[AT] OT - but NOT: conflict versus cooperation and commonsense

[charlie hill]

Well done Grant but if things there are as hostile as they are here now
I suspect you'll reap some vitriol for your efforts.  There are two distinct
factions among my small group of friends on Facebook.  These are all
people that I care about and most of them know each other.  I tend to agree
with one of the extreme factions but I recently read an article that made
a good argument as to why those who think as I do might be wrong.
The article struck home to me.  It didn't totally change my mind but it made
me see the other side.  I decided to post it.  Well, immediately I got a 
bunch of
praise from those I generally don't agree with and a larger amount of flack 
from
those I do tend to side with.  Some of them politely perturbed with me and 
thinking
I had gone over to the dark side.    Needless to say, I almost immediately 
pulled
the thread down off my page.    Lesson learned!

In your case the argument is more than academic so I applaud you for posting 
it
and I hope it helps.  Just don't hold your breath!

Charlie

-----Original Message----- 
From: Grant Brians
Sent: Thursday, July 20, 2017 6:35 PM
To: at at lists.antique-tractor.com
Subject: [AT] OT - but NOT: conflict versus cooperation and commonsense

I came across an article that I am very glad I did - there is a proposal
to build a large dam up-creek from us. It would likely replace the dam
that farmers built / had built in 1939 to reduce the flooding and
increase the water-table recharge for our area. The article did a pretty
good job of describing the proposal with some modest mistakes because of
not knowing this rural area and the geology and history of the area. No
surprise because the news organization is professional if severely
understaffed thanks to the changes in the media business.
      Why do I think this is pertinent to our list? Well, in the article
there were descriptions of who came out for and against the current form
of the proposal (it involves buying a 12,000 acre piece of rangeland
most of which is relatively steep) and some of their basic arguments.
The arguments did involve some of the growth concerns for the booming
and crowded greater San Francisco Bay Area. So far all pretty standard.
      But then the comments section had many people assuming from short
statements that they were either immediately politically "other" - i.e.
stupid or misguided, some people jumped to conclusions without
presenting their reasoning, and some seemed to have an extreme agenda.
      Now this has become the norm too often on the Internet and in our
life today. I miss the adherence to restraint  in temper and the
presentation of well thought out arguments being the expected behavior
of everyone, even as I recognize that we humans have NEVER managed to do
so uniformly.
      So, like I try to do when I comment on a subject on this list, I
posted a comment that I hoped will help people recognize the aspects
that need examining on the proposed dam. I also noted that if the
project were done properly it likely would benefit people in the urban
areas some miles away, but if it were done wrong that it would harm us
here downstream from the proposed new dam. Like a NY Times columnist
challenged his readers last week to do, I hope that everyone will
examine a viewpoint with which they do not agree and see why those
holding the viewpoint do so. It could help us all to get along better
and make better decisions.

      If anyone is interested in reading the article and my comments,
here is the link:
http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/07/18/california-drought-water-district-looking-to-buy-land-to-construct-largest-bay-area-reservoir-in-20-years/

And, to make it easier to see my comments, here they are (warning I try
to be accurate so they are not short):

I farm vegetables and other crops along Pacheco Creek and other
locations here and we sustained severe damage from the floods this year
resulting in extensive financial losses to my farm and family. The major
reason we sustained damage to our farm fields (that I am still fixing)
was thatthe creeks have not been cleaned in over 25 years and the
regional water quality agencies and California Department of Fish and
Game would not allow cleaning to be performed in the dry years when it
traditionally had been done by farmers. Misapplication of risk analyses,
not environmental laws led to this result and only city dwellers can
help us in the country to solve this problem.

The current 1939 Pacheco Creek North Fork reservoir (built by my
neighbors now deceased) helps reduce flooding by releasing water over
the course of the year instead of only in the winter. As a San Benito
County resident and farmer, I and my neighbors would be affected by this
project. In reading the proposal, the placement of the dam could make
sense because it is the LEAST close to a faultline of any location in or
near the Santa Clara Valley. Unlike the statement that it is near the
Calaveras Fault, the distance is moderately significant and the
underlying rock for the location could work well.

BUT, the devil is in the details in so many ways. I also would say that
maintaining the non-flooded portion of the property in sustainable
grazing of cattle would be the best scenario for species in general.
Additionally, unlike the statement made about the wild pigs being part
of nature, they are non-native destruction machines that need to be
aggressively controlled by hunting to keep environmental damage under
control. Wild pigs are actually wild European Boars that dig up soil in
our semi-arid to arid climate in ways that might be fine in the moist
parts of Europe they are native to, but not here where they are the
second leading cause of soil erosion in our county!

This proposal would not help us here in San Benito County, but it could
be beneficial to the environment in the Santa Clara Valley in general by
helping trees survive during drought years. That would be the main
benefit to the area it this were to be built. Also, it is true that the
proposed reservoir would only be filled very occasionally, but that
could make sufficient difference to be very helpful. All told this
proposal has enough merit to suggest that it should be investigated and
discussed publicly including the land price which is very high for
rangeland....

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