A group of water oligarchs in California have engineered a disastrous deregulation and privatization scheme. And they've pulled in hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars without causing much public outrage. Full Story »
Posted by Chris Finnie
I'm personally aware of many of the facts Levine presents and can verify what she writes. However, in addition to the water pollution she so ably describes, Central Valley aquifers are being damaged by salt from the water pumped in from the Delta--which is becoming increasingly salty because of the large amounts of fresh water being diverted and the lower flows during the drought. This could damage the ability of farmers to continue to grow in this ancient inland sea, and pollute the drinking water for the sixth-largest city in California. The final piece she doesn't present is the recent passage of an $11.9 billion bond issue to finance even more of this water hijacking. In a state that is already technically bankrupt, this is a big deal.
Most of the state has been on water rationing for years. Estimates I've heard say that the state has granted water rights to 8 times more water than we actually have. And this shows why it is an increasing problem.
This has brought in massive profits to owners of the Kern bank at taxpayers’ expense, and frequently involve nothing more than buying water at subsidized rates from ... More »
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