The finding was part of a sobering update on the state's drought made possible by space and airborne measurements and presented by NASA scientists Dec. 16 at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco. Such data are giving scientists an unprecedented ability to identify key features of droughts, data that can be used to inform water management decisions.

GRACE data reveal that, since 2011, the Sacramento and San Joaquin river basins decreased in volume by four trillion gallons of water each year (15 cubic kilometers). That's more water than California's 38 million residents use each year for domestic and municipal purposes. About two-thirds of the loss is due to depletion of groundwater beneath California's Central Valley.

In related results, early 2014 data from NASA's Airborne Snow Observatory indicate that snowpack in California's Sierra Nevada range was only half of previous estimates.

The scientists cautioned that while the recent California storms have been helpful in replenishing water resources, they aren't nearly enough to end the multi-year drought.

Story

In California, we still have high youth unemployment, especially in minority communities. We need our great Governor Brown to reinstate the CCC. The newly released, as well as the unemployed can assist the professional firefighters. We did it before.

CCC Firefighting in the Southern California Mountains

The Civilian Conservation Corps companies were assigned to many types of conservation work, for many different government agencies. But whether their focus was soil conservation, forestry, agriculture, or park development, all the camps had one important job in common: firefighting. No matter what work they were doing, the CCC boys had to be ready to drop their tools and rush to the trucks when called to fight a fire. In summer and fall, fighting fires was the main job. It was a rough, dangerous, exhausting, dirty job, too. Poison oak was a constant annoyance in southern California, men were sometimes injured, and the threat of death was real. According to Corps chronicler John A. Salmond, forty-two CCC enrollees nationwide were killed fighting fires.

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Free-Speech-Movement-at-UC-sparked-change-across-5769930.php
http://portside.org/2014-10-02/berkeley-free-speech-movement-50-and-today

Single-use plastic bags will be banned starting July 1, 2015 from California supermarkets
On July 1, 2016, the ban will extend to convenience and liquor stores

Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday fulfilled a promise by signing a measure that will phase out single-use plastic bags from checkout stands at California supermarkets, convenience stores, liquor stores and pharmacies.

“This bill is a step in the right direction – it reduces the torrent of plastic polluting our beaches, parks and even the vast ocean itself,” Brown said in a statement. “We’re the first to ban these bags, and we won’t be the last.”

“This is a compromise,” Brown said during the debate. “It’s taking into account the needs of the environment, and the needs of the economy and the needs of the grocers.”

LAT

By Dale Kasler
The Sacramento Bee

Gov. Jerry Brown on Saturday signed 21 bills to help and recognize military veterans, including a measure to help create the first veterans' cemetery in Orange County.

Other bills signed protect veterans' rights to healthcare, education and shelter.

The cemetery bill by Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva (D-Fullerton) requires the California Department of Veterans Affairs to work with local governments to design, develop, construct and equip a veterans' cemetery in the former Marine Corps Station El Toro in Irvine. The state agency will apply for a grant from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to pay for the creation of the cemetery.

“Local veterans, many of whom risked their lives on foreign soil, deserve an honorable place that will provide their families and communities a true and lasting opportunity to pay their respects,” Quirk-Silva said in a statement in support of AB 1453.

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Proposition 1 will invest $7.5 billion in our water supply. From funding water storage and modernizing our current system to protecting our rivers and lakes, it's a lean, smart, and efficient plan to manage our precious water supply. And it's supported by Democrats, Republicans, unions, farmers, and environmentalists.

Proposition 2, the Rainy Day Budget Stabilization Fund Act, has a long, fancy name, and a lot of confusing legalese -- but it will do something really very simple. When we have a budget surplus, we'll save some of it for when we have a lean year. It'll help us smooth out the "boom-bust" budgeting that has damaged our state's finances over the years.

California has made incredible strides in the last four years, and these propositions will help lock in that progress -- and keep us on the right budgetary path into the future.

Jerry Brown via email

Judge Barbara Mallach issued her final order in the contentious case, specifically telling venture capitalist Vinod Khosla that he had to reopen the gate to popular Martins Beach, a crescent-shaped inlet 5 miles south of Half Moon Bay.
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Judge-orders-billionaire-to-open-gate-to-Martins-5938974.php

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Surfrider scored a huge victory in its legal battle against billionaire and venture capitalist, Vinod Khosla, to restore beach access at Martin’s Beach in San Mateo, California. Khosla will be required to seek a permit from the California Coastal Commission for any gates, signage and other access-blocking development at Martin’s Beach.

While this is a huge victory for upholding the Coastal Act and protecting beach access at Martin’s Beach, the battle is far from over. Litigation could go on for years!

We need your voice in this battle, too. Stand with Surfrider right now to urge state decision makers to ensure public access.

It's simple – just sign the petition.

Every voice matters. No matter where you live – in California or not – your voice will make a difference. Just like Austin, pictured above, whose simple act of trying to access Martin’s Beach resulted in an arrest. His arrest and his voice put Surfrider’s campaign into high gear.

The battle to open up Martin’s Beach is one of many that Surfrider is working on along our coastlines. We hope you'll stand with our network of activists who are constantly defending our right to enjoy our oceans, waves and beaches.

The phrase “constant pressure, endlessly applied” embodies the DNA of Surfrider and our grassroots volunteer network – we won’t quit fighting until the gates are open at Martin’s Beach or anywhere access is illegally closed.Won’t you stand with Surfrider to pressure the State Lands Commission to act now?

Together we can open the gates at Martin’s Beach, but only if you stand with us.

Thanks for all you do to protect our oceans, waves and beaches,

via email The Surfrider Foundation

Gov. Brown has signed Law to Force Billionaire to Restore Beach Access
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025608856#post1 by Liberal_in_LA

The City Council voted 12 to 3 on Wednesday to impose the wage requirements on large hotels, handing a major victory to organized labor and a defeat to business groups. Lawmakers said the measure would pull thousands of hotel workers out of poverty, helping them provide for their families.

“We will change lives by increasing what people are making,” said Councilman Paul Koretz.

Councilman Bernard C. Parks spoke against the measure, saying wage initiatives should not be “just for a specific union or industry or business.” He said his South Los Angeles district cannot afford to see more workers lose their jobs.

from KTLA