSRP Permit 932 -1489)\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Whale Entanglement Team members try to untangle a humpback whale. (Ryan Berger/Whale Entanglement Team, MMHSRP Permit 932 -1489) \u003ccite>(Ryan Berger/Whale Entanglement Team)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>More whales got tangled up in crabbing gear along the California coast in 2014 than in any previous year. Environmental advocates gathered data from the \u003ca href=\"http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/\">National Marine Fisheries Service\u003c/a> showing whale entanglements have been trending up for more than a decade; \u003ca href=\"http://earthjustice.org/\">Earthjustice\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"http://oceana.org/\">Oceana\u003c/a> and the \u003ca href=\"http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/\">Center for Biological Diversity\u003c/a> are appealing to state wildlife officials to make changes in crab fishing practices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/fisheries/pdfs/Take_reduction_request_to_CA_4-28-15.pdf\">A letter\u003c/a> sent Tuesday to the state \u003ca href=\"https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/\">Department of Fish and Wildlife\u003c/a> and the state \u003ca href=\"http://www.fgc.ca.gov/\">Fish and Game Commission\u003c/a> includes charts showing in California 21 whales got entangled last year in the lines fishermen use to haul up crab traps, and five died. Most whales that get entangled are \u003ca href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2015/04/24/are-humpback-whales-in-the-clear-not-so-fast-thanks-to-climate-change-and-other-factors/\">humpbacks\u003c/a> and gray whales.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Earthjustice attorney Andrea Treece says whales often struggle to free themselves or can sometimes die in the process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The whales that get entangled can have to haul around hundreds of pounds of gear,” Treece says, “and sometimes can suffer injuries like having the line cut into their fins. Sometimes if it’s in place long enough the fins can actually sort of rot off and self-amputate.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_29823\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/chart.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-29823\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/chart.jpg\" alt=\"The letter from the Center for Biological Diversity, Oceana and Earthjustice includes charts based on federal data, showing an upward trend of whale entanglement since 2000. (Earthjustice/Oceana/Center for Biological Diversity)\" width=\"640\" height=\"274\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The letter from the Center for Biological Diversity, Oceana and Earthjustice includes charts based on federal data, showing an upward trend of whale entanglement since 2000. (Earthjustice/Oceana/Center for Biological Diversity)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>One place where the entanglements have been particularly noticeable is in Monterey Bay. Peggy Stap, executive director of \u003ca href=\"http://www.marinelifestudies.org/\">Marine Life Studies\u003c/a>, says she often boats out in response to reports of entangled whales, and works to free them. She points to research that found scars from entanglement are commonplace.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Oftentimes they can and will throw the gear,” Stap says, “but what makes you wonder is how many are not surviving.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The letter calls for tweaks to fishing gear, like adding weak links in the lines so whales can break free. It also urges putting more than one trap on the same line so there are fewer lines to the surface.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Larry Collins, head of the San Francisco Crab Boat Owners Association, says he’s only just heard about the issue. Collins is also on the state’s \u003ca href=\"http://www.opc.ca.gov/2009/04/dungeness-crab-task-force/\">Dungeness Crab Task Force\u003c/a>. He says he’s game to sit down and discuss solutions, but adds, “for anybody suggesting any fixes before we’ve had our first meeting – it’s a little premature.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "A rising number of whales are getting entangled off the coast of California in the lines fishermen use to pull up crab pots. Environmental groups are calling on state officials to protect the cetaceans.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_29821\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 1024px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/RyanBerger-1024x683.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-29821\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/RyanBerger-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Whale Entanglement Team members try to untangle a humpback whale. (Ryan Berger/Whale Entanglement Team, MMHSRP Permit 932 -1489)\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Whale Entanglement Team members try to untangle a humpback whale. (Ryan Berger/Whale Entanglement Team, MMHSRP Permit 932 -1489) \u003ccite>(Ryan Berger/Whale Entanglement Team)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>More whales got tangled up in crabbing gear along the California coast in 2014 than in any previous year. Environmental advocates gathered data from the \u003ca href=\"http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/\">National Marine Fisheries Service\u003c/a> showing whale entanglements have been trending up for more than a decade; \u003ca href=\"http://earthjustice.org/\">Earthjustice\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"http://oceana.org/\">Oceana\u003c/a> and the \u003ca href=\"http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/\">Center for Biological Diversity\u003c/a> are appealing to state wildlife officials to make changes in crab fishing practices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/fisheries/pdfs/Take_reduction_request_to_CA_4-28-15.pdf\">A letter\u003c/a> sent Tuesday to the state \u003ca href=\"https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/\">Department of Fish and Wildlife\u003c/a> and the state \u003ca href=\"http://www.fgc.ca.gov/\">Fish and Game Commission\u003c/a> includes charts showing in California 21 whales got entangled last year in the lines fishermen use to haul up crab traps, and five died. Most whales that get entangled are \u003ca href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2015/04/24/are-humpback-whales-in-the-clear-not-so-fast-thanks-to-climate-change-and-other-factors/\">humpbacks\u003c/a> and gray whales.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Earthjustice attorney Andrea Treece says whales often struggle to free themselves or can sometimes die in the process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The whales that get entangled can have to haul around hundreds of pounds of gear,” Treece says, “and sometimes can suffer injuries like having the line cut into their fins. Sometimes if it’s in place long enough the fins can actually sort of rot off and self-amputate.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_29823\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/chart.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-29823\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/chart.jpg\" alt=\"The letter from the Center for Biological Diversity, Oceana and Earthjustice includes charts based on federal data, showing an upward trend of whale entanglement since 2000. (Earthjustice/Oceana/Center for Biological Diversity)\" width=\"640\" height=\"274\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The letter from the Center for Biological Diversity, Oceana and Earthjustice includes charts based on federal data, showing an upward trend of whale entanglement since 2000. (Earthjustice/Oceana/Center for Biological Diversity)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>One place where the entanglements have been particularly noticeable is in Monterey Bay. Peggy Stap, executive director of \u003ca href=\"http://www.marinelifestudies.org/\">Marine Life Studies\u003c/a>, says she often boats out in response to reports of entangled whales, and works to free them. She points to research that found scars from entanglement are commonplace.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_29783\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1491px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/RS14985_IMG_2941.JPG.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-29783\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/RS14985_IMG_2941.JPG.jpg\" alt=\"Gov. Jerry Brown holds a news conference at the state Capitol on Apr. 28, 2015 after meeting with California mayors about new efforts to help local drought relief programs. (John Myers/KQED)\" width=\"1491\" height=\"1030\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gov. Jerry Brown holds a news conference at the state Capitol after meeting with California mayors about new efforts to help local drought relief programs. (John Myers/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>State regulators have come up with a “final” version of their gameplan to implement Governor Jerry Brown’s \u003ca title=\"Q-Sci - post\" href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/2015/04/18/regulators-float-new-drought-rules-after-feedback-frenzy/\">sweeping April 1 mandate\u003c/a> to save water. This is the version that the State Water Resources Control Board will likely vote to approve during it’s two-day meeting next week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 31-point plan is aimed at cutting statewide water use by 25 percent on average, versus 2013 levels. It assigns local water agencies mandatory conservation targets based on how much water they’ve been using on a per-capita basis. The current range runs from a low of eight percent to a high of 36 percent monthly savings, starting this summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Individual cities and water districts have been lobbying for easier thresholds, touting their ongoing efforts to save water. But the \u003ca title=\"SWRCB - tiers\" href=\"http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/drought/docs/emergency_regulations/supplier_tiers_20150428.pdf\">newest revision\u003c/a> of proposed state regulations appears to hold firm for the most part, on quotas that local water suppliers will have to attain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One change allows local agencies to report total water use by commercial and industrial consumers, as opposed to breaking out the data by customer. Officials say they might revisit that once local agencies refine their data collection.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just hours before the proposed regulation’s third iteration was unveiled, Brown emerged from a meeting with mayors from around the state with \u003ca title=\"Gov. Jerry Brown - release\" href=\"http://gov.ca.gov/news.php?id=18936\">new legislation\u003c/a> in hand that could help cities in their efforts to save water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s a lot to be done,” Brown told reporters, in California’s quest for drought resilience. The governor called this latest step, “another installment on a long enterprise to live with the changing climate and a drought of uncertain duration.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The proposed legislation would add some “teeth” to local enforcement of new water conservation rules, including:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>A new penalty of up to $10,000 per violation, up from the $500 per day maximum established last year\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Broader authority to issue local fines without specific court approval\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Latitude for local agencies to deputize “water cops” to enforce conservation rules\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>The legislation would also allow cities to fast-track environmental reviews for water-saving projects — but it did not appear that Brown was offering any easing of the new conservation quotas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Regarding the steep jump in the maximum fine for water hogs, Brown said, “You can be sure that only the worst offender will be getting that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Fines are a tool,” added Felicia Marcus, who chairs the water board. “And they’re the last tool you use.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Marcus’ board will continue to take comments on the new drought regulations right up until the final vote, during a two-day meeting scheduled for May 5-6.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_29783\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1491px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/RS14985_IMG_2941.JPG.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-29783\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/RS14985_IMG_2941.JPG.jpg\" alt=\"Gov. Jerry Brown holds a news conference at the state Capitol on Apr. 28, 2015 after meeting with California mayors about new efforts to help local drought relief programs. (John Myers/KQED)\" width=\"1491\" height=\"1030\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gov. Jerry Brown holds a news conference at the state Capitol after meeting with California mayors about new efforts to help local drought relief programs. (John Myers/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>State regulators have come up with a “final” version of their gameplan to implement Governor Jerry Brown’s \u003ca title=\"Q-Sci - post\" href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/2015/04/18/regulators-float-new-drought-rules-after-feedback-frenzy/\">sweeping April 1 mandate\u003c/a> to save water. This is the version that the State Water Resources Control Board will likely vote to approve during it’s two-day meeting next week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 31-point plan is aimed at cutting statewide water use by 25 percent on average, versus 2013 levels. It assigns local water agencies mandatory conservation targets based on how much water they’ve been using on a per-capita basis. The current range runs from a low of eight percent to a high of 36 percent monthly savings, starting this summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Individual cities and water districts have been lobbying for easier thresholds, touting their ongoing efforts to save water. But the \u003ca title=\"SWRCB - tiers\" href=\"http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/drought/docs/emergency_regulations/supplier_tiers_20150428.pdf\">newest revision\u003c/a> of proposed state regulations appears to hold firm for the most part, on quotas that local water suppliers will have to attain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One change allows local agencies to report total water use by commercial and industrial consumers, as opposed to breaking out the data by customer. Officials say they might revisit that once local agencies refine their data collection.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just hours before the proposed regulation’s third iteration was unveiled, Brown emerged from a meeting with mayors from around the state with \u003ca title=\"Gov. Jerry Brown - release\" href=\"http://gov.ca.gov/news.php?id=18936\">new legislation\u003c/a> in hand that could help cities in their efforts to save water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s a lot to be done,” Brown told reporters, in California’s quest for drought resilience. The governor called this latest step, “another installment on a long enterprise to live with the changing climate and a drought of uncertain duration.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The proposed legislation would add some “teeth” to local enforcement of new water conservation rules, including:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>A new penalty of up to $10,000 per violation, up from the $500 per day maximum established last year\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Broader authority to issue local fines without specific court approval\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Latitude for local agencies to deputize “water cops” to enforce conservation rules\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>The legislation would also allow cities to fast-track environmental reviews for water-saving projects — but it did not appear that Brown was offering any easing of the new conservation quotas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Regarding the steep jump in the maximum fine for water hogs, Brown said, “You can be sure that only the worst offender will be getting that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Fines are a tool,” added Felicia Marcus, who chairs the water board. “And they’re the last tool you use.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Marcus’ board will continue to take comments on the new drought regulations right up until the final vote, during a two-day meeting scheduled for May 5-6.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Amid California’s Drought, Should Cemeteries Stay Green?",
"headTitle": "Amid California’s Drought, Should Cemeteries Stay Green? | KQED",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"audio-wrap\">\n\u003ch2>Listen:\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>http://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/science/2015/04/20150427ScienceCemeteries.mp3\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_29621\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 1457px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/CypressLawn.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-29621\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/CypressLawn.jpg\" alt=\"A worker sprays down part of Cypress Lawn Memorial Park in Colma. Officials hope to cut back water-use there, but not so much the grass goes brown. (Daniel Potter/KQED)\" width=\"1457\" height=\"1080\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A worker sprays down part of Cypress Lawn Memorial Park in Colma. Officials hope to cut back water-use there, but not so much the grass goes brown. (Daniel Potter/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Across California, the people who take care of cemeteries are stuck. The state’s new drought mandate is forcing them to cut back on sprinkling, and many expect their grass to go brown this summer. It’s a wrenching call: the concern is that visiting family members who see parched grass on their loved ones’ graves may feel insult on top of loss.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The \u003ca href=\"http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/drought/emergency_mandatory_regulations.shtml\">new restrictions\u003c/a> haven’t come in yet, we’re just anticipating them,” says Tyler Cassity, head caretaker at Fernwood in Marin County. He currently waters the grounds for about ten minutes, twice a week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re probably going to tick that schedule down by 25 percent,” Cassity says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He’s already warning people that by summer, the green grass could be gone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People bought land and were buried with an expectation that their graves would be maintained in a style much like their yards are,” Cassity says. “If it’s not maintained, some people see that as an insult or an umbrage to the dead — not taking care of them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_29620\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 284px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/TylerCassity.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-29620\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/TylerCassity.jpg\" alt=\"Tyler Cassity sees after both Fernwood in Marin County and Hollywood Forever. He says the drought mandate means cemeteries can't postpone water-saving projects. (Daniel Potter/KQED)\" width=\"284\" height=\"291\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tyler Cassity sees after both Fernwood in Marin County and Hollywood Forever in Los Angeles. He says the drought mandate means cemeteries can’t postpone water-saving projects. (Daniel Potter/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>While Fernwood includes a traditional cemetery with sprinklers and grass, parts of the cemetery aren’t irrigated at all. Its steep, wooded hills are for people who prefer simple burials; some with a shroud instead of a casket.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cassity says Fernwood’s hills are a stark contrast to a Los Angeles cemetery called \u003ca href=\"http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/174/birthdays-anniversaries-and-milestones?act=2#play\">Hollywood Forever\u003c/a>, where he’s also head caretaker.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a green, manicured landscape lawn in the middle of basically an arid desert region,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now he’s looking into sea grasses, which could get by on brackish water he hopes can be pumped from a hundred feet below the graveyard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Indeed, from dialing back sprinkling and adding drought-tolerant flowers to using reclaimed water and new kinds of turf, California’s cemeteries are looking for ways to get by with less water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Worthy Shrines\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state’s two thousand graveyards include \u003ca href=\"http://www.cem.va.gov/cems/state.asp?State=CA\">nine national cemeteries\u003c/a> for veterans. They’re among California’s most steadfastly kempt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have a mandate to maintain our cemeteries as national shrines,” says Brad Phillips, regional director of the \u003ca href=\"http://www.cem.va.gov/\">National Cemeteries Administration\u003c/a>, which is part of the Veterans Administration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He told me he loses sleep over the prospect of the grass dying. His office gets letters and phone calls about it too, from veterans and their families. “They get very unhappy when the turf starts to go brown,” Phillips says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s historic drought began four years ago, and Phillips says national cemeteries in California have already cut back water use, some by more than a third. Two in Southern California — Riverside and Miramar — use recycled water. A relatively new national cemetery in Bakersfield doesn’t bother with grass at all; it was designed to be part of the area’s dry native landscape.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_29622\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 1420px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/GoldenGate.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-29622\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/GoldenGate.jpg\" alt=\"Tens of thousands of veterans, along with their spouses and children, are buried at Golden Gate National Cemetery in San Bruno. Veterans Administration officials say they get phone calls and letters if a site doesn't look cared for. (Daniel Potter/KQED)\" width=\"1420\" height=\"1080\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tens of thousands of veterans, along with their spouses and children, are buried at Golden Gate National Cemetery in San Bruno. Veterans Administration officials say they get phone calls and letters if a site doesn’t look cared for. (Daniel Potter/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>One national cemetery in San Diego has some artificial turf, albeit not atop anyone’s grave.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Michael Gaussa, a plant and soil specialist who works with Phillips says he wonders if there shouldn’t be different rules than, say, a suburban yard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I would drive down a neighborhood first,” Gaussa says, “and question why people are keeping green lawns with no purpose in front of their homes. We have a real purpose and a mission here at the cemeteries to create a place that’s worthy of the people that rest here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>For the Living\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One way to read the state’s move to crimp cemeteries’ water use is as if to say, “Right now we need the water for the living.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I tested this idea on the head of the California Cemeteries and Mortuaries Association, Darin Drabing. “Cemeteries \u003cem>are\u003c/em> for the living,” he replies, saying that people go to cemeteries to jog, to ride bikes to spend quiet time and to pay tribute to loved ones.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Many cemeteries are park-like settings in the middle of urban areas. In many areas, cemeteries are the green spaces that the public has,” Drabing says. “So I would take umbrage to someone who thinks cemeteries are for the dead — they’re actually for the living.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One example of this kind of space is Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland. The place boasts 150 years of history, the same designer as New York’s Central Park, several fountains, and a panoramic view from the top of a hill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On a Saturday afternoon there I saw dog-walkers, picnickers, and a guy who said he was looking for a golf ball. From the spigots along the graveyard’s labyrinthine tangle of roads hang faded red tags, warning, “Reclaimed water. Do not drink.”\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">‘We have a real purpose and a mission here at the cemeteries to create a place that’s worthy of the people that rest here.’ \u003ccite>— Michael Gaussa,Plant and soil specialist \u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>Visitors Mylene Vandenberg and Brian Anderson say they’re glad the cemetery recycles water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If they weren’t recycling though,” says Vandenberg, “I would say they have to do it. I don’t think anybody has a choice anymore, I really don’t.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of the seven people I struck up conversations with at Mountain View that afternoon, none seemed shocked at the thought of cemeteries going brown this summer. More than one told me if the drought drags on much longer, it’s not the grass they’ll be worried about, but the trees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>“We’ll Manage This”\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The town of Colma was founded a century ago as a necropolis — a place for San Francisco to bury its dead. It has a thousand dead residents for every living one, and all types of graveyards — even a pet cemetery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The day I visited Cypress Lawn Memorial Park in Colma, a man with a hose was spraying flowers arranged to spell “Cypress Lawn” on the grassy hillside. While the state water board won’t vote on the final restrictions until the beginning of May, Cypress Lawn president Ken Varner told me he doesn’t think Colma will go brown. Cypress Lawn has its own well, although the drought rules might limit sprinkling to two days a week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Big picture, in terms of California’s water use, Varner says he figures graveyards are small potatoes next to agriculture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Those are the guys I feel for. I mean, we’re going to be able to manage this. The cemeteries here in Colma, the cemeteries in the state, we’ll manage this,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ll be able to make it out of this drought. Because one thing I’m sure is it’s going to rain here in San Francisco. It always does.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/div>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_29621\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 1457px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/CypressLawn.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-29621\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/CypressLawn.jpg\" alt=\"A worker sprays down part of Cypress Lawn Memorial Park in Colma. Officials hope to cut back water-use there, but not so much the grass goes brown. (Daniel Potter/KQED)\" width=\"1457\" height=\"1080\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A worker sprays down part of Cypress Lawn Memorial Park in Colma. Officials hope to cut back water-use there, but not so much the grass goes brown. (Daniel Potter/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Across California, the people who take care of cemeteries are stuck. The state’s new drought mandate is forcing them to cut back on sprinkling, and many expect their grass to go brown this summer. It’s a wrenching call: the concern is that visiting family members who see parched grass on their loved ones’ graves may feel insult on top of loss.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The \u003ca href=\"http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/drought/emergency_mandatory_regulations.shtml\">new restrictions\u003c/a> haven’t come in yet, we’re just anticipating them,” says Tyler Cassity, head caretaker at Fernwood in Marin County. He currently waters the grounds for about ten minutes, twice a week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re probably going to tick that schedule down by 25 percent,” Cassity says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He’s already warning people that by summer, the green grass could be gone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People bought land and were buried with an expectation that their graves would be maintained in a style much like their yards are,” Cassity says. “If it’s not maintained, some people see that as an insult or an umbrage to the dead — not taking care of them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_29620\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 284px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/TylerCassity.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-29620\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/TylerCassity.jpg\" alt=\"Tyler Cassity sees after both Fernwood in Marin County and Hollywood Forever. He says the drought mandate means cemeteries can't postpone water-saving projects. (Daniel Potter/KQED)\" width=\"284\" height=\"291\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tyler Cassity sees after both Fernwood in Marin County and Hollywood Forever in Los Angeles. He says the drought mandate means cemeteries can’t postpone water-saving projects. (Daniel Potter/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>While Fernwood includes a traditional cemetery with sprinklers and grass, parts of the cemetery aren’t irrigated at all. Its steep, wooded hills are for people who prefer simple burials; some with a shroud instead of a casket.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cassity says Fernwood’s hills are a stark contrast to a Los Angeles cemetery called \u003ca href=\"http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/174/birthdays-anniversaries-and-milestones?act=2#play\">Hollywood Forever\u003c/a>, where he’s also head caretaker.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a green, manicured landscape lawn in the middle of basically an arid desert region,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now he’s looking into sea grasses, which could get by on brackish water he hopes can be pumped from a hundred feet below the graveyard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Indeed, from dialing back sprinkling and adding drought-tolerant flowers to using reclaimed water and new kinds of turf, California’s cemeteries are looking for ways to get by with less water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Worthy Shrines\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state’s two thousand graveyards include \u003ca href=\"http://www.cem.va.gov/cems/state.asp?State=CA\">nine national cemeteries\u003c/a> for veterans. They’re among California’s most steadfastly kempt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have a mandate to maintain our cemeteries as national shrines,” says Brad Phillips, regional director of the \u003ca href=\"http://www.cem.va.gov/\">National Cemeteries Administration\u003c/a>, which is part of the Veterans Administration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He told me he loses sleep over the prospect of the grass dying. His office gets letters and phone calls about it too, from veterans and their families. “They get very unhappy when the turf starts to go brown,” Phillips says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s historic drought began four years ago, and Phillips says national cemeteries in California have already cut back water use, some by more than a third. Two in Southern California — Riverside and Miramar — use recycled water. A relatively new national cemetery in Bakersfield doesn’t bother with grass at all; it was designed to be part of the area’s dry native landscape.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_29622\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 1420px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/GoldenGate.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-29622\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/04/GoldenGate.jpg\" alt=\"Tens of thousands of veterans, along with their spouses and children, are buried at Golden Gate National Cemetery in San Bruno. Veterans Administration officials say they get phone calls and letters if a site doesn't look cared for. (Daniel Potter/KQED)\" width=\"1420\" height=\"1080\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tens of thousands of veterans, along with their spouses and children, are buried at Golden Gate National Cemetery in San Bruno. Veterans Administration officials say they get phone calls and letters if a site doesn’t look cared for. (Daniel Potter/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>One national cemetery in San Diego has some artificial turf, albeit not atop anyone’s grave.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Michael Gaussa, a plant and soil specialist who works with Phillips says he wonders if there shouldn’t be different rules than, say, a suburban yard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I would drive down a neighborhood first,” Gaussa says, “and question why people are keeping green lawns with no purpose in front of their homes. We have a real purpose and a mission here at the cemeteries to create a place that’s worthy of the people that rest here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>For the Living\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One way to read the state’s move to crimp cemeteries’ water use is as if to say, “Right now we need the water for the living.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I tested this idea on the head of the California Cemeteries and Mortuaries Association, Darin Drabing. “Cemeteries \u003cem>are\u003c/em> for the living,” he replies, saying that people go to cemeteries to jog, to ride bikes to spend quiet time and to pay tribute to loved ones.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Many cemeteries are park-like settings in the middle of urban areas. In many areas, cemeteries are the green spaces that the public has,” Drabing says. “So I would take umbrage to someone who thinks cemeteries are for the dead — they’re actually for the living.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One example of this kind of space is Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland. The place boasts 150 years of history, the same designer as New York’s Central Park, several fountains, and a panoramic view from the top of a hill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On a Saturday afternoon there I saw dog-walkers, picnickers, and a guy who said he was looking for a golf ball. From the spigots along the graveyard’s labyrinthine tangle of roads hang faded red tags, warning, “Reclaimed water. Do not drink.”\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">‘We have a real purpose and a mission here at the cemeteries to create a place that’s worthy of the people that rest here.’ \u003ccite>— Michael Gaussa,Plant and soil specialist \u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>Visitors Mylene Vandenberg and Brian Anderson say they’re glad the cemetery recycles water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If they weren’t recycling though,” says Vandenberg, “I would say they have to do it. I don’t think anybody has a choice anymore, I really don’t.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of the seven people I struck up conversations with at Mountain View that afternoon, none seemed shocked at the thought of cemeteries going brown this summer. More than one told me if the drought drags on much longer, it’s not the grass they’ll be worried about, but the trees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>“We’ll Manage This”\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The town of Colma was founded a century ago as a necropolis — a place for San Francisco to bury its dead. It has a thousand dead residents for every living one, and all types of graveyards — even a pet cemetery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The day I visited Cypress Lawn Memorial Park in Colma, a man with a hose was spraying flowers arranged to spell “Cypress Lawn” on the grassy hillside. While the state water board won’t vote on the final restrictions until the beginning of May, Cypress Lawn president Ken Varner told me he doesn’t think Colma will go brown. Cypress Lawn has its own well, although the drought rules might limit sprinkling to two days a week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Big picture, in terms of California’s water use, Varner says he figures graveyards are small potatoes next to agriculture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Those are the guys I feel for. I mean, we’re going to be able to manage this. The cemeteries here in Colma, the cemeteries in the state, we’ll manage this,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
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"mindshift": {
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"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
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"order": 12
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"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
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"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
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"possible": {
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"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
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"pri-the-world": {
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"title": "PRI's The World: Latest Edition",
"info": "Each weekday, host Marco Werman and his team of producers bring you the world's most interesting stories in an hour of radio that reminds us just how small our planet really is.",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-World-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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},
"radiolab": {
"id": "radiolab",
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"info": "A two-time Peabody Award-winner, Radiolab is an investigation told through sounds and stories, and centered around one big idea. In the Radiolab world, information sounds like music and science and culture collide. Hosted by Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, the show is designed for listeners who demand skepticism, but appreciate wonder. WNYC Studios is the producer of other leading podcasts including Freakonomics Radio, Death, Sex & Money, On the Media and many more.",
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},
"reveal": {
"id": "reveal",
"title": "Reveal",
"info": "Created by The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX, Reveal is public radios first one-hour weekly radio show and podcast dedicated to investigative reporting. Credible, fact based and without a partisan agenda, Reveal combines the power and artistry of driveway moment storytelling with data-rich reporting on critically important issues. The result is stories that inform and inspire, arming our listeners with information to right injustices, hold the powerful accountable and improve lives.Reveal is hosted by Al Letson and showcases the award-winning work of CIR and newsrooms large and small across the nation. In a radio and podcast market crowded with choices, Reveal focuses on important and often surprising stories that illuminate the world for our listeners.",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.revealnews.org/episodes/",
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},
"rightnowish": {
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