A Thought About Priorities

I refrained from posting about the recent tri-partite-hosted meeting last month sponsored by Ms. Speier and Mssrs. Gordon and Pine because I really didn't have much to say about it.  This was the invite:

Meeting the Challenge   of Sea Level Rise in   San Mateo County

Sea level rise is one of the most serious consequences of climate change and it will have a profound effect on San Mateo County which has more people and property at risk from the rising sea than any other Bay Area county. Please join us to hear from national, state and local experts to learn about the magnitude of the challenge we face and the options and strategies that are available to plan for and adapt to this new reality.

 

Having just gotten back from a week in Tahoe and seeing lousy ski conditions and numerous headlines about our drought conditions, including today's Sierra Sun headlines  (emphasis on plural) reading "No Surprise:  Snow Scarce in first survey of 2014" and "Officials urge water conservation as Northern CA dry spell continues" may I suggest a big meeting next month titled "What the heck we are planning to do this summer when there ain't no water to be had?"

I'll bet the Hyatt, Marriott or Westin are all available for such a conference at a reasonable price.  Jackie, Dave, Rich?  Anyone able to find a couple speakers who can suggest what to do come June?  Does anyone remember what the price increase was on water usage over your "baseline" during the last drought?

Comments

[James]

38.1 million people in CA + Sea Level Rise = Votes.

38.1 million people in CA + Reducing Population = No Votes.

[Sell-Outs-R-Us]

Water shortage?

I know, divert alot of our water in Norcal to Socal, so that they can build more houses down there and destroy our environment up here.

It'll cost another $67,000,000,000 that we don't have, but it will create votes from those that benefit economically.

http://www.mercurynews.com/politics-government/ci_24795356/delta-tunnels-plans-true-price-tag-much-67

[Joe]

Here's a bit of the DJ article describing the difference between reservoir-based systems and ground/well-based:

But last year depleted some of the storage and the reservoirs weren’t substantially replenished, Thomas said. The impacts may not be felt by those in the Bay Area, but for those living in other parts of the state, prolonged periods of minimal rainfall may have larger effects, Thomas said.

“If you have a managed water supply, such as the Hetch Hetchy system, you’re going to get through the dry period fairly well. But if you live in a rural area where you depend upon ground or well water … those systems can be unreliable in prolonged dry weather. So we will be working to assist those communities, homeowners and towns that don’t have sustainable, reliable water supplies,” Thomas said.

The rest of the piece is here: http://www.smdailyjournal.com/articles/lnews/2014-01-09/driest-year-on-record-water-officials-urge-more-conservation/1776425116209.html

[hillsider]

Jackie could not find the bayfront with a GPS and a guide dog. If the party isn't in hillsborough and the caterer doesn't have canapes she is lost. Pine should be ashamed of himself.

[Account Deleted]

Speaking of "Priorities" (per the original heading of this post), is there any news/update about the Council's annual goal setting session this past Saturday. This is the most recent document I found on the city's website (which I believe is now outdated):

http://www.burlingame.org/modules/showdocument.aspx?documentid=10287

[Joe]

I missed it this year, so unless some other scribe went, we will have to rely on the official report when published.