California Wildfires:‘It is devastation.' President Trump visits LA for tour of Palisades Fire destruction. President Trump's first trip of his second term will be to Southern California, where the two largest January wildfires destroyed 16,100 structures and forced widespread evacuations. By Jonathan Lloyd Published January 24, 2025
President
Trump's first trip of his second term in the White House included a stop in Los
Angeles to view wildfire damage.
California lawmakers approved a $2.5 billion fire relief package with bipartisan support that was signed Thursday by Gov. Newsom.
Lawmakers overwhelmingly approved the bills, which had bipartisan support, and now head to Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom's desk. The proposals include $2.5 billion for the state's emergency disaster response efforts such as evacuations, sheltering survivors and removing household hazardous waste. They also approved $4 million for local governments to streamline approvals for rebuilding homes, and $1 million to support school districts and help them rebuild facilities.
Newsom's administration said the state expects to be reimbursed by the federal government for the disaster relief funding.
According
to available information, California has approximately 51,560 square
miles of forested land.
Key
points about California forests:
Total
forested area: 51,560 square miles
Percentage
of state land covered by forests: Around one-third
Major concern: Wildfires, which are increasingly impacting California's forests
Removing brush from a square mile of forestland could cost anywhere between $20,000 and $100,000 depending on the density of the brush, terrain, access, and the method used for removal, with the average cost likely falling around $50,000;
The cost of removing all brush from California Foreses is $2.578 billion.
This
reservoir on the Sacramento River has been planned for decades. What’s taking
so long? by Alastair Bland February 27, 2023.
The Sites Reservoir — a $4.4 billion project to add dams and store more water that’ll be sent south — is still years away from completion. The final environmental report is expected this year, before construction of two large dams and other structures can begin.
Last century, California built dozens of large dams, creating the elaborate reservoir system that supplies the bulk of the state’s drinking and irrigation water. Now state officials and supporters are ready to build the next one.
The Sites Reservoir — planned in a remote corner of the western Sacramento Valley for at least 40 years — has been gaining steam and support since 2014, when voters approved Prop. 1, a water bond that authorized $2.7 billion for new storage projects.
Still, the Sites Reservoir remains almost a decade away: Acquisition of water rights, permitting and environmental review are still in the works. Kickoff of construction, which includes two large dams, had been scheduled for 2024, but likely will be delayed another year. Completion is expected in 2030 or 2031.
The Sites Reservoir would store as much as 1.5 million acre-feet of Sacramento River water and could eventually boost water supplies — especially in dry years — for more than 24 million people, mostly in Southern California, and 500,000 acres of Central Valley farmland. The reservoir is now projected to cost $4.4 billion, with Prop. 1 covering up to $875 million and much of the rest coming from federal loans to water suppliers.
For years, state lawmakers, farm representatives and city water suppliers have bemoaned that the reservoir hasn’t been built yet, and their criticism has escalated during rainy periods.
In less than two weeks of storms last month, Sites could have captured 120,000 acre-feet of water, enough to serve about 1.3 million Californians for a year, according to water agencies supporting the project.
https://calmatters.org/environment/2023/02/california-sites-reservoir/
Comments
California needs to use its considerable tax revenue to save itself. The 2025 Forest Fires make the point. The California Legislature will need to repeal its unnecessary Environmental laws and regulations to finally solve their Forest Fire problems. Then California needs to pay down their $158B cumulative Debt.
Norb
Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader
No comments:
Post a Comment