Alex Breitler's Environment Blog

By my count, seven lawsuits have been filed targeting the recently approved Delta Plan.

Here are all seven complaints. Happy reading.

San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority/Westlands Water District (May 24, Sacramento County Superior Court)

City of Stockton (June 13, San Joaquin County Superior Court)

State Water Contractors, Alameda County Flood Control and Water Conservation District, Santa Clara Valley Water District, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Antelope Valley-East Kern Water Agency, Mojave Water Agency, San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District (June 14, Sacramento County Superior Court)

North Coast Rivers Alliance, Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, San Francisco Crab Boat Owners Association, Winnemem Wintu Tribe (June 14, Sacramento County Superior Court)

California Water Impact Network, Friends of the River, California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, AquAlliance, Restore the Delta, Center for Biological Diversity (June 14, San Francisco County Superior Court)

Save the California Delta Alliance (June 17, San Francisco County Superior Court)

Central Delta Water Agency, South Delta Water Agency, Local Agencies of the North Delta, Lafayette Ranch Inc., Cindy Charles (June 17, San Francisco County Superior Court)

The San Joaquin County civil grand jury studied local water systems this past year, and has concluded that major public water providers are giving us safe drinking water.

When violations do occur, the jury found, the water quality is still close to meeting state and federal standards.

The grand jury also asked water providers what will happen to water quality if Gov. Jerry Brown’s twin tunnels are built. Each expert declined to comment, “saying there are too many variables and too little definitive data.”

Read the report.

Reporters are used to tough neighborhoods. Unfortunately, the news that brings us there is usually not good.

Never have I learned so much about a neighborhood, however, as when I tagged along Friday with the Project YES! student researchers.

Here’s the story, if you missed it. Basically, the project aims to assess environmental health and social conditions, learn from residents themselves how to make things better, and ultimately funnel limited dollars toward the programs they think will help.

The researchers, as young as 14 years old, have been methodically walking neighborhoods watching for both good and bad characteristics. And they’re watching closely.

For example, most of us would agree trees are neighborhood assets. They’re even better if they are fruit-bearing trees, providing nutritious food for residents. Project YES! researchers make that distinction for each street they patrol.

When they see an apartment building, they don’t merely note it as residential housing. Are there signs of life in the windows? Blinds? Or is this yet another abandoned structure rotting away inside?

They don’t sort through the piles of garbage, for obvious reasons, but they scan every item carefully from a distance. Even the tiniest,  transparent “nickel bags,” used to package marijuana for sale but long since discarded in the gutter, do not escape their attention.

Collecting this level of detail, the team I was with took almost three hours to walk 14 blocks.

I can only imagine the new insight we’ll have when this project is done, and the data is amassed for two Census tracts ranging from Harding Way in the north to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in the south. This could be the most thorough, nitty-gritty study of Stockton’s inner core that has ever been attempted.

Some of the young researchers, given their age, are shocked by what they find. Others aren’t surprised, because they live in these very neighborhoods.

I wasn’t surprised, either. But I was impressed at the sheer amount of evidence available, if we’ll only take the time to look carefully.

It will be interesting to hear the greater community’s reaction when the Project YES! findings are ultimately made public.

Saturday, June 15-Sunday, June 16: Woodbridge Wilderness Area open to the public from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. The area is typically open the first and third weekends of each month. Explore a quarter-mile of Mokelumne River frontage. Free. More details here.

Saturday, June 15: San Joaquin Master Gardeners program, “Drops and Dollars.” Learn how to reduce the amount of water you use on your landscaping, allowing you to save on your monthly utility bills. 10:30 a.m. to noon, at the Manteca Public Library, 320 W. Center St. RSVP by calling 953-6100. More details here.

Saturday, June 15: Stockton Astronomical Society presents “Astronomy in the Park at Oak Grove Regional Park.” 8 p.m. Free with park admission. Come peer through the telescopes of society members. More details here.

Saturday, June 15: Program, “Dangerous Creatures,” at New Melones Lake. Learn about the creepy critters found at the lake. 7 p.m. More details here.

Saturday, June 15: “San Joaquin Bike Fest” at the University of the Pacific. Four scenic routes begin and end at the university, ranging from 1.5 miles to 9.5 miles (or 25 miles if you do them all). 1980s “retro” costumes encouraged. Supports the Emergency Food Bank. Registration opens at 7 a.m. with rides beginning at 9 a.m. More details here.

Sunday, June 16: Guided paddle trip at the Cosumnes River Preserve. Meet at 8:30 a.m. in the visitor parking area. Bring own gear and life jacket. More details here.

Tuesday, June 18: Stockton East Water District meeting. Noon. 6767 E. Main St. More details here.

Tuesday, June 18: Presentation, “An Evening in the Life of John Muir.” 7 p.m., Stockton REI. Free. Robert Hanna, the great-grandson of the famous conservationist, will talk about Muir’s personal life “as can only be told by his family,” including photos and writings. More details here.

Wednesday, June 19: California Water Commission meeting. 9:30 a.m., Sacramento. Agenda available here.

Thursday, June 20: San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District meeting. 9 a.m., Fresno. Agenda and webcast available here.

Saturday, June 22: Annual “Summer Butterfly Count” at Oak Grove Regional Park. 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the nature center. Join Kathy Schick in a family-friendly field trip counting butterflies in the park. No experience necessary. Program is free, but parking at Oak Grove costs $6. To learn more call (209) 612-5130 or email kashick@berkeley.edu.

Saturday, June 22: Program, “Birds of New Melones Lake.” Learn about flight patterns, habitat, calls and songs. 7 p.m. More details here.

Sunday, June 23: Mokelumne River raft trip benefiting the Foothill Conservancy. Suitable for ages 6 and up. $70 per person and space is limited; for more information or for reservations, contact Randy Berg at (209) 295-4900 or email randy@foothillconservancy.org.

Wednesday, June 19: California Water Commission meeting. Agenda to be posted here.

Thursday, June 20: San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District meeting. 9 a.m., Fresno. Meeting available by webcast. Agenda and webcast here.

Tuesday, June 25: Stockton East Water District meeting. Noon. 6767 E. Main St. More details here.

Saturday, July 13: Stockton Astronomical Society presents “Astronomy in the Park at Oak Grove Regional Park.” 8 p.m. Free with park admission. Come peer through the telescopes of society members. More details here.

Tuesday, July 16: Presentation, “Paddling Northern California.” 7 p.m., Stockton REI. Author Charlie Pike will talk about the best kayaking and canoeing destinations. More details here.

Jerry McNerney, D-Stockton, and seven other members of Congress wrote to Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday in advance of a Bay Delta Conservation Plan meeting next week in Washington, D.C.

Read the letter.

They ask a number of questions about water supply impacts, alternatives to the twin tunnels, and the rising cost. Many of those questions have been asked before.

“Unlike past meetings,” the letter concludes, “we expect your representatives will have substantive answers to our questions; otherwise our meeting will lack the productive dialogue that is necessary for real progress.”

I bought a hummingbird feeder for my wife, in celebration of our anniversary earlier this spring. It’s got a copper top, and the seventh anniversary is supposed to be copper… or wool. But really, who’s wearing wool right now?

So I give her the present and she says she likes the feeder, but then sternly warns me: “If you’re going to do this, you have to keep it full. They’ll come to depend on it.”

Needless to say, two months later the feeder is still sitting, undeployed, on the kitchen counter.

I’ll get around to it.

I do like hummingbirds, so in the meantime, here are a couple of cool shots from Mother Lode wildlife photographer Michi Watanabe.

It’s an awful cliché, but — what a difference a day makes.

After hitting a record 108 degrees on Saturday, Stockton’s high temperature on Sunday sank all the way to 81 degrees. That’s a 27-degree plunge.

Indeed, it was spitting rain tonight, with a brisk wind, as I headed to the dog park about 9:30.

We went from tank-tops to hooded sweatshirts in a span of 24 hours. Without having looked at the data, I’m not sure I can recall a more dramatic shift in the weather since I’ve lived in Stockton.

Anyway, I’m coast-bound for a couple of days — might be downright cold over there! — so this blog will be silent until Wednesday.

Friday, June 7: Presentation, “Water Bugs Live!” 7 p.m., Oak Grove Regional Park. Donnie Ratcliff with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will talk about insects native to the Mokelumne River and other streams and rivers. Plus you can pick up some fly fishing tips. Free with $5 vehicle entrance fee to the park. More details here.

Saturday, June 8: Electronic waste collection event. 9 a.m., San Joaquin Delta College Shima 2 parking lot. Free. Hosted by Onsite Electronics Recycling.

Saturday, June 8: San Joaquin Audubon Society field trip to Calaveras Big Trees State Park. Meet in the North Grove at 8:30 a.m. More details here.

Saturday, June 8: San Joaquin Master Gardeners program, “Drops and Dollars.” Learn how to reduce the amount of water you use on your landscaping, allowing you to save on your monthly utility bills. 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., at the city of Stockton’s Delta Water Supply Project building, 11373 N. Lower Sacramento Road, Lodi. RSVP by calling 953-6100. More details here.

Saturday, June 8: Waldo Music Festival. 3536 Rainier Avenue, on the banks of the Calaveras River. Doors open at 11:30 a.m. Festival held in honor of the late conservationist Waldo Holt. More details here (see pg. 4).

Saturday, June 8: Program, ”Skins, Scat and Skulls,” at New Melones Lake. Rangers will display a collection of skins, scat and skulls from various creatures. 7 p.m. More details here.

Monday, June 10: Program, “Will Restoration Make a Difference in the Delta?” Scientists will talk about whether habitat restoration — a component of the governor’s twin tunnels plan — will be effective in helping the Delta’s ecosystem and native fish species. Hosted by the Delta Stewardship Council. 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., at the U.C. Davis Conference Center Ballroom B. More details here.

Tuesday, June 11: Stockton East Water District meeting. Noon. 6767 E. Main St. More details here.

Tuesday, June 11: Class, “Backpacking Basics.” 7 p.m., Stockton REI. More details here.

Saturday, June 15-Sunday, June 16: Woodbridge Wilderness Area open to the public from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. The area is typically open the first and third weekends of each month. Explore a quarter-mile of Mokelumne River frontage. Free More detailshere.

Saturday, June 15: San Joaquin Master Gardeners program, “Drops and Dollars.” Learn how to reduce the amount of water you use on your landscaping, allowing you to save on your monthly utility bills. 10:30 a.m. to noon, at the Manteca Public Library, 320 W. Center St. RSVP by calling 953-6100. More details here.

Saturday, June 15: Stockton Astronomical Society presents “Astronomy in the Park at Oak Grove Regional Park.” 8 p.m. Free with park admission. Come peer through the telescopes of society members. More details here.

Saturday, June 15: Program, “Dangerous Creatures,” at New Melones Lake. Learn about the creepy critters found at the lake. 7 p.m. More details here.

Saturday, June 15: “San Joaquin Bike Fest” at the University of the Pacific. Four scenic routes begin and end at the university, ranging from 1.5 miles to 9.5 miles (or 25 miles if you do them all). 1980s “retro” costumes encouraged. Supports the Emergency Food Bank. Registration opens at 7 a.m. with rides beginning at 9 a.m. More details here.

Sunday, June 16: Guided paddle trip at the Cosumnes River Preserve. Meet at 8:30 a.m. in the visitor parking area. Bring own gear and life jacket. More details here.

Tuesday, June 18: Stockton East Water District meeting. Noon. 6767 E. Main St. More details here.

Tuesday, June 18: Presentation, “An Evening in the Life of John Muir.” 7 p.m., Stockton REI. Free. Robert Hanna, the great-grandson of the famous conservationist, will talk about Muir’s personal life “as can only be told by his family,” including photos and writings. More details here.

Wednesday, June 19: California Water Commission meeting. 9:30 a.m., Sacramento. Agenda available here.

Saturday, June 22: Annual “Summer Butterfly Count” at Oak Grove Regional Park. 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the nature center. Join Kathy Schick in a family-friendly field trip counting butterflies in the park. No experience necessary. Program is free, but parking at Oak Grove costs $6. To learn more call (209) 612-5130 or email kashick@berkeley.edu.

Saturday, June 22: Program, “Birds of New Melones Lake.” Learn about flight patterns, habitat, calls and songs. 7 p.m. More details here.

Sunday, June 23: Mokelumne River raft trip benefiting the Foothill Conservancy. Suitable for ages 6 and up. $70 per person and space is limited; for more information or for reservations, contact Randy Berg at (209) 295-4900 or email randy@foothillconservancy.org.

Wednesday, June 19: California Water Commission meeting. Agenda to be posted here.

Thursday, June 20: San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District meeting. 9 a.m., Fresno. Meeting available by webcast. Agenda and webcast here.

Tuesday, June 25: Stockton East Water District meeting. Noon. 6767 E. Main St. More details here.

Saturday, July 13: Stockton Astronomical Society presents “Astronomy in the Park at Oak Grove Regional Park.” 8 p.m. Free with park admission. Come peer through the telescopes of society members. More details here.

Tuesday, July 16: Presentation, “Paddling Northern California.” 7 p.m., Stockton REI. Author Charlie Pike will talk about the best kayaking and canoeing destinations. More details here.

Record photo by Clifford Oto

During public comment last night on the proposed $36 million Smith Canal flood gate, Country Club resident Virgil Halvorson asked if the infamously elevated home on Elmwood Avenue had been planted there as a “scare tactic” to get people to pay for the project.

Rebuilt or significantly remodeled homes in the flood zone must be elevated, and officials in the past several months have circulated a photo of the Elmwood home to help residents understand the significance.

“Who owns the house on Elmwood?” Halvorson asked. “Was it placed there as a scare tactic for the people in the neighborhood?”

County Supervisor Larry Ruhstaller, a board member for the San Joaquin Area Flood Control Agency, responded: “I know one thing: We don’t own it and we didn’t put it there.”

That’s correct. The last time I checked, the house was owned by a man named Daniel Pacho. I couldn’t track him down, but a real estate listing indicated the place was for sale and claimed it had never been lived in.

“I will tell you one thing,” Ruhstaller added, in response to Halverson. “When we go back to Washington and show that picture to the Congressmen and the folks back there, they are appalled. Have they fixed it for us yet? No. We hope if we keep banging on them, they will.”

Conspiracies aside, residents agreed to help fund the gate.

Here’s an ominous map from the National Weather Service depicting the worst of Saturday’s heat. No, white doesn’t mean “data unavailable” — it means white-hot (105-110). And good luck if you live in one of those little pink splotches (110-115).

Stockton’s predicted high temperature has been downgraded from 107 degrees to 104 degrees, but really — when it gets that hot, who can tell the difference?

Click here for Weather Service updates as the weekend approaches. Click here for beat-the-heat tips from the San Joaquin County Department of Public Health.