Posts From Wayne Lusvardi
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Do tiered water rates save water?
It must sound crazy in the middle of an epic California drought to say empirical studies show raising water rates to spur water conservation is not likely to result in water conservation. But a study by CalWatchdog.com of comparable
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Obama order upgrades Angeles National Forest
On Friday, President Obama carries his “executive orders” controversy to Southern California. In town since Thursday, he will redesignate half of the Angeles National Forest a national monument at the behest of Rep. Judy Chu, D-Monterey Park. According to the Los
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Water subsidies are ‘ancient history’
This is Part 4 of a series. Prior articles in this series showed there are no real water subsidies. But if there are no real water subsidies to farmers from taxpayers, what about all those crop subsidies? According to Mark Borba, owner of
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Fact-checking water price subsidies
This is Part 3 of a series. Part 1 was on how drought-water pricing violates Proposition 218’s ban on tax increases without a vote of the people. Part 2 was on fact-checking water pricing. Water subsidies are the focus of much
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Drought brings centralized groundwater control
Was it necessary to pass three new bills that increase the California government’s control over groundwater? The numbers tell the story. By now most Californians have heard the shockingly huge number: The state has lost 63 trillion gallons of water due
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SoCal water reserves could dry up in 2016
The nearby photo shows the recent demolition of a 160-foot water tank tower at Edwards Air Force Base northeast of Lancaster. Could it be a prophetic image for Southern California’s future? The Associated Press reported the area’s regional water supplier, the Metropolitan Water District
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Fact-checking drought-water pricing
This is Part 2 of a series. Part 1 was on how drought-water pricing violates Proposition 218’s ban on tax increases without a vote of the people. What is good water pricing during a drought? Let’s look at some
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Does drought pricing violate state law?
This is Part 1 of a series. Calls now are going out to raise water prices even higher to spur conservation. Instead of fining people for watering their lawns, numerous economists are recommending just tacking a punitive surcharge onto water rates until use
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Bankruptcy could cut San Bernardino fire pensions
It was a hot 102 degrees last Thursday in San Bernardino — perfect weather for a city bankruptcy “cramdown.” Federal Bankruptcy Court Judge Meredith Jury ruled the city, as Reuters reported, “may impose cuts to its firefighters’ overtime and pension benefits in a bid
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Sacramento unplugs Brown battery plan
At its Sept. 4 meeting, the Sacramento Municipal Utility District deferred deploying batteries along its electric grid in compliance with Assembly Bill 2514 of 2010. The reason: energy storage was not economically feasible. (See p. 93 and p. 143 of the Board
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