Governor Brown's California Water Crisis

     The irrigation system of California water uses flumes that gather water from the mountains to retain in dams before being distributed through canals and channels for use on the agricultural fields.  That's the system I've known the state has in place since the 1920s!  I assume it's still in use, though may have been augmented and changed to some degree over the years.


     Now, I don't know what system the Israelis use, but that country is foremost in irrigation technology.  I can't believe it would rely on this method, which I regard as antiquated to say something kind about it.  Water evaporation is horrendous because the flumes and canals are exposed to the sun; it simply supplies a modicum of the original water flow to the fields.  California is partly desert and to think otherwise is to mistake the regional geography.  I think the Israeli methods should be deployed in California in its basic structural irrigation system.

    Add to this is the possibility of creating pipelines from distant locations, even as far north as Alaska, to carry water to the California farms.

    Instead, the state agricultural community has threatened water rationing as a means to handle the desert conditions in the state.  It will thereby raise the prices of its crops to consumers to enrich its own coffers rather than find additional means to increase its water reserves.  That is an affront to the nation; and Governor Brown is a party to this conspiracy of rationing.   While not claiming in any way to hold back the natural flow of water to the farms, he is implicitly granting California agriculture the rationale for raising prices for its produce--arid conditions in the state.  Moreover, he is attempting to hold in check the state's further development and growth for the same reason. 

     Personally, I don't think the United States will tolerate a state's threat to restrain future development in order to preserve what once was.  He's toying with the nation's well-being, even as some Republicans have attempted to check immigration into the country.  Such maneuvers are not in keeping with the country's position as leader of the world!  It must move ahead; and refrain from longing for the past!  In terms of California agriculture, new methods and modern techniques must replace the technology in irrigation of the 1920s.  

Sunday, April 26, 2015--Prelim to Water Discussion

--Because of a sudden need to attend to my medical issues, I have had to leave El Paso, Texas and have taken residence in Sacramento, California.  Any medical attention I will need in the near future will be handled here.

--I've become interested in the water situation in this state once more.  Many years ago in Chico, California, my land-lady was the daughter of one of the pioneers of the water conveyance network in the state.  But my interest has been renewed only recently, since returning to California.

     I'll have something to say about the irrigation system in the state in the next few days--no longer than by 3 week's time.

How to Concede to China #1 Power Position

     It has been widely believed that there should be appointed a successor to the United States as the most powerful nation in the world.  Under globalization, the prime movers of the planet are the influential financiers, especially those in Germany, many of whom believe the United States has become effete.

     I am taking an OLLI class on the subject TOPICS, led by S. Lewis, at the University of Texas at El Paso.  There I recently argued that the US has an especial role on the political international scene, one that could not easily be assumed by any other country.  For the US is promulgating even as it is developing, the system of technocracy, in which what are typically taken to be political decisions are relegated to some technocatic domain, where persons gain universal training along generally accepted policies that enable them to make technical decisions in areas of government, industry--for the good of society. 

     With the proliferation of think-tanks in government have arisen a cadre of technocrats that occupy leadership roles in governmental agencies, e.g., the EPA; but not only are technocats to be found in such positions, but also in the military (with the advancement of military science); and in decision-making positions in business and industry, where science and technology are revered.  The sharp maneuvers of the Federal Reserve during the financial banking crisis of 2008 demonstrate the way in which technocrats can institute remedy in any field of endeavor involving transactions among the citizenry; and can install technological improvements.

     I say that technocracy is an evolving, developing concept that, if the US is given reign in human affairs, will mean a boon to problem-solving and societal progress.  It was first enunciated by John Dewey, the American philosopher at Columbia University in the 1930s.  It is the wave of the future that should become pervasive world-wide; but without the acquiesence of nations to US leadership this advantage to human progress will be dropped, perhaps lost.  Critical to this project are the use of capital to promote innovation; and regulatory rules enforced in all fields of endeavor by mankind..  Particularly, the US business  environment is a unique backdrop, where venture capital furthers social adoption of technological advances.