2005
Water for the Next 150 Years
by David Keller
(Excerpt from Winter, 2005 newsletter)
We usually use horizons of less than a generation in water planning: General Plans propose growth over 20 years. Politicians think in 4-year cycles. We presume more water will always be there. We have to do better.
From 1950 to 1990, global water demands for drinkable water tripled. North Bay use doubled since 1975. We use about 1/2 acre-foot of water per family per year, about 163,000 gallons: that’s a 2750 sq.ft. home filled to its 8 foot ceilings. Most of the world uses less. During our dry summers, about half our water use is for outdoor irrigation of landscapes and lawns.
As consumption grows, water demands approach the natural limits of supply, with emerging signs of trouble: falling water tables, increasingly polluted aquifers, dying rivers and fish, shrinking wetlands and damaged local economies.
With scarcity, water wars begin: Urban users vs. agriculture vs. fisheries. Region vs. region. Migrations, moratoriums and lawsuits occur.
We have problems now. The overdrafted groundwater basins of Penngrove, Rohnert Park and Sebastopol are local warnings. Also, since 1908, the Potter Valley Project, a small PG&E hydropower project on the Eel River, has diverted about 180,000 acre-feet per year to the Russian River via Lake Mendocino reservoir. PGE dams block fish from spawning. Eel River fisheries and recreational economies have collapsed, costing Humboldt, Mendocino and Lake Counties over $15 Million per year. This is a direct transfer of wealth from northern counties to subsidize growth in Sonoma and Marin counties. It is truly theft on a grand scale that needs to stop.
The Sonoma County Water Agency (SCWA) pumps 75,000 acre feet from the Russian River and groundwater to sell to Sonoma and Marin customers, and wants more. Since 1949 SCWA has pumped water from the huge gravel aquifer of the Russian River’s Middle Reach with no additional filtration; the state only requires chlorination.
This aquifer stores and filters the water naturally, for free.
SCWA is planning a huge $1+ Billion water filtration plant at ratepayer expense, needed if further compromise of the natural filtration system affects drawing more water from Lake Sonoma. Ironically, the concrete for construction would use gravel mined from the aquifer.
We need a comprehensive river and groundwater management plans, so we can begin controlling pollutants, erosion, water temperature, gravel mining, excess nutrients, ludwigia, and other system stresses.
The costs to repair these damages? Hundreds of millions of dollars compared to $1+ Billion for a new water filtration plant. Though, it is far cheaper to preserve natural values and functions that we depend on for human needs than to try to replace them when lost.
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Excerpt from Fall 2005 Newsletter
Back to the Future: Why Railroads Will Again Become
the Organizing Principle for Transportation
Throughout most of the history of the United States, railroads have been the primary mode of transportation that people and businesses utilized to move themselves and their products from one place to another. Railroads not only were the organizing principle for transportation, but rail was also the organizing principle behind the pattern of urban development that the United Stated was built upon. It wasn’t until the past 50 years that railroad systems were systematically replaced by local and Interstate Highways along with cars and trucks as the primary means of transportation. It is also within the past 50 years that suburban sprawl replaced urban development as the dominant pattern of growth. However, as availability of cheap energy and land becomes increasingly constrained through diminishing resources and increasing demand, railroads are once again being looked at as an organizing principle for our society.
If one were to examine a map of the United States from the 1800s through the 1940 and 50s, you would see a vast network of railroads linking villages, towns and cities together from the Eastern Seaboard to the West Coast. Prior to the advent of cheap automobiles and even more importantly, cheap and abundant energy (gasoline), railroads were the way everyone traveled from place to place and goods were distributed throughout the United States.
Oil was discovered in the continent of North American in the mid-1880s. By the late 1880s, oil accounted for over 60% of the energy used by machines to do the work of people and animals. By 1950 the United States was the world’s foremost exporter of goods, the world’s foremost creditor nation and the foremost producer and exporter of oil. It was this super abundant, inexpensive energy resource that created the conditions for the hyper-growth of the past 50 years, as well as providing the means by which everyday people could afford to purchase and drive their own automobile to meet personal transportation needs at a price point that was only marginally more expensive than trains. The convergence of the automobile as a relatively cheap mode of transportation, with abundant open space surrounding most cities for building new houses to accommodate the hyper-growth of the last 50 years, has led to the world we know today: a world of freeways, expansive suburbs, daily congestion, strip malls and endless McMansions.
However, this is all about to change. Today, in 2005, the United States is the world’s foremost importer of manufactured goods, the world’s foremost debtor nation and the world’s foremost importer of oil. By most accounts, the industrialized world has used up about half of the planet’s oil supply. And by all accounts, the demand for oil-based energy is continuing to increase dramatically, particularly in the developing countries of Asia and China. The impact of this is already being felt as oil has steadily climbed past $60 per barrel and gasoline has passed $3/gallon. The foundation of cheap energy-based transportation and
land-use abundant oil is about to evaporate.
Today, people and shippers are facing increasingly higher prices for their choices in utilizing personal automobiles and trucks. As a result, alternative transportation modes are becoming increasingly attractive and trains are returning to the forefront of the available transit options. Trains are the most cost effective way to move people and goods because trains are able to move more people and goods per unit cost of energy than any other transportation mode.
As trains return to the forefront of available transportation options, trains will also return to their former place at the center of land-use. Today, urban centered and train supported development is called Transit Oriented Development (TOD). As energy costs increase and land supplies shrink, people are rediscovering the benefits of trains and moving back into in urban centers. People are tired of spending more than 12 eight-hour workdays each year driving to and from work. They are also rediscovering the health benefits of walking and riding bicycles. While developers are beginning to recognize the market potential of TOD, land-use policy makers are increasingly looking to TOD as a way to address the complex problem of providing the infrastructure for housing and employment in an increasingly energy starved world.
In closing, while many aspects of the future remain uncertain, one thing is becoming very clear: trains are coming back to the future. As oil-based energy becomes ever more expensive, trains and TOD are making increasing sense to every day people, business leaders, and the centerpiece of a sustainable society.
If you want to help Sonoma and Marin counties accelerate movement in this direction, please attend your local city council and Board of Supervisor meetings when the SMART train environmental impact report comes on these agendas in the next few months. Please visit our website at www.conservationaction.org, call the SCCA office or send us an email if you want to be on the list of people we contact as these meetings are scheduled.
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2006
Excerpt from the Fall 2006 Newsletter
YES on F and R!
By Nick Caston and Steve Rabinowitsh
Sonoma County has a long tradition of leadership when it comes to protecting the environment, preserving farmland and open space and creating livable communities.
That’s why voters in 1990 approved the creation of the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District, one of the first publicly funded programs for agricultural land preservation in the US, and the first publicly supported district of its kind in the United States. It’s also why numerous communities have established urban growth boundaries over the years to prevent Sonoma County from becoming a victim of sprawl.
At the same time, we recognize that healthy economic growth is important to supporting our communities, providing us with good-paying jobs and paying for the services which give us a good quality of life. And even though economic growth can sometimes create unwanted impacts on our communities—most notably, traffic congestion—we have stepped up to address those impacts.
Two measures on the November ballot provide us with an opportunity to help balance the competing forces of growth and preservation and continue improving our quality of life for generations to come.
Measure F reauthorizes the funding that voters approved in 1990 to support the land preservation activities of the Open Space District, activities which over the past 16 years have enabled us to permanently protect and preserve more than 70,000 acres of clean water sources, scenic vistas, wildlife habitat, working farms and vineyards, as well as provide parks and trails.
The District has protected over 33,000 acres of agriculture, 17,000 of greenbelts around our cities, 34,000 acres of natural resource lands like forests, and wildlife habitats, as well as almost 14,000 acres of land for recreation. The District has protected a great deal of land along our creeks and the Russian River and is helping keep our water clean. It has helped create parks and trails in our cities, including the Windsor Town Green, the Prince Memorial Greenway in Santa Rosa, the Cloverdale River Park, and additions to Shollenberger Park in Petaluma. It has purchased major scenic areas like Taylor Mountain, the Montini Ranch in Sonoma and Saddle Mountain in Santa Rosa.
Measure R asks voters in both Sonoma and Marin counties to approve a quarter-cent sales tax for the next 20 years to establish passenger rail service in the North Bay, also known as the SMART train.
SMART empowers communities to concentrate new residential and commercial development along the rail line and near train stations, rather than pushing into farmland and open space on their fringes. Known as transit-oriented development, this kind of smart growth honors the decisions that voters have already made to approve urban growth boundaries and contain future development within our existing urban centers.
Creating commuter rail service and preserving farmland and open space work hand in hand toward protecting Sonoma County against the kind of rapid and unplanned development that has created sprawl in other areas of the Bay Area and the state. And despite the successes we’ve had in preventing rampant sprawl, we must continue to work on all fronts to ensure Sonoma County manages its growth wisely.
Make the smart choice and VOTE YES on both Measure R and Measure F.
Together they will preserve Sonoma County’s quality of life as the county grows by reducing traffic congestion, cutting air pollution from cars, and preserving our water quality, natural areas and working farms. ◊
Nick Caston, candidate for the SRJC Board of Trustees, is co-chair of the committee for Measure R; Steve Rabinowitsh is a member of the Santa Rosa City Council and serves on the committee for Open Space , Agriculture and Clean Water.
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2007
Excerpt from Winter 2007 Newsletter
Landslide Victory for Sonoma County Agriculture and Open Space District
By Ted Eliot, Co Chair of Yes on Measure F Campaign
With their 75.7% support on November 7th for the reauthorization until 2031 of the 1/4 cent sales tax that supports Sonoma County’s Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District, the voters of the County underlined their desire to keep their open spaces, farms, clean water, and scenic vistas and to create more parks.
The campaign committee, which was co-chaired by Mike Senneff and me, have many people to thank for this outstanding victory.
First and foremost, we ran on the platform of the success of the District since it was founded in 1990 in protecting 70,000 acres from development, including 13,000 acres added to state, county and city parks. This success was achieved by the staff of the District, headed by General Manager Andrea Mackenzie, by the County’s Board of Supervisors which is also the District’s Board, by members of the District’s Authority which oversees its finances, and by the District’s Advisory Committee and the many other volunteers who assisted the District’s planning and operations.
The campaign itself was directed by a steering committee representing many different walks of life, by diverse regional committees and by scores of volunteers who worked at phone banks, walked precincts, planted signs and stuffed envelopes. The capable consulting firm, TBW&B, in the persons of Barry Barnes and Sarah Stern, kept us on message and produced first-rate signs and mailers. Our indefatigable campaign manager, Brian Bottari, saw to it that needed work got done on time and kept our spirits high 24/7. Support came from organizations representing business, agriculture, labor, teachers, city council members and every newspaper in the County. Well over 400 donors contributed a total of almost
$330,000 to the campaign.
Our core support came in many different ways from environmental organizations and their members. The list is too long to include here, but special mention needs to be made of the contributions in both staff and money from The Nature Conservancy and the California and local Audubon Societies.
Special mention also needs to be made of Sonoma County Conservation Action which provided invaluable assistance to the campaign’s phone banking, precinct walking and identifying supporters. SCCA’s donated professional services helped free up funds for mailers, including one in the last week of the campaign. Its work highlighted the type of camaraderie which makes Sonoma County’s conservation movement so effective.
This victory was summed up by County Supervisor Valerie Brown’s statement in her January 24 “State of the County Message”: “Solid voter approval of a 20-year extension of the County’s Agricultural Preservation and Open Space tax ranks as last year’s high point”. ◊
Ted Eliot is the former US Ambassador to Afghanistan and is an avid bird watcher and Audubon enthusiast.
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Excerpt from Spring 2007 Newsletter
Unprecedented Growth
Over the past three years, SCCA has been blessed with strong leadership from its team of Co Directors, Craig Litwin and Dennis "Denny" Rosatti, as well as as strong support from Diane Schulz, Office Manager. As Directors, Craig and Denny have primarily stewarded SCCA through several major organizational advancements, including the rebirth of the organizastions' letter writing campaigns, the pilot of the KYN program in the Fall of 2004, the hard fought GE Free Sonoma County Campaign in the Summer and Fall of 2004 and Fall of 2005, and this past year's major ground campaign for SMART Rail and Trail and the successful Open Space District Renewal that SCCA marshalled 200+ volunteers for.
In that time, the organization has increased it’s base of support, has almost doubled the size of it’s staff, and now has a full time volunteer coordinator via the Know Your Neighbor program. SCCA has also taken great strides in offering expanded campaign servicing for endorsed candidates and ballot measures, to allow greater success at the ballot box and a broader support function that makes an SCCA endorsement that much more coveted.
Co Directors on the Move
It is in the spirit of growth and accomplishment that SCCA has decided to retain both Co Directors, for what we hope to be a long time to come. Denny Rosatti has accepted the position of Executive Director, and Craig Litwin has accepted the position of Political Director.
So why change anything when the machine is well oiled and still gaining speed? In the words of John F. Kennedy, “Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.”
We recognize that in order to gain the next level of achievement as an organization, a clearly defined division of labor must be developed in order to put the attention to the programs that are vital for continued success of SCCA.
Rosatti has been working for SCCA for the past four years, first as an entry level canvasser, and has gradually moved his way through the ranks of the organization. His drive to protect the environment, and affinity for local politics make Rosatti a great choice for the future of SCCA. SCCA feels strongly that Denny will lead the organization with integrity and stability, as he has for nearly 5 years.
According to Rosatti, “Conservation Action is environment in action. Serving as Executive to the Board, Staff, and membership of SCCA, and activating the grassroots of Sonoma County to protect local environmental resources is my dream job come true.”
Litwin, who was born in Sebastopol, has been involved in local politics since a young man. He currently is in his second term on the Sebastopol City Council, serves as the Vice Mayor, and is also busy raising his three children.
As Political Director, Litwin is prepared to tackle the exciting tasks of strengthening SCCA’s most vital program, the canvass, and further developing political support services that will result in wins at the ballot box.
“I have always looked forward to continuing to develop SCCA’s infrastructure and programs. I am confident that the political services department will give the progressives a competitive edge in local politics. We are here to win,” Litwin commented.
There is no doubt that the challenges that face our county continue to grow, and Conservation Action is committed to providing the voice and the community organization tools necessary to meet these challenges. We will strive to continue to serve our membership with enthusiasm on our annual door visits, quality in our educational endeavors, and integrity in our political endorsements and campaigns.
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Excerpt from Summer/Fall 2007 Newsletter
Fall 08 Santa Rosa Council
Environmental Candidates
By Dennis Rosatti, Executive Director
I feel like we’re standing on the brink of a major tipping point in Sonoma County politics. Perhaps I am feeling this way due to the inspiration Al Gore’s movie has left us with, a reawakening of sorts of the nation’s awareness and dedication to the environment. The plight of our world’s climate and energy usage is in the forefront of nearly every newspaper and journal in the world. Or, it could be partly due to the two long sitting County Supervisors who thanks to retirement have seats up in 08’, offering a real opportunity for an emergence of environmental leadership on the Board of Supervisors.
Overshadowing all of this, is the fact that we have a majority within our grasp on the Santa Rosa City Council. This Council not only makes decisions for the City itself, but they make appointments to many boards and commissions that dictate the way many cross-city and county programs are run. For example, each councilmember gets an appointment to the powerful Board of Public Utilities, which oversees water and wastewater for not only Santa Rosa, but the 4 City joint wastewater treatment plant on Llano Road.
In Fall of 2006, voters elected two environmental, progressive candidates to the Council: Veronica Jacobi and Susan Gorin. These freshmen (or freshwomen, to be politically correct) are working hard to fulfill the public’s desire for a cleaner, greener Sonoma County. Advances have been made in green building, smart growth planning, and sustainable development as a direct result of their participation in council dialogue and decision making. But they need 2 more solid votes to pass progressive ordinances and legislation.
Sensing this need, weighing the qualifications of the announced candidates, and sensing the opportunity to turn things around, SCCA has decided to endorse early in the Santa Rosa City Council race. We have endorsed 3 seats, and there are 4 seats that will be up. We may add an endorsement closer to the election, depending on whether additional qualified environmental candidates enter the race.
Marsha vas Dupre has an outstanding record of public service in Santa Rosa. She currently sits on the SRJC Board of Directors, and served on the city council from 1998-2002, when she was narrowly defeated by a smear campaign run by the development community.
Michael Allen worked closely with SCCA in the SMART Rail and Trail ballot measure last fall as the Treasurer of the campaign, and currently serves as State Senator Pat Wiggin’s Field Director. Michael is a well respected labor attorney who worked as ED of SEIU local for many years, and started his carreer as an attorney for the Sierra Club.
Gary Wysocky is the president of the Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition and currently serves as the president of the Junior College Neighborhood Association. Besides being an active cycling enthusiast, Gary is a certified
public accountant and teaches at Sonoma State University.
Joining SCCA in endorsing these candidates, in a sign of progressive solidarity, are the Housing Advocacy Group (HAG), and the Coalition for a Better Sonoma County (CBSC). This is perhaps the first time in history that these 3 organizations have not only endorsed candidates in a race this early, but they also have agreed that the 3 endorsed candidates are the best for all areas of progressive idealism.
“All three of these candidates will work toward a more sustainable economy, environment and a healthier community” added Rick Meechan, Co-Chair of the Coalition for a Better Sonoma County and Board Member of Concerned Citizens of Santa Rosa. “We are very fortunate to have such quality candidates already in the field.”
Affordable housing continues to be a focal point of political will in Santa Rosa. Said HAG attorney David Grabill, “These 3 candidates are the ones who we want making decisions on affordable housing in Santa Rosa. They understand that housing for all is a mandate from the public.”
I personally have sat through many decisions where environmental interests were on the losing end of votes on issues from campaign finance reform to affordable housing and green building. It’s time to for change!
I ask that you support these candidates with your time, your money and your influence. We all want a Santa Rosa City Council that is pro environment, pro affordable housing, pro working people, and progressive. Let’s join together to make that vision a reality.
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Exerpt from Winter 2008 Newsletter
Sharon Wrong for the Environment
By Craig Litwin, Political Director
Although it is yet unclear who the most viable environmentally qualified candidate is for the third district Supervisor seat being vacated by Retiring Supervisor Tim Smith, one thing is perfectly clear: a vote for Sharon Wright is a clear vote against the local environment.
When gauging if a candidate will stand up for environmental issues it is important to assess three questions. One, what has the candidate advocated for as a member of the public or as an elected or appointed official? Two, where do the candidate’s campaign contributions come from? Three, who is supporting the candidate’s bid for elected office and who has the candidate supported in turn for elected office?
Regarding the first assessment, as a councilmember in Santa Rosa Sharon voted the wrong way on just about every environmental issue before her. She fought to weaken the voter approved Urban Growth Boundary passed by voters in 1996, she approved ridge-top development contrary to a city policy calling for the ridge tops to be left open, and she kept voting for continued city contracts for groups that she simultaneously held employment with (specifically she was fined $14,500 in 1998 by the Fair Political Practices Commission for ten counts of violations of Conflict of Interest Law).
The second assessment, even for a political novice, shows us that most of her campaign contributions come from development interests. Smart growth is a good thing in city centers, but a candidate that is so heavily supported by development interests time and time again tends to sacrifice the environment, affordable housing, and a strong local economy, and is not to be trusted with our precious natural resources. This is true of Sharon today and in her past, and is one of the reasons that she consistently got F’s on SCCA’s annual report card.
The third assessment, or the ‘rubbing elbows’ assessment, often gives the clearest picture of who a candidate is, or where their true alliances lie. Sharon has consistently been endorsed by Supervisor Paul Kelley, (who also has consistently received F’s on SCCA’s report card) who is has one of the worst environmental voting records in Sonoma County. She has always fought against people like Marsha Vas Dupre, Steve Rabinowitsh and Noreen Evans, and even came out against Lynn Woolsey, whose environmental record is exemplary.
Due to her status as a true wolf in sheep’s clothing, Sharon Wright has earned the name “Sharon Wrong” for the environment!
Her development interest backed campaign will be a difficult assault to overcome. There is much work to do to ensure she does not get 50%+1 to cinch the election in June. The top two candidates in the primary, barring anyone getting 50%+1, will have a run-off election this November.
This is arguably the most critical race for SCCA’s membership to get involved with. SCCA will continue watching this race with the greatest of care to report who the best environmental candidate will be.
Candidates that have announced for the 3rd District Supervisor seat so far include at least two prior endorsed SCCA elected City Councilmembers:
Veronica Jacobi, Santa Rosa*
Tim Smith, Rohnert Park*
Shirlee Zane, Council on Aging
*Prior Endorsed by SCCA
This race will be quickly unfolding over the next several months. One thing is certain– together we can save the county from this newest assault on the local environment by working against Sharon Wright, or “Sharon Wrong”, as she deserves. ◊
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