WATER BALLOT MEASURES

In reaction to Governor Brown’s mandated 25% reductions in residential water use, environmental groups have redoubled their efforts on petitions and rallies asking Governor Brown to stop fracking. Demands were advanced that he stop bottlers from using our precious water. Efforts to work with local governments have increased. Numerous articles have instructed residents on how to re-do their yards.

The problem is the facts don’t support their arguments.

1. It’s not the water fracking uses, it’s the water it contaminates. Fracking uses 70 million gallons a year compared to the 38 BILLION used every day in California. The organizations are using .0005 of 1% of daily use as an argument.
   
   
2. Water bottlers use around 750,000,000 gallons a year. That is .005 of 1% of daily use. What will be accomplished by shutting down five-one-thousandth of one percent of water use? 
   
   
3. Residents use 4.5 billion gallons a day or 12% of daily water use. The 25% mandated reduction saves 3% of daily use.
   
   Nut and alfalfa growers ALONE represent 35% of daily use. 
   
   Why are the organizations putting all their effort into the 12% residential or .55% for fracking and bottlers when they have 35% to work with?
   
   
4. Organizations want to work through counties and cities. After five years up to 600 wells are being fracked every year. California has one year of water left. Do these groups really have the time to do it agency by agency? 

No mandates were brought against the nut and alfalfa growers. No mandates were brought against fracking. Few mandates were brought against golf courses.

And no mandates will EVER be brought against them because Big Oil, nut and alfalfa growers and golf course owners spend hundreds of millions of dollars on political campaigns and lobbying. Do you think your petitions and rallies are going to convince Governor Brown and the legislature to kill the geese that lay the golden eggs? Would you do that if you were a politician?

We need effective laws governing our water supply. Laws prohibiting contamination of our wells, aquifers, wetlands, rivers and ocean would have stopped fracking. Laws restricting water-thirsty crops and building golf courses in the desert would have prevented having only one year of water left. Laws structuring agency levels and inspection timetables. Laws requiring data before building or planting or fracking.

In short, we need something on the November, 2016 ballot. It may require a Constitutional amendment overturning centuries-old water rights. It may require hastening the effective dates of existing laws. It definitely will require writing new laws. But it has to be done NOW.

If you want to do something that has impact other than watching your lawn die or writing useless petitions, please contact me via email at [email protected]. 

Thanks, Flo Samuels

• California uses 38 billion (38,000,000,000) gallons of surface and groundwater A DAY.
  
  
• Residents use 4.5 billion gallons (4,515,300,000 rounded) or 12% of daily water use.
  
  
• A 25% residential reduction would equal a billion (1,129,000,000) gallons a day saved or 3% of daily use. 

               While municipalities are reducing water usage, 12% of the users,
               representing 100% of residents, are being made to shoulder over
                                   85% of the burden. Why?

• The total use of nut growers, alfalfa growers and golf courses is 13.7 billion (13,680,000,000) gallons A DAY.
  
  
• Between 45 and 90% of the nuts are exported from California. Of alfalfa, 30% is exported. California has 1,140 golf courses with 130 in the desert in Palm Springs.
  
  
• A 25% reduction for nut growers (1.9 billion), and golf courses (95 million) plus 30% for what alfalfa growers export (1.4 billion) is 3.42 billion gallons A DAY saved, 

                               203% more than residential savings. 

• Fracking uses 70 million gallons a year but has injected billions of gallons of contaminated water into aquifers. No studies have been made on the amount of well, river and water shed water that has been contaminated but it has to be substantial. More important, why haven’t the studies been made?
  

• Water bottlers use around 750,000,000 gallons a year (.005% of daily total use). In my opinion, water bottlers are a Trojan Horse used to distract voters from the real problems.
  

• Major water parks use 1 to 1.5 million gallons to fill a park with 2.2 to 3% monthly water use after the fill. The 12 major water parks use 18,000 gallons a day. Another Trojan Horse. (Refilling the activity areas for the summer is the equivalent of .0005% of one day of the 38 billion.) 
  

I recommend:

   1. The 25% residential reduction in water use;

   2. A 25% reduction in water use by nut growers and golf courses;

   3. A 30% reduction by alfalfa growers and cattle ranchers; and

   4. The ban of any activities that will create chemically contaminated water unfit to
       drink or use on plants. 

   5. Restrictions on water-thirsty crops or developments requiring pre-approval from
       a water agency before planting/building.

   6. Definitions of agency size/strength and inspection timetables for monitoring
       water use and potential contamination.


Schedule

1. To make the November 2016 ballot, the measure wording must be submitted to the 
    Attorney General by mid-summer of 2015. I can afford the fee of $200 and do the
    research for the major issues to be addressed. I cannot afford attorney fees for the 
    review of the proposed wording.

2. Signatures need to be submitted by mid-February. For an initiative we would need
    365,880 and 508,000 for a constitutional amendment. With all the organizations in
    California concerned with water and fracking, I do not believe we would need to hire
    signature gatherers.

3. Once the measure is on the ballot, we would start funding campaigns at each group’s
    web site and other crowd funding sources. We do not have to hire expensive marketing
    or public relations firms; there is enough talent in the groups to make this a successful
    grass roots movement. More important, every voter in the state knows about this issue.
    I do not think Big Oil or the nut growers will be very effective in convincing them they
    should have unlimited use of water.

If you want to do something that has impact other than watch your lawn die or sign another useless petition, please contact me via email at [email protected]. Since I am contacting over 150 organizations, I am not giving out my phone number at this time. 


Note that for the water ballot this is a temporary site until I see what is needed to set up an alternate site.

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