Tag "Wayne Lusvardi"

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Expert says drought did not cause Napa quake

  Natural disasters predictably bring up speculation about causes. On radio shows, callers have been wondering whether the ongoing drought or fracking caused the 6.0 Richter scale South Napa Earthquake on Aug. 24. It’s true that, just before the quake, scientists reported that a

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Appeals court backs property rights

Pasadena is known for its famous tree-lined streets. It now also may be known for the trees becoming the key in the first case in California to establish that a city’s urban forestry programs can be subject to “inverse condemnation”

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Fed bills could be key to CA water storage

There was a lot of hoopla last week over the California Legislature and Gov. Jerry Brown putting a bipartisan water bond on the Nov. 4 ballot that, for the first time in nearly 50 years, actually includes storage. Proposition 1 would

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Prop. 1 bond funds non-water bureaucracy

  Proposition 1, the new $7.5 billion water bond just passed by the Legislature, contains water storage in an statewide bond for the first time since 1965. It will go before voters on Nov. 4. The previous 21 water bonds

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Legislature passes first water storage bond in 50 years  

  With the drought still drying up the state, the California Legislature and Gov. Jerry Brown Wednesday poured out a $7.5 billion water bond that includes $2.7 billion for water storage. If voters give their approval this November, this will

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Water bond deal reached

Writing Wednesday afternoon, a deal just was reached among Gov. Jerry Brown and Democratic and Republican leaders in the Legislature on a water bond for the November ballot, costing $7.5 billion. It would replace Proposition 43, the $11.1 billion bond currently in place. The

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Switch to almond farming hits water policy

  Got almonds? California rice farmers are shifting to growing higher-priced almonds, whose acreage jumped by more than 50 percent last year, to offset the high price of water during the drought. But there will be many unforeseen consequences, especially as

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$1 billion difference splits bond measures

  It’s becoming clear the main difference between the four major water bonds being floated is $1 billion. The $1 billion is the difference between the $3 billion Republicans say is needed for water storage, and the $2 billion in

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Groundwater takeover would prove costly

In 2010, I did some freelance work for Susan Trager, one of California’s top water lawyers. Unfortunately she died in 2011. Even though I had been writing about California since 1987 and had a general idea of state water policy,

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Tunnel could boost high-speed rail cost

The cost of the high-speed rail project might be going above the current estimate of $68 billion. The California High-Speed Rail Authority recently announced a strategic shift to consider an alternative for its 40-mile Palmdale-to-Burbank link. Instead of the current plan

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