Commentary By Samuel Strait – January 30, 2023 It so often boggles the mind that in this day and age of information that such ignorance continues to exist. We no longer should be reliant on the obvious lack of ability to become educated by the public schools and use the opportunities afforded to us by the wealth of information available in this age of technical information. Yet, even there the ability to be led astray is ready and waiting. Most of us that have taken the opportunity to become aware of the fact that water has become a huge issue in that California which has a plentiful supply to offer during certain times of the year, cannot seem to figure out how to supply the needs of its citizens during times when water is not plentiful. In a recent article in the Triplicate, environmental genius, Rocky Barker, penned a guest column titled "What a long strange trip to kill four dams". With a breath taking level of ignorance, Mr. Barker proceeds to display his complete lack of intelligence about what has become painfully obvious to those that experience water shortages most summers in the central and southern regions of this state which is a government so beholden to the environmental forces in California that any thought of storing water when it is available does not appear to exist in the minds of Rocky and his geniuses in Sacramento. There is a fact of life that human being do not live very well or long in a world without water. Some of the most vicious struggles through out history center around water. All of which for some time is preventable. In the 1960's California was experiencing rapid growth and found it necessary to initiate several massive infrastructure plans to cope with a population that had grown to nearly 20 million. In the years since, California has continued to grow in population where it now is nudging on twice that number. What has happened since those days of Sacramento behaving responsibly towards its citizens with regard to water issues is little to nothing except pay attention to voices such as Mr. Barker and diminish the state's ability to provide water for it's burgeoning population. Proudly trumpeting his ignorance, Mr. Barker gleefully writes that he welcomes the fact that 1200 reservoirs behind the nation's dams have been eliminated and he is breathlessly waiting for the four Klamath River dams to join them. He further claims that it has had the immediate effect of river restoration and fish populations. Something for most rivers we continue to wait for it to happen. All the while, thanks to Mr. Barker and his ilk, trillions of gallons of storeable and drinkable water drain into the Pacific Ocean. In 2008, citizens that recognized that California was desperately short of water during certain parts of the year passed a Bond measure authorizing billions of dollars to go toward rectifying that oversight. Since that time Sacramento's government has spent much of that money to actually have reduced California capacity to store water, the future demolition of four dams on the Klamath River being among those activities. Nothing of that money has gone towards improving California's water storage issues. Recently, unless you are Mr. Barker, Governor "Climate Change" Newsom and the Sacramento government you will have noticed that California, throughout most of the State, had a relatively wet January. This is not an unknown state for California as it occurs at regular intervals. California, for the most part to the south of the State was a desert where it had very little occasion to rain. Water brought in from other sources allowed for Southern California to blossom and prosper. There is a limit to how much that can be brought in from other sources when much of California has the ability to supply its own needs if the State had built sufficient storage capacity when excess water is available. It has not. The State could, if it wished to be a part of the solution for the water needs of the State, build reservoirs, not necessarily behind dams, but in available spaces to capture excess water that becomes available when it rains rather than let it escape to the ocean. While clearly this is an idea that escapes Governor Newsom and the geniuses of the environmental crowd, Mr. Barker are you listening? Water that flows during the drier season in California can be left unimpeded. Stored water can be used to meet the needs of Agriculture, Industry, and Residential needs. What already exists behind California Dams should be left undisturbed until this magic occurs. It will not when ignorant voices such as Mr. Barker, continue to ignore the fact that California is not anywhere near that state. Until Governor Newsom and the Sacramento government wakes up to that simple fact, water in California will continue to be a shrinking commodity and will satisfy no one. Yet another of the many issues that the "empty suit" in the governor's office continues to mishandle.