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A McNaughton Newspaper Locally owned and operated since 1897

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Official legal newspaper of general circulation for the city of Davis and county of Yolo. Published in The Davis Enterprise building, 325 G St., Davis, CA. Mailing address: P.O. Box 1470, Davis, CA 95617. Phone: 530-756-0800. An award-winning newspaper of the California Newspaper Publishers Association.

Speak out President

California climate, “indicates a very slight upward trend in total water year precipitation, on the order of 3-5% by midcentury, assuming one degree centigrade of additional warming.”

The fact that we are likely to experience, on average, as much or more yearly precipitation in Northern California as we have in the past doesn’t mean that climate change won’t bring on serious water challenges.

One problem, as noted above, is storage. If we have less snow and lack capacity in our reservoirs to hold extra rain in wet years, we could be in trouble every summer and fall ahead. This issue will be compounded when we have extended droughts, a problem the models expect in the coming decades.

Another challenge will be greater water loss in a hotter climate.

Ullrich told me, “Even if we see increases in precipitation, there is also an increase in evapotranspiration that will limit some of the benefits of increased precipitation.”

According to the USGS, “Evapotranspiration includes water evaporation into the atmosphere from the soil surface, evaporation from the capillary fringe of the groundwater table and evaporation from water bodies on land.

“Evapotranspiration also includes transpiration, which is the water movement from the soil to the atmosphere via plants. Transpiration occurs when plants take up liquid water from the soil and release water vapor into the air from their leaves.”

As I noted in a November column, covering “4,000 miles of irrigation channels with photovoltaic solar panels … could save around 63 billion gallons of water decisions from the comfort of their bubbles without genuinely understanding the consequences of their actions. How long will we continue to blindly support the policies of our legislature without holding them accountable for the harm they are causing?

Our state has become a violent drug den, increasing homelessness and the loss of good businesses. Over the last weekend, an entire family was murdered in Tulare County, including an infant and a sleeping grandmother. The cartels are suspected of committing this heinous crime. This is unacceptable, and

202-224-3553; email: padilla.senate. gov/public/index.cfm/e-mail-me

House of Representatives

annually that is lost to evaporation.” something needs to be done to address it. We need leaders who will listen to the concerns of their constituents and take action to make our communities safe again.

I’m not sure how many billions of gallons of water we are currently losing due to the evaporation of water from our state’s reservoirs. But another way to reduce evaporative loss — which has proved successful in China and Europe — is covering reservoirs with solar panels.

When we have wet rainyears — Sacramento is todate 207% of normal, according to data from NOAA — we are going to need to increase our storage capacity. One option is building new reservoirs; another is raising dams.

West of Maxwell, there are plans to begin construction in 2024 on the Sites Reservoir. It is presently expected to be ready by 2030.

According to the Sites Project Authority, the reservoir could have captured 120,000 acre-feet of water between Jan. 3 and Jan. 15, if it had been operational. When Sites is filled, it will hold 1.5 million acre-feet of water that is pumped uphill from the Sacramento River.

“Sites Reservoir would increase Northern California’s water storage capacity by up to 15 percent,” the SPA claims.

Raising Shasta Dam is also possible. Elevating the height of the dam 18.5 feet, as current plans envision, would increase the capacity in Shasta Lake by 14% or 634,000 acre-feet.

Climate change is a big problem going forward. We not only need to do what we can to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We need to act now to adapt to the reality science tells us is coming.

— Rich Rifkin is a Davis resident; his column is published every other week. Reach him at Lxartist@yahoo.com.

I urge my fellow Californians to stand and demand better from our leaders. We deserve to live in safe and prosperous communities, and it is time for our politicians to take responsibility for their actions and make the necessary changes to achieve that.

Troy Osborne Woodland

We welcome your letters

The Hon. Joe Biden, The White House, Washington, D.C., 20500; 202-456-1111 (comments), 202-456-1414 (switchboard); email: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact U.S. Senate

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, 331 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C., 20510; 202-224-3841; email: http://feinstein. senate.gov/public/index.cfm/e-mail-me Sen. Alex Padilla, B03 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C., 20510;

Rep. John Garamendi (3rd District), 2368 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, D.C., 20515; 202-225-1880.

District office: 412 G St., Davis, CA 95616; 530-753-5301; email: visit https://garamendi.house.gov/contact/ email

Governor

Gov. Gavin Newsom, State Capitol, Suite 1173, Sacramento, CA 95814; 916-4452841; email: visit https://govapps.gov. ca.gov/gov40mail/

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Mail letters to The Davis Enterprise, P.O. Box 1470, Davis, CA 95617; bring them to 315 G St.; fax them to 530-756-1668; or email them to newsroom@davis enterprise.net.