Awash in a Colorful Landscape

California is a land of extremes, both temporally and spatially. And visually.
In much of low-elevation undeveloped California, the landscape is green from November to May. And green is an understatement. The grassy hills are so intensely green that your eyes get saturated with the color to the point where it doesn't seem real. The world is green if you look down and blue if you look up. It is an intense sensory experience. And in some places, you get the magical and majestic painted orange and blue and yellow colors of flowers added in the spring.

In much of high-elevation undeveloped California, the landscape is white from November to May. The world is blinding white if you look down, and brilliant blue if you look up. That is an equally intense sensory experience.

Bay Leaves and Asparagus

A couple of days ago I heard on the news that an attempt would be made to control Sudden Oak Death in Big Sur by removing individual "bay laurel" trees.

Two things about this news story were problematic.

1. "Bay laurel" is not the name of the Umbellularia californica tree. It is California bay. Or laurel. But not both. Using both is merges two separate common names, and is like merging "mountain lion" and "cougar". You wouldn't say "I saw a mountain lion cougar."

My Backyard Looks Like Mt. Everest

I was skimming through a recent California Department of Water Resources publication when I came across a mislabeled photo of the Eastern Sierra. I pointed this out to a hydrogeographer colleague, and he immediately showed me two more water agency/organization examples of a geographically misplaced or mislabeled photo of the Eastern Sierra. If you want a dramatic mountain photo in California, you want a photo of the Eastern Sierra--but it may not always be the geographically appropriate match for your materials. It is kind of like putting a shot of Yosemite next to "I played in the playground down the street all day." Unless, of course, Yosemite is down the street. Below are the misplaced photos, as well as a Google Earth screenshot of where it actually is.

When Bad Roads are Good Roads

The first time I drove through Samuel P. Taylor State Park, it was a busy weekend about ten years ago.* The road was narrow and bumpy, and there were pedestrians and bicyclists and parked cars everywhere. It was vibrant. You could tell it was a place people wanted to be. It was also sketchy. I was driving a friend's old truck, and I had to be careful. I had to go slow.

Here is what it used to sound like to drive on, recorded last September. Click "play" to hear a sound that is gone forever--the sound of going to the beach, if you grew up in San Geronimo Valley.

California Utilities Still Freeloading on Independent Power Producers - Part III

What you've all been waiting for--part III of the ongoing saga. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, I suggest reading Part I and Part II for background.

But if you want to skip the details, here is the quick summary:

Part I Recap
We operated a solar photovoltaic grid intertie with Net Energy Metering on our home from 2001-2011. The year we sold the house, 2011, we had a big surplus of generated electricity, since the house generated electricity all summer but no one was living there to use it. This electricity was worth $154.52. In December 2011, I was told we would only be paid only four cents per kWh for this valuable, renewable, distributed, peak-hours electricity, or a whopping $18.52. SCE (Southern California Edison) was 10 months behind in sending out letters, and when we got ours we should send it back saying how we wanted to be paid, and then in another 3 months we'd get our check.

Part II Recap
Two years later, in November 2013, we got the letter. After overcoming considerable confusion about what it was, and why it was being sent to us, and what we were supposed to do, I re-read part I (see link above), and then I filled out the form and sent it back.

Part III

Welcome to Part III! This may be the end...

In February, 2014, we got another envelope in the mail from SCE. I opened it. I laughed. What was inside? Nine double-sided pages of account statements. The first page said "Do not pay. Your account has a credit balance of $5.48.

Epic Water Conservation Tips for an Epic Drought

We need to step it up a little. If we are in the most severe drought on record, then we need some better tips than "turn off the water while you are brushing your teeth." Come on, everybody already started doing that during the 1976-77 drought! And "take shorter showers" is sooooo 80s! We all do that already too! Boring! Here are some alternative water conservation tips that you won't see in your water bill.

1. Drink more imported beer. That way you can be sure the water in the beer isn't from California. And whatever you do, don't eat almonds with your beer!
2. Don't eat your veggies. Agriculture consumes 80% of the water in California. In fact, if you stop eating and drinking altogether (except for imported beer), that would be best.
3. Don't reproduce. Even better, wait to have kids until the drought is over. Kids are messy and you need to use a lot of water to clean them up. They also like to play in the water.
4. Be obstructionist. Find the nearest new housing development or irrigated farm, and block its progress so that it isn't finished or irrigated until the drought is over. If you are rich, just buy it and bulldoze it and restore the natural habitat and put a conservation easement on it.
5. Stop doing the dishes. Just tell your husband/wife/parents/other that you are saving water. When you run out of clean dishes, use paper plates. Put the dirty dishes outside--they will get clean the next time it rains. You could even use them to be obstructionist (#4).
6. Stop mowing and watering your lawn. You had better things to do on Saturday anyway.
7. Buy a boat. Buy one for your neighbors too. But don't wash it. And only take it to reservoirs to recreate (every Saturday, instead of mowing your lawn). If we completely cover the surfaces of all our reservoirs with boats, we'll stop losing water to evaporation.
8. Stop driving. Fracking and oil refining use a lot of water. You bought a sailboat or a rowboat (#7) that you can just leave at the reservoir, right? And if you start riding your bike to work, make sure you don't start taking more showers. When people call you stinky, just call them a "water waster" back.
9. Stop buying technology. Silicon Valley was the fastest-growing area of the state last year. The 332,000 new residents added to California each year (see also #3) are using all the water you are saving (residents have to save 1% more water each year just to keep up). Even better, just move away--the rest of us would like a little more room.
10. Pass new laws. These, in particular. And add this one to the mix.

Disclaimer: Don't try these at home--they may have unwanted side-effects. But if any of them are compatible with your goals and lifestyle, then have at it! Even though these are tongue-in-cheek, many of them would actually save a lot more water than the tips most of us get in the mail from our water providers!

California Utilities Still Freeloading on Independent Power Producers - Part II

Two years ago, I wrote California Utilities Still Freeloading on Independent Power Producers, which you really should read because it is a riveting story about corporate greed. I left this opening for a sequel:

One small bright spot on the horizon: "If the CEC authorizes retroactive RPS certification of net surplus generators, the utilities may retroactively pay the renewable attribute adder to its eligible customers." Which means that I may get some additional compensation someday--maybe.

 That was two years ago. I had completely forgotten about being ripped off for $136 by Southern California Edison (SCE). The worst kind of pickpocket is one that is richer than you, and gets the government to hold you down while they do it.