𝐅𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤 𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐲: 𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐫𝐬 💧

Aug 20

Far-right representatives Doug LaMalfa, Jim Nielsen, and James Gallagher keep on blaming Governor Gavin Newsom for the drought. Assemblyman Gallagher actually comes so close to getting it right for once with his catchy hashtag #ManMadeDrought.

𝐋𝐞𝐭’𝐬 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥.

We are in a drought, evident by how dry Lake Oroville and Big Chico Creek are. Due to historically low water levels at Lake Oroville, the Hyatt Powerplant has gone offline for the first time in history. Wells are going dry and warm water is killing the salmon. This isn’t new, but it sure is getting worse as a result of climate change.

California has always had a very limited and volatile water supply. Oroville Dam is part of an enormous network of dams, pumps, and aqueducts that take water from the Sacramento watershed into the San Joaquin valley, over the mountains, and beyond. These regions have dry climates and have exhausted their local water supplies but still have expanding agriculture for export. Up here along the Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountains, there are also deep fluctuations in rainfall and snowpack, and we run the risk of depleting our aquifers.

At a recent photo op at Oroville Dam, lawmakers LaMalfa, Nielsen, and Gallagher blamed Governor Newsom for the drought and advocated for more dams to water the arid soils in the Southern Central Valley. They disapprove of allowing enough water to flow to keep the Delta alive, instead preferring to allow an ecosystem to collapse permanently as a trade-off for preserving the temporary profits of corporate orchards.

In the words of the Director of the State Department of Water Resources, which actually does control releases from Oroville Dam, “𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐮𝐧𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐚 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞-𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭. California and much of the western part of the United States are experiencing the impacts of accelerated climate change including record-low reservoir levels due to dramatically reduced runoff this spring."

Water is a fraught topic in California, further inflamed by climate change. To ensure that we have enough to drink, grow the food we eat, and sustain the natural life in this area through drought years, we have to elect lawmakers who understand the issues, believe in climate change, and prioritize North State citizens and ecosystems over shilling for corporate water users.

Don't be fooled by the rhetoric. It's all about the recall, not facts. 𝐍𝐨 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥, and next election, no on all three of these clowns. 🤡