By Scott Steward

We have a Groundwater Sustainability Agency called the Yolo Subbasin Groundwater Agency (YSGA).  Evidently, the word "Sustainability" is optional when considering well permits in Yolo County, as Annie Main found out after a 2-year struggle to point out the obvious to the Yolo County Supervisors who voted 3 to 2 on April 8th last week to add another high capacity 350 gallons per minute corporate well to further drain Hungry Hollow's already well documented declining water table.  The Boundary Bend well could mean the end of her Good Humus third-generation farm.  What's worse, there are four more deep well applications on the way to Hungry Hollow.

You can't see our groundwater, but according to our Groundwater Sustainability Agency there are 346,000 acre feet that can be drawn from our 540,000 acres of ag land. That's 2.6 billion bathtubs worth of water.  That's our budget; use more and our invisible mega bathtub might not re-fill as high - ever.  Consider Annie Main, the most recent canary in a long line of canaries in the water coal mine, Yolo County the aquifer of choice for corporate tree crops (olives and nuts) and our County Supervisors, for now, the court of last resort.  

Hungry Hollow family farmers like Annie Main of Good Humus are under threat of disappearing. Her area of land is in a designated "Focus Area." Focus Areas are so named because of the historical steady Hungry Hollow drop in the water table and because it's taking forever to get decent monitoring wells into place to "understand" what locals have been saying for the last two decades (no more additional well capacity!).  

State and local water policy that was not enforced on April 8th.

By Scott Steward

Boundary Bend was cited by the County in August 2023 for its non-permitted well drilling in the Hungary Hollow region of Capay Valley. So how, after two years of evidence showing that the well is out of compliance, is County staff recommending upholding Boundary Bends agricultural well permit # 23-022W?  The County and Boundary Bend know that the new well is too big and too close to Good Humus farm. 

Good Humus and other family farms have already had to modify their wells to sustain their table crop farms. Nearly three generations of care have gone into the land craft of organic farming in Hungary Hollow. Without much help, these farms have entered our region's food markets and succeeded in producing some of the healthiest food on earth. Capay has inspired farm-to-fork land care nationally.  

Boundary Bend (application #23-022W) took advantage of one-time replacement well criteria that the county was obliged to put in place for farms and residents short on water following the seven-year drought. Replacement well designation was allowed for existing agricultural operations and drinking water. Boundary Bend did not meet the criteria for a replacement well. Instead of reapplying as a new well, Boundary hired lawyers at Kronick to lean on the county.

Here are some of the facts that show that Boundary Bend application #23-022W did not and does not qualify for the approved "replacement well" status. The application:

Joint Announcement by Sacramento Region Grassroots Organizations

(From press release)

WHAT: Mass Mobilization to Stop the Trump/Musk Corruption and Power Grab
WHEN:  April 5, 2025 11 a.m.
WHERE: State Capitol West Steps, Sacramento [and in multiple outlying areas*]

On April 5, local grassroots organizations from around the Sacramento region are calling on all people concerned about the direction of our country to join the 50501 Picnic Protest in tandem with the national Hands Off! mass rally to protest the Trump-Musk billionaire takeover and the Republican assault on our freedoms and our communities.

Events across the country, in major cities and small towns in every state, will show that the people—the majority—are taking action to stop the corruption and power grab.

Why we’re mobilizing on April 5th

By Alan Hirsch

Below is the core of Caltrans press release issued Wednesday 3/12 at 3:28pm announcing postponement of the Eastbound 50 Freeway in West Sac closure for this weekend. They say indefinitely—but it could be forever as they may figure out how to do the pavement rehab work while keeping some of regular 3 lanes up.

But if they reschedule total closure another weekend later in March, drivers will have to contend traffic from with opening of the A’s and River cat baseball season to Sutter Health Park.

This will may push out the work… and could conflict with the schedule to begin work to widened i-80 with toll lane- which is set to begin just next month. The Toll Lane construction work - Phase I of it-- will continue into 2028.

For previous articles on evolving (potential) freeway closure, click here , here2.and here3. 

Note the bike lane will also be continue thru Monday 3/17 next week- but could go longer as Caltrans notes unhelpfully “weather permitting”.

Editorial: This indefinite postponement could be due to pushbacks to Caltrans from local city council members and state representatives- after receiving calls from constituents. We will likely never know.  It is strange the freeway closure was not announced or discussed during YoloTD board meetings even though Caltrans was present - only in public comment. One wonders, for example, if there will be a total west bound closure too.

Commentary by Heather Caswell with Jonathan Greenberg

Our decision to threaten the City of Davis with a class action lawsuit on behalf of members of the Downtown Davis Business Association (DDBA) was not made easily, or quickly. For years, an organization that was created to support the interests of hundreds of dues-paying businesses has instead been co-opted to support controversial political positions promoted by the Davis City Council, as detailed below.

As stated in the California Supreme Court’s landmark 1976 Stanson v. Mott decision, a “fundamental precept of this nation’s democratic electoral process is that the government may not ‘take sides’ in election contests or bestow an unfair advantage on one of several competing factions.”

This means that it would be illegal if the Davis City Council, even indirectly, allowed a special tax dedicated to promoting the interest of downtown businesses be used to promote political speech benefiting city council positions on public initiatives.

We believe that this is what the DDBA has done,  through an unaccountable board of directors, which holds its power through irregular and potentially illegal elections

The DDBA has done this through an un-accountable board of directors, which holds its power through irregular and potentially illegal elections. Fewer than 10% of the organization's members voted in the January 23 election that I ran in. Three quarters of the dozens of DDBA businesses that I spoke to never received email notifications of the election. Not a single one was notified by the organization that they could run for its board. And at a time when all DDBA Board meetings are held over zoom, members, for no good reason, were required to vote in person within a one hour period, instead of online, at their convenience.

When Ezra Beeman and I ran to help create a more responsive board, the existing board members and the DDBA Executive Director colluded to change the election rules at the last minute, while they selectively recruited other former board members to show up to run or vote against us. Without any mention during the board meetings prior to the election, they added four seats to the seven member board two days before the election (the DDBA website today still states that they are a seven member board). They then delayed the printing of ballots for three days to print them just hours before the election, so that the names of their friendly candidates could be included.

Attorney Roger Dreyer Calls Out the City’s Failure to Take Responsibility Until the Last Minute

For Immediate Release: Kellie DeMarco

Woodland, CA — After a Yolo County jury unanimously found the City of Davis fully responsible for the tragic death of Jennifer Comey, a wife and mother killed by a falling tree limb in a city park sandbox next to her toddler, the City immediately pushed out a carefully crafted press release in an effort to control the narrative. But here’s what they aren’t telling the public.

For four years, the City of Davis denied responsibility, instead blaming private contractor DRG Inc. for the tragedy. It wasn’t until one week before trial ended—a clear PR stunt—that the City finally admitted fault while continuing to point fingers at DRG. However, the jury saw through the City’s tactics and ruled unanimously (12–0) that DRG was not responsible in any way. Instead, the jury held Davis 100% accountable for failing to inspect and maintain its own trees.

“What was most impressive about this case is that the jury was not distracted by the misleading tactics of the attorneys for the City,” said Roger Dreyer, attorney for the Pitts family. “They focused on the devastating loss this family has endured. This jury’s decision was a remarkable demonstration of how citizens do their job for the public.”

THE FACTS THE CITY WON’T SHARE

Expect cut thru traffic in Davis, Woodland, West Sac

By Alan “Lorax” Hirsch & Caltrans

Official Caltrans map routing Freeway Traffic onto local streets in West Sac

The essence of Thursdays Caltrans press release is simple, but its repercussions to hundreds of thousands of people are wider ranging: “I-50 east bound to Sacto in West Sacramento will be 100% closed (after the split) for 3 1/2 days, from Fri. 3/7 9pm to Tues. 3/11 5am.

Its impacts will be felt by hundreds of thousands of travelers- including Sac airport users from Yolo/Solano now facing congestion on I-5 causeway, workers on Monday, and of course Tahoe vacationers on Friday & Saturday. Those dependent on the bus will also be affected:

80,000 cars cross the Yolo causeway-- each direction -- every day.

There will also be an impact on local travel inside Davis, West Sacramento, and Woodland.  Local residents can expect cut thru traffic delays as, traffic is likely to backup over the causeway deep into Davis and traffic will cut up Pole Line and 113 and backup the I-5 Causeway to the airport as has happen on other occasions. And of course south Mace in Davis will likely be effected.  West Sac travel on West Capitol and Industrial & Jefferson will be “affected” as they parallel the closed freeway section- as will Yolo buses that use this segment.

(From press release) Are you passionate about the environment and eager to make a difference in your community? The Community Mercantile in Davis, California, is looking for dedicated volunteers like you!

Join Us in Our Mission

At the Community Mercantile, we believe in the power of reuse and recycling. Our goal is to divert items from the waste stream and give them a second life, reducing environmental impact and promoting sustainability. We need community-minded individuals who share our vision and are ready to contribute to this important cause.

How You Can Help

The following comments were emailed by the Sierra Club Yolano Group to Dara Dungworth, Principal Planner City of Davis Department of Community Development, on Feb 25. 2025, concerning the Village Farms DEIR. (See https://www.davisite.org/2025/02/draft-eir-for-village-farms-released-for-public-comment.html).

1. Alternatives
   
   a) Recommend Consideration of Co-op Housing - Evidence suggests that a housing co-op model can provide stable, affordable workforce housing for individuals and families (see California Cooperatives: Today's Landscape of Worker, Housing and Childcare Cooperatives). Providing affordable local housing for people currently commuting to Davis from outside Davis will lessen the VMT and GHG emissions impact of this project and should be considered as an effective mitigation measure.
   
   We recommend that the FEIR analyze as a Project Alternative a co-op model (perhaps similar to Dos Pinos or Muir Woods) as a supplement to the proposed starter-home program to explore the environmental benefits that such a model could produce.
   
   b) Recommend Consideration of Alternative Only Below Channel A - On December 8, 2023, the County of Yolo Planning, Building, and Public Works Departments sent a letter to the City of Davis commenting on the Village Farms NOP which stated, "The Draft EIR should consider a reduced footprint alternative that defines the northern project boundary south of the existing Davis Drain and explores the opportunity for increased density, thereby maximizing housing options without compromising economic returns". Quoting from Cal. Code Regs. Tit. 14: "Because an EIR must identify ways to mitigate or avoid the significant effects that a project may have on the environment (Public Resources Code Section 21002.1), the discussion of alternatives shall focus on alternatives to the project or its location which are capable of avoiding or substantially lessening any significant effects of the project, even if these alternatives would impede to some degree the attainment of the project objectives, or would be more costly. "
   
   We similarly recommend that a reduced footprint alternative be examined with its northern project boundary south of the existing Davis Drain to determine if building 1,000 or more units on such a reduced footprint can provide increased density and maximize housing options while preserving more trees and habitat and still meeting project objectives.

There are many immigrants throughout the country who have become frightened for their future due to recent changes in immigration policies.  Many of us are concerned about the impact of Trump’s new policies on our immigrant neighbors. We share Yolo County with a large number of immigrants and their families, and their contributions to our economy, agriculture, labor force, and rich diverse cultures are significant.  

Please join us for “Immigrants at Risk-What You Can Do” to learn about the current immigration enforcement, how it is affecting our immigrant neighbors and how we can assist them during this stressful time.  The program will be on Monday, February 24 from 7-8:30 pm and is open to the public.  The evening will include a multi-speaker panel discussion covering the legal landscape, hearing firsthand from local immigrants and the director of a refugee center in Sacramento. The program is sponsored by the Social Justice Committee at Congregation of Bet Haverim along with support from Yolo Interfaith Immigration Network (YIIN).  Please register in advance here. The event will be at Congregation Bet Haverim at 1715 Anderson Road in Davis. The program is free, and donations are helpful to cover the costs.  Any questions can be directed to John Katonah at [email protected]. 

By Alan “Lorax” Hirsch

On February 23, 2021, a mother, Jennipher Comey,  was struck, pinned down and killed  by a failed city tree that stood beside the  sandbox in Slide Hill Park in east Davis. As also reported in the Enterprise Sunday, the event occurred  in front of her 3 year old daughter Marjory.   Two weeks ago, after four years, the city admitted its inadequate tree care, and thus liability. This admission only seems to have occurred after an under-oath deposition by the former city arborist of the time. Robb Cain. He stated there was no city record of this tree ever being pruned in past, no current plan to ever inspect it for safety- or any future schedule to even do any routine tree maintenance  pruning in the Slide Hill Park.  This according to Davey Resource Group lawyer, a codependent in the case and the company the city hired to do the city’s $250,000 urban forest master plan (UFMP) later in 2021.

In contrast, professional arboriculture “standard of care” practice calls for paying heighten attention to trees that overhang a children’s play area or picnic tables- as the fallen one did.  Slide Hill Park’s trees were ignored, not even on the city’s minimal 7 year “block pruning” cycle street trees get according to Davey.

The delay in admission meant the city seems to have made no payment to support the family over the last four years since the incident. During that period the now orphan girl and her surviving father left Davis and moved to Ohio to be near family for support not received in Davis.

The following was emailed to [email protected] and [email protected] on Feb 7, 2025 with a request that the memo be forwarded to the Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors

From:  Alan Pryor, Chair – Sierra Club Yolano Group
To:       Yolo County Planning Commissioners
Date:   February 7, 2025
Re:       The Gravel Mining Companies Operating Adjacent to Cache Creek are Continually Violating Numerous Provisions of the Yolo County Surface Mine Reclamation Ordinance

On behalf on the Sierra Club Yolano Group, attached please find a report in which numerous violations of Yolo County’s Surface Mining Reclamation Ordinance are disclosed and documented.   Download Yolo County Gravel Mining C

Further, these violations were not disclosed last year to the Planning Commission when it was charged with certifying the 2023 Annual Compliance Report regarding off-channel gravel mining as required by County Code.

Instead, as explained in the attached report, false representations that all of the mining companies were in compliance with the provisions of all applicable mining ordinances in the State and Yolo County were made to the Planning Commission in Findings of Fact statements.

The ongoing failure by the County to enforce the provisions of the applicable mining ordinances in Yolo County has resulted in continued production and bioaccumulation of methyl mercury to excessive levels in fish in most of the impoundment pits on the mining sites and required Lake Management Plans to remediate the problems have not been implemented. These compliance shortcomings have also resulted in the ongoing failure by the mining companies to fully restore formerly mined farmland back to its pre-existing soil quality and crop productivity. 

This is fully explained in the attached report entitled, “Yolo County Gravel Mining Companies are Continually Violating Numerous Provisions of the Surface Mining Reclamation Ordinance_2-7-25”.

We request that the Planning Commission refrain from wrongfully certifying that mining companies are in compliance with Yolo County mining ordinances in the future. We additionally request that the Planning Commission not permit or entitle any future new mines or extensions or expansions of existing mines in Yolo County until such mining companies are in full compliance with all existing ordinances.

Toward that end,  we ask that the following questions be addressed with detailed written answers.

From the Department of Shameless Self-Promotion, I bring you an announcement of an upcoming event for my recently-published book: The Land Is Our Community: Aldo Leopold’s Environmental Ethic for the New Millennium (University of Chicago Press).   Mark your calendars now for this free event, one month from today!

Event info:

Hello fellow advocates for our homeless neighbors,

Please see the letter below. We have created a "Compassion Fund" to provide motel rooms for people who need them this winter. The letter explains this more in detail, but if you can find it in your hearts to contribute, your donation will go a long way toward getting vulnerable folks off the street and into a warm, safe environment, at least temporarily. Each motel night costs $80-100, depending on size and amenities.  Donate here.

Secondly, Davis Community Meals and Housing and HEART of Davis would like to make Christmas and New Year's Days special for the guests of the congregate Winter Shelter (1111 H Street). Please consider signing up to bring food for lunch and breakfast on those days. More information here:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0D4CAEAA23A46-53931782-christmas

Additionally, we need 1 volunteer per shift to help out on Christmas day, Wednesday 12/25/2024 and New Years Day, Wednesday 1/1/2025. The volunteers need to be over  the age of 18. Responsibilities will be: passing out food and other resources and making sure no one but shelter guests enter Paul's Place.

The shifts available on the 25th and 1st are:

The following was emailed to Chancellor May on December 11, 2024.

Dear Chancellor May: 

We write with appreciation for the actions campus staff are taking to reduce UC Davis’ greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and to ask you to ensure that UCD sets strong goals for Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions reductions in response to UCOP’s call for campus targets for all UCs to be submitted by 1/1/2025 (for background see here).

Specifically, we would like UCD to officially establish targets of 75% reductions in Scope 1 and 2 emissions below the 2019 baseline by 2030, 81% by 2035, and 95% by 2040, which are the feasible potential reductions identified by our own Fossil Fuel-Free Pathway Plan (FFFPP).

We view the strong intermediate 2030 target from our campus FFFPP as particularly important, given the urgency of the climate crisis. Communicating around near-term goals that are meaningful for our undergraduate students will show them our commitment to leading on the climate crisis. 

We would also like to encourage campus to accelerate the process for tracking and reducing Scope 3 emissions (those generated off-campus, for example by travel and commuting). The state is requiring public and private companies to submit annual reports of such emissions by 2030 (a date which may be moved up to 2027), and strong near-term Scope 3 reductions will be needed to set us on a track toward UCOP’s goal to “reduce total emissions (scope 1, 2, and 3) at least 90% by 2045 without relying on carbon offsets.” We would like to be a part of campus discussions around Scope 3 targets and processes.

Finally, we would like to let you know that a group of us has formally asked the Academic Senate to consider a detailed proposal for a Climate Crisis General Educational (GE) Requirement so that all UCD undergraduates will graduate with some background in climate science, action, and justice concepts. This one-course requirement would probably be allowed to overlap with other GEs so as not to increase time-to-graduation. We are happy to provide further details, and hope we can count on your support to make UCD a climate education leader. UC San Diego adopted such a requirement last year, starting for the class entering Fall 2024.

(From press release) Eleven nonprofit social service groups in Yolo County have received grants totaling $15,950 from a fund established by Congregation Bet Haverim, Jewish Fellowship of Davis. The Biberstein Social Action Fund was established in 2002 to honor longtime Davis residents Ernie and Hannah Biberstein for their contributions to community service and social justice. (Hannah Biberstein passed away in April of 2011.)  The fund sponsors efforts to address problems related to poverty, discriminations, abuse and neglect.

The following organizations were funded:

• Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA)
• Downtown Streets Team (DST)
• Grace in Action
• HEART of Davis, formerly Interfaith Rotating Winter Shelter
• iDream – The Mac Give Back Project
• Make It Happen Yolo County
• Meals on Wheels Yolo County (MOW Yolo)
• Mercer Veterinary Clinic
• Personal Care Pantry (WUMC)
• Yolo Community Care Continuum (YCCC)
• Yolo Interfaith Immigration Network (YIIN)

“We are very happy to make these awards,” said Ernie Biberstein. “We think they will make a meaningful difference to the organizations selected and to the Yolo County community.

The winners, who were chosen by a committee of Bet Haverim members, will be recognized at a ceremony at the Bet Haverim Religious School in Davis in February.

“In the current uncertain environment, we feel that it is even more important to show our religious school students, and the community at large, the value of supporting the needs of those who are most vulnerable,” continued Biberstein.

Biberstein Social Action Fund awards are given annually on the basis of proposals made to the synagogue committee. Contributions to the fund may be made through Congregation Bet Haverim, 1715 Anderson Road, Davis, CA 95616. Please note that the donation is for the Biberstein Social Action Fund.

By Dan Carson and Elaine Roberts Musser

This fall, Davis Mayor Josh Chapman and Councilmember Bapu Vaitla asked our city commissioners for feedback on a proposal they offered for “clarification of how items are placed on a commission meeting agenda.” Their plan, which may come before council in the coming weeks, would empower even a single councilmember to sidetrack any commission-initiated proposal he or she didn’t like, for any reason.

Commissioners pushed back against the proposal in a recent series of commission hearings:

David Sandino, Fiscal Commission: “The danger of this is [it] is pretty bureaucratic … I would personally be comfortable with the chairperson working with staff to craft agendas, and not have to have additional review by a council subcommittee or a council liaison…It seems to me too many cooks in the kitchen… I’d hate to stifle commission thought and initiative because you had a few major examples that have ruffled some feathers.”

Mitchell Marubayashi, Fiscal Commission: “I don't really understand… the problem that this is solving…”

John Reuter, Climate & Environmental Justice Commission: “This is something the whole city is going to have to live with… If someone has to check on every agenda item, this is a logistics nightmare…an outrageous effort and waste of time…. I think we should be allowed to set [our] own agenda… If you go down that flow chart…where does the commission’s point of view come in?”

Today's article is a video against Measure Q.  This was going to be my testimony before the Davis City Council, but they didn't meet last week.  Or the week before that.  Or next week.  What do they think this is, summer break? 

Here's the three-minute video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2mXBTMCgRo

Of course, as always at Al's Corner, other subjects welcome!  ;-)

Davis Citizen  (sung to the tune of "Witchita Lineman" by Glen Campbell)

I am a citizen of Davis
And I bike the main roads
Searching in the street for another pah-ah-ot hole

I hear far-lefties call “more taxes!”
I can hear the fire fighters whine
They say the City budget
Is still on the line!

You say we have to save the planet
Cuz it don't look like rain
And the more we subsidize housing
The more the budget won't stand the strain

You say you need Q more than want Q
And you need Q for for all time
But this doubling of the local sales tax
Is all a lie!

Vote NO on Measure Q, Mildred!

(Original Glen Campbell version:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8P_xTBpAcY )

By Scott Steward

I am motivated to keep Venessa Chang, Lina Khan and Julie Su in power (see bios below). These women are in charge of our government’s renewable energy future, market, and wage equity.  That goes very much away if Trump wins. 

Against Trump’s authoritarian challenge, good men and good women have come together in associations where differences are put aside to elect Harris/Walz.

Indivisible Yolo (Indivisibleyolo.org) has built a platform of action here at home. For the next two weeks, the aim is to prevail in defending democracy.

Get involved. IY has already paved the way - training at no cost.  indivisibleyolo.org.  Weekdays and weekends. Canvassing to win congressional districts in California. Calls to win abortion rights in Arizona. Volunteers virtually go where they are needed.   You need a computer and a cell phone to be fully able to help.   It's the most important 2 weeks ever.

When we call, text, knock we win!  Come join in!    

(this message is provided by the author alone and not any organization)

Storer Lecturship in the Life Sciences: How Decades of Climate Denial, Disinformation and Doublespeak by Big Oil Fueled the Climate Crisis

Tuesday October 22, 4:00 - 7 pm ARC Ballroom (and Zoom)

Register here: https://bit.ly/102224StorerReg (or use QR code in flyer).   All are welcome.  Please register soon to help ensure an accurate headcount.

Speakers: