Brilliant Thoughts

Brilliant Thoughts WATER WISDOM (Continued from page 5) of the community, and (2) Protect and preserve the extensive landscaping and Born London, 1933. Mother Canadian. Father a British civil servant. World War by Ashleigh Brilliant “garden” atmosphere of Montecito. Is Montecito Vulnerable to Future Droughts? II childhood spent mostly in Toronto and Washington, D.C. Berkeley PhD. in American History, 1964. Living in Santa Barbara since 1973. No children. Best-known for his illustrated epigrams, called “Pot-Shots”, now a series of 10,000. Email ashleigh@west.net or visit www.ashleighbrilliant.com Worriers and Warriors Between 2012 and 2019, the County of Santa Barbara experienced extraordinary drought conditions, including seven of the driest consecutive years on record. Tree ring analysts predict that California is actually facing not only a drought, but the strong possibility of a “megadrought” which may involve a decades-long period of low precipitation and dry soil moisture. Prudent planners look for the worst case scenario, and smile broadly if buck

It isn’t often that I make my over-wrought by the years-long siege ets of “raindrops keep falling on our heads” in Montecito. Too much water is a Psychiatrist laugh – but he did, that he quarrels with the best fighter problem we would all love to have. The job of the current MWD Directors is to when, telling him about the he has, Achilles, who consequently make sure Montecito has adequate water, drought or no drought. events of a recent day, I said, “I was so busy, I forgot to take my anxiety withdraws for an extended period, and goes off and sulks in his tent. How Much Water Does Montecito-Summerland Use Per Year? pill.” But different warriors have difMWD water sales peaked in 2008 at 6,518 acre feet per year (AFY). For the next

Yes, I do actually take (in small ferent ways of coping with their six years after 2008, water sales ranged from a high of 5,964 in 2009 to a low of doses) a pill that is supposed to have neuroses. Some write poems, as if to 4,715 AFY in a wet 2011. One acre foot is equal to 893 gallons, or the planned water a calming effect, and does seem to justify the madness in which they are usage of a suburban family household, daily. That’s 326,000 gallons per annum. help at certain times. But it is also engaged. Back in the 1640s, Richard In 2015, after water rationing and mandatory conservation were imposed, true that, the more activities I have Lovelace apologized to his sweetMWD water sales plummeted to 3,331 AFY, or 50% of the water sales in 2008, to keep me busy, the less need I seem heart, Lucasta, for leaving her, to and have remained at about that level since. The District’s Future Supply and to have for any artificial chemical go off and fight in the current war, Demand Study assumes a demand of some 3,850 AFY in wet years, rising to soothing. saying: possibly 5,000 AFY in dry years. But what is this “anxiety” anyway? Isn’t it what, in the good old I could not love thee, dear, so much, Loved I not honor more. Are Our Current Water Supply Sources Reliable? pre-psychobabble days, we used to Our biggest supplier, the State Water Project, (SWP) promises to deliver call “worry”? I don’t know any songs I’m not sure about this “honor,” 3,300 AFY of allocated water for Montecito from snowmelt in the High Sierra about anxiety – but we all know the which so many have died defending. Mountains through the California Conduit and down the Coastal Branch century-old ditty about packing up Even our own U.S. marines sing an Aqueduct to the Lake Cachuma Reservoir, 400 miles to the south, and on to your troubles in your old kit bag, anthem in which they proudly proMontecito. with its heartening refrain, claim themselves to be: Unfortunately, State Water has a long history of being overpromised and

“What’s the use of worrying? First to fight for right and freedom, under-delivered. Depending upon the volume of snowmelt, deliveries of State

It never was worthwhile!” And to keep our honor clean. Water to Montecito have varied between 5% in 2012, a dry year, to 85% in 2018, a wet year. The average delivery from the State Water Program for Montecito

Today, the phrase “No worries!” I’m also not sure why Napoleon lies in the 60% range of promised allocations. has become so common in Australian is so often depicted with his right The aging State Water Project, designed to serve 23 million California resispeech that it’s been called that counhand in his vest, as if to calm his dents, is now being asked to serve 40 million residents. Its 21 dams and more try’s “national motto.” tremors. But a much more striking than 700 miles of aqueducts, canals, pipelines, and pumping stations are energy

But isn’t it natural to have worries, example of leadership attempting to inefficient and badly in need of repair. Some 70% of the increasingly expensive especially about things which may be cope with its own anxieties is in the State Water Project water is used by urban areas in Southern California and the important to us, but which we can’t “worry balls” (two steel balls) which San Francisco Bay area, while 30% is sent to the Central Valley to be used for control? In the unlikely event that Captain Queeg, the central character agricultural irrigation. you are running short of things to of Herman Wouk’s 1951 novel The Other sources are also rainfall dependent. Surface reservoirs like Lake worry about, you can always replenCaine Mutiny constantly rolls in his Cachuma are subject to massive evaporation. Pipeline capacity into Cachuma is ish your supply just by turning on hand when he is under conditions too small to transport purchased water and State water in times of drought. Any the news. In fact, the news media of stress. This proved such a popular unused MWD carryover water stored in Cachuma becomes the first water to be seem to consider it their principal job idea that they were later marketed as spilled over the dam and lost forever when Cachuma fills. Who can forget the to keep our anxieties stoked. “Queeg Balls.” loss of a year’s worth of MWD water stored in the San Luis Reservoir in 2017

And of course, a chief source of General Eisenhower, just before the when additional water from the Orville Dam was pumped through the Delta concern is all the conflicts going on D-Day invasion in 1944, resorted to and into the San Luis Reservoir? in the world. But, except for the another method of relieving tremenJameson Reservoir is increasingly filling with silt and cannot be dredged econames and places, this is hardly dous strain. He wrote an “In Case nomically, thanks to environmental restrictions. Debris, soot and ash from the news. In fact, there has rarely been of Failure,” letter. In it, he said that Thomas Wildfire shut down water deliveries from Jameson for almost a year. any time in history when organized killing of some kind wasn’t going “Our landings... have failed to gain a satisfactory foothold, and I have More State Water is Needed for Agriculture on somewhere. You might therefore withdrawn the troops. My decision The thirsty Central Valley of California covers approximately 18,000 square think that the people who find themto attack... was based upon the best miles, about 11% of California’s total land area. Its watershed comprises 60,000 selves most closely involved in such information available. If any blame square miles, or over a third of California’s area. About one-sixth of the irrigatunpleasantness are particularly good or fault attaches to the attempt, it is ed land in the U.S. lies in California’s Central Valley. candidates for anxiety – and you’d mine alone.” Fortunately, that letter The Central Valley is the single most productive agricultural region in be right. never had to be released. California, and one of the most productive in the world. It provides more than

When it comes to armed forces, Apart from writing (and taking half of the fruits, vegetables, and nuts grown in the United States, including those in the lowest ranks, especialpills) one of my own time-tested tomatoes, almonds, grapes, cotton, apricots, and asparagus. Agricultural proly in wartime, may not be happy techniques for coping with anxiety ductivity relies on irrigation from both surface water diversions and groundabout their chances of being killed is singing. Besides the “old kit bag,” water pumping from wells. More than seven million acres of the valley are or maimed, but, apart from that, another of my favorite songs in such irrigated. The valley also demands water for its urban cities, including the state all they have to do is follow orders. situations was made famous by capitol, Sacramento as well as Fresno, Bakersfield, Redding, Stockton, Modesto It’s the ones responsible for giving Woody Guthrie. I’ll leave you with and Chico. the orders who are more properly plagued with anxiety. We can go the simple chorus: It takes a worried man to sing a worIs Desalination the Way to Go for All of Coastal California? back as far as Homer’s Iliad to see ried song. . . The California Department of Water Resources’ Water Plan Update has iden- Agamemnon, leader of the Greeks I’m worried now, but I won’t be woragainst Troy, who is apparently so ried long. •MJ WATER WISDOM Page 284 2 – 9 July 2020 • The Voice of the Village • MONTECITO JOURNAL 27

WATER WISDOM (Continued from page 27) tified the need for 275,000 AF of desalinated water by 2025. Given California’s growing need for more agricultural water, it is becoming increasingly challenging to provide reliable water for urban areas on the California Coast.

Montecito sits on the front doorstep of the Pacific Ocean, the largest reservoir in the world, designed by God and built by nature without any help from CEQA. The Pacific Ocean is larger than all of the Earth’s land areas combined. It covers 30% of the Earth’s surface, the largest water mass on the planet. It holds 578 quadrillion acre feet of water. It is available and inexhaustible.

Does Desal Use Too Much Energy?

There is an argument that desalination uses too much electricity. Desal energy costs are dropping rapidly as new desalination membrane technology becomes available. The City’s recommissioned Charles E. Meyer Desalination Plant uses 40% less energy than the original design built in 1992, greatly reducing its carbon footprint by using high-efficiency pumps, motors and improved filter technology.

Whenever environmentalists complain about the high cost of energy in desalination, I am reminded that the current California State Water Project is the #1 largest single consumer of power in the state with a mammoth net usage of 5,100 Gigawatt hours (GWh) per annum. Why?

State Water has to be pumped 2,882 feet over the Tehachapi Mountains, with 1,926 feet at the Edmonston Pumping Plant alone, the highest water lift system in the world. In addition, each time Montecito-bound State Water passes through any one of the seven pumping stations along the State Water Project’ delivery route, add at least an additional $100 per AF in energy cost to the Montecito water bill.

A Different View of Water Conservation

The thing about water is that it is not like oil or gas, where once used, it can never be replaced in nature. Today, we are reusing the same water used by our ancestors, millions of years ago. Here is where I get in trouble!

Water is everywhere. It is stored in oceans, streams, and rivers; trapped in shrinking glaciers of ice; in clouds, or mists or rainfall; in green plants; in underground aquifers; in dams or reservoirs; and even in plastic water bottles waiting to be consumed by water purists. 60% of our body weight is stored water. Water, like air, can be clean, dirty or full of salt. Its only problem is that water can be in all the wrong places and has to be moved or converted to potable water for human consumption.

Conserving water has become synonymous with “Saving the Planet.” Practically speaking, conserving water makes about as much sense as conserving air. If we destroy our green plants that clean the air and transform Montecito and our neighboring communities into a desert, air quality and environmentalists suffer.

You would think that the environmental community WOULD NOT object if Santa Barbara and Montecito-Summerland borrowed 10,000 AFY of saltwater per year and returned 10,000 AFY of fresh water per year to our ocean or groundwater aquifers.

Are Montecito Residents “Water Pigs?”

Based on water use per household Montecito water users could be considered “water pigs” compared to their neighbors in Santa Barbara, Goleta, and Carpinteria. However, much of Montecito is zoned for one-acre or more lot sizes. When the measurement yardstick is shifted to “water sales per acre” instead of “water sales per capita,” MWD water sales are comparable to Santa Barbara, Goleta, and Carpinteria.

What is this “Water Supply Agreement” with the City of Santa Barbara?

Negotiated over the last two years, the WSA between the City of Santa Barbara and the Montecito Water District calls for the city to provide MWD with 1,430 AFY (acre feet per year) of potable water for each of the next 50 years. Water deliveries will begin January 1, 2022 and end December 31, 2071. 1,430 AFY represents 38% of Montecito’s estimated need of 3,750 AFY. Water will be delivered to MWD in equal monthly amounts of 1,117 AF per month, even though Montecito water use skyrockets in June, July, and August. It will be delivered on a “take it or pay” purchase commitment.

This is NOT a desal agreement. The city has the right to sell potable water to MWD from any source the city chooses. This could be desal water blended with less expensive water from the city-owned Gibraltar Reservoir. It could be desal water blended with low cost purchased water that the city buys from other water districts; or it could be desal water blended with recycled city wastewater, as soon as treatment standards and state legislation allow highly treated wastewater to be blended with desal, or with other potable water sources. It is the desal plant safety valve that enables the City to enter into this Water Supply Agreement with District.

Is a 2.8% Increase in District Water Rates Justifiable?

Starting June 26, 2020, water rates in Montecito and Summerland will increase by 2.8% on water meter charges and variable water use charges, followed by four more years of 2.8% increases. However low volume users will get a DECREASE in rate. 73% of MWD customers are expected to see a decrease in their costs, or an increase of less than $20 per month. 19% of all customers are projected to see a monthly increase between $20 and $100 per month. The remaining 8%, all high-end users, are expected to see an increase of more than $100 per month.

The new Water Rates were structured with seven goals in mind: (1) Maintain existing rate revenues of roughly 25% from meter charges and 75% from variable use water charges; (2) Encourage conservation by actually reducing rates for low water users and penalizing high-end users; (3) Avoid steep rate increase shocks of greater than 3% a year; (4) Eliminate the emergency drought water surcharge imposed at the time of rationing, but now long outdated; (5) Reduce the number of usage tiers from 4 to 3; (6) Provide water rate certainty for the next five years.

The rate increase has been mistakenly characterized as a rate increase to fund a desal deal with the city. But a deeper dive reveals that 2.8% increase will also be used to pay down $5 million in debt principal; meet debt coverage requirements; cover anticipated added fixed charges from the State Water Program; and fund the capital costs of replacing aging pipelines, costs which have been deferred for years.

The Bottom Line

The City owns, operates, and maintains the desalination plant and the conveyance pipeline. The City keeps 100% of ownership and all the residual value. Montecito pays 47% of all costs of desal plant design, construction, operations, maintenance and administrative costs, in order to receive the equivalent of 47% of the water produced by the plant at its current capacity.

Montecito receives a reliable, droughtproof local supply of 1,430 AFY of potable water and achieves water security and water independence for the next 50 years. Sounds to me like a good deal for both parties. •MJ

LETTERS (Continued from page 6) our homes are here, while our family is here and while our friends are here, we all have a shot for happiness. Please don’t see my remarks as “eat the rich.” The materially wealthy have more options to use human resources. We have the opportunity and obligation to participate in our home. That is why we speak up, that is why we write letters, that is why we are here.

No offense to those who disagree. We disagree about the sanctity of peace and quiet. This is not L.A.

Jeffrey Schlossberg

Bridging the Gap

While I greatly enjoyed last week’s feature on the graduations of Montecito’s various student populations, it was a source of dismay and realization for me to notice that with the exception of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, there appeared to be no pictures of children of color. Every young person deserves the best possible educational experience. I am thrilled that the students at each respective school appeared to be the recipients of an exceptional academic environment. I only wish that Montecito was not so stratified and that all children of whatever demographic statistics could enjoy the same perks and benefits of belonging to institutions of similar status. Regardless of this, I do applaud the educators of Santa Barbara and Goleta schools who do an outstanding job of attempting to bridge the gap between the advantages that Montecito youth enjoy and others who are not so fortunate.

Elizabeth Araluce Mason

Why Not Play Hopscotch?

One of the longest legacies of this pandemic will be that children are deprived of opportunities to be outside and playing.

Research has proven that gross motor skills, such as throwing, catching, kicking, and riding a bike or scooter, are directly related to children’s cognitive development. Their bodies and brains need each other to develop to the best of their abilities. If kids aren’t in their bodies, it’s not triggering critical neural development. It all connects to the learning process.

Everyone: grandparents, aunts, uncles, parents, teachers, all share responsibility to get kids playing safely in parks, on the hiking trails, kicking the soccer ball, or riding their bikes. Indoors it is as simple as playing Hopscotch or yoga.

Sincerely,

Paul Orfalea

Audacious Foundation

We All Want the Same Thing

Writing about Divided America and the importance of National Unity Mr. Hazard mentions riots, arson, looting numerous times, but murder only once. Let’s put our priorities in place. One can always fix broken glass, but death is forever. Do we really need another round table discussion how to fight systematic racism and rebuild union? We do know what is wrong. We do know how to fix it! We all want the same thing. We do know the issue is national. Adding a few teachers to Head Start and telling “them” to start studying is not going to work this time. We need moral commitment to social and economic reparations for the 400 year of slavery, Jim Craw laws and slave patrols.

Donn Handy

Making Choices

Regarding your premise of all people are flawed… I Agree. I too Believe this. I am not the accomplished wordsmith you are, but I do see gaping holes in your central thesis.

If I remember, you were presented to us as the new Editor of the Montecito Journal by your history of

LETTERS Page 424

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Greek Revival building complete Central Station in New York, the blue with lots of marble and brass. As room in the White House and the that became too small a new Hall of Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles. Records was constructed, but sadly Groesbeck wasn’t given many in a Queen Anne style which didn’t instructions except to paint the histoblend with the larger building at all. ry of Santa Barbara on all four walls.

Now it was time to have a contest He had two helpers and was paid to choose an architect for a new court$9,000. It took them four months. He house. By now the town was interestbegan with the Canalinos (before the ed in a Spanish style building and a Chumash) Indians watching Juan Spanish town, white stucco walls and Cabrillo landing in Santa Barbara. red tile roofs. The city fathers chose (He may have landed on one of the first, second, third and fourth place Channel Islands.) The artist took some winners, but then had no money to liberties. If you notice the ship is build with. Finally nature intervened supposed to be anchored out, but the in 1925 with a giant earthquake which anchor is on the side of the ship. The struck down the courthouse and the sails are wide open to the wind. In Hall of Records. Now was the time real life it would have sailed away but to start anew. The second place winartistically this looked better. ner was chosen for the job, William Then in 1602 along came Vizcaino, a Mooser II. He knew about Andalusian Spanish explorer and mapmaker. He architecture (the southwest part of arrived December 4 which was Saint Spain where the Alhambra palace is Barbara’s feast day. Hence our name located in Granada). Also Mooser’s and claim of the territory for Spain. architect son had lived in Spain and The next part of the mural is when knew all about Andalusia so he came Mexico was independent of Spain back from Europe to help his dad. beginning in 1822 and only lasting

The town had never had a plan that until 1846. Captain John Fremont all agreed on so they went to the city descended through San Marcos Pass architect J. Wilmer Hershey and asked and claimed Santa Barbara for the him to draw them a quick sketch. United States. They were in a hurry. Lo and behold The third wall portrays what makes the group liked it and so began our Santa Barbara’s economic engine current courthouse. A $700,000 bond was passed but expenses went up to run. First came minerals: oil, silver and diatomaceous earth. Next came The clock tower at the Courthouse almost $1.4 million. Now what? A cattle: thousands, giving hides and islands filming the story of Peter Pan, stroke of luck. The Rio Grande Oil Co. tallow until the big draught in the silent and in black and white. struck oil at Ellwood, west of Santa 1800s. Lastly agriculture: strawberThe back wall shows the Chumash Barbara. Revenue from the oil tax paid ries, broccoli and grapes, grapes, Indians working on the Mission – the for the rest of the courthouse. And grapes. When I first came here there fourth (various disasters had occurred amazingly it was finished in just two were only 12 wineries in Santa Ynez including an earthquake in 1812) months before the stock market crash Valley and one in Santa Barbara. Now since 1786 when our Mission was in 1929. there are over 200 in the Valley and the tenth in a line of 21 in California.

Now to decorate the Mural Room, dozens in town with as many tasting There are also images on this wall artist Dan Groesbeck was chosen. rooms. of characters from Hollywood like Everyone had loved the large paintOn the same wall there is a painting Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Robin Hood, ing of Juan Cabrillo’s arrival in 1542 of California’s symbol, the grizzly and Friar Tuck. The signature in the which hangs in the lobby just outside bear, known to be all brown. But this bottom left-hand corner is a forgery. the Mural Room that Groesbeck had one has a white nose – artistic license, After Groesbeck was paid and on painted for a local bank in 1924. He I guess. There is also a hedgehog his way to Europe they discovered had illustrated books for O. Henry, “crawling” across the painting. No the mural was unsigned. Upon being Joseph Conrad and Jack London and one knows why. There is a wish for asked to return and sign his work, he also worked in Hollywood for Cecil health and wealth (Saluda y Peseta) said, “No. Just have someone do it.” B. DeMille. He was to decorate all the and Thank God (Gracias a Dios). And so they did. walls and Giovanni Smeraldi was choPeeking out from around a tree is a The chandeliers were custom made sen to paint the ceiling. He was from young boy with a pixie hat on depictin the USA and weigh one thousand Palermo, Sicily and much influenced ing Peter Pan. What did he have to pounds. In fact everything in the by the cathedrals near his home. He do with Santa Barbara? At the time a Courthouse was made in the USA had worked in the Vatican, Grand film company was out on one of the except for the tiles that form the wainscot and a few others. They came

MEDICARE from Tunisia. When Mr. Steedman was building his George Washington Smith home, he and his family ANNUAL ELECTION PERIOD moved in the day of the earthquake because there was no damage. He Concerned? still needed more of the Tunisian tiles and ordered them. But nothing came. We Can Help! Two years later here came the tiles. Turns out the Chemla factory was small and couldn’t keep up with the Courthouse orders and Steedman’s. The carpet on the dais is original Call Us Now: (805) 683-3636 CA License # 0773817 as are the drapes. The varguenos (Spanish desks) on the dais are origi30 MONTECITO JOURNAL “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time.” –Barack Obama

nal too. The supervisors had no offices so they kept their papers in them, with the large piece of furniture for the chief. The benches are original and used to be covered in cowhides instead of vinyl. That is why they are the length of a cow and its hide.

In 2010 there was a fire in the ceiling causing smoke damage to the whole Mural Room. Insurance kicked in until it was discovered that the mural was on muslin, glued to the wall and then painted. The stucco behind the paintings was disintegrating and the room needed a total renovation to save the mural. This was finally accomplished in 2014. The workers left a square foot of the wall unrestored, so you can see just how bad it had been.

As you leave the Mural Room you will notice the large Spanish bolt located on the outside of the door. It seems if the bad guys were attacking, the lock should be on the inside. The joke that goes around is that if the supervisors didn’t make the right decision, they would just lock them in until they did. It may have been the architect’s little joke.

When the latest padlock goes away after the lockdown, come see your Courthouse. It presents itself as a grand palace and is frequently called the most beautiful public building in the United States. I think so. The rest of the Courthouse tour to be continued. The Courthouse is temporarily locked because of the pandemic. •MJ 2 – 9 July 2020