Water Board – Page 8 – All Water Rights

How Do I Comply With Water Board Regulations? Part 1

Yesterday I met with some nice folks up in Hat Creek and Old Station. A big question right now is, how do I comply with Water Board regulations? Also, what exactly do I need to do for a measuring device? And, where can I find out that what I do will be acceptable, so I don’t get dinged after I did what I was supposed to?

First: devices. The most common, long-lasting, and cost effective devices for measurement of irrigation diversions are: weirs, orifices, flumes, mag-meters, propeller meters, and acoustic Dopplers.

Weirs are About_1.4_cfs_over_weir_edited_small the least expensive, long-lasting, accurate devices. This weir was prefabricated and shipped from Briggs Manufacturing. Installation takes a few hours, and with new 2″ lumber, accuracy is plus or minus 5 %. That is better than the Water Board’s requirement of 10 % accuracy.

Shawn_sticking_Orifice

An orifice is often exactly the same as a weir, with the boards set as an orifice. Instead of the water going over, it goes through an exactly-sized hole. The accuracy is plus or minus 5 % if it is set up carefully. The cost is the same as for installing and operating a weir.

John_Headgate_edit

Here is another kind of orifice – a headgate. If it is a square headgate, or a new, round (Waterman) headgate, then the area of the opening can be determined with plus or minus 5% accuracy. An older headgate or one with a less-than-perfect opening can still be 10% accurate, within the Boards’s standards.

Photo_5566

This is a Parshall flume. It uses no boards, so no debris can pile up. It is nearly maintenance-free. Flumes cost more to install, and if they settle and get out of level they lose accuracy. However, you’ll see many of these in Northern California. There are some prefabricated flumes just coming into production that will be easier to install and will include data collectors.

How do you know which one will work for a particular diversion? Someone with expertise can check the ditch, grade, soil-type, flow range, and other information and tell you within a couple of days what will work best, with an engineering report and cost estimate. Rights To Water Engineering does this for $300 to $500, and can install the device if you like, with an operations manual.

Filing Statements of Use with the Water Board is now all by computer through the Internet. That’s one of the things Rights To Water Engineering, and some other folks do at a reasonable cost. If that’s your worry then contact us and we can point you in the right direction or help you out with reporting.

This is the quick summary on compliance! Contact me at (530) 526-0134 or RightsToWaterEng1@gmail.com, and read this blog for more detailed information. Have a great weekend!

Water Board Legal Actions, Part 1

The Water Board takes legal actions against individuals, associations, companies, etc. (parties), regarding diversions, surface and groundwater pollution, mis-reporting or not reporting diversions, noncompliance with permits and licenses, underground storage tanks, and more. Prior to assessing fines, Water Board managers, attorneys, or staff make phone calls to to the suspected parties, and they may make field visits to confirm allegations or gather more information. Sometimes that’s enough – a phone call or visit may move a person to change practices, or take corrective action, and comply with the law.

The Water Board will follow up their calls or visits with a letter summarizing the facts, allegations, and actions taken by parties. That may close out a complaint (if that is how the actions came to the Board’s attention) or may complete an investigation, with the provision that the promised corrective action will be done. CDO page

Their letters may seek information about alleged infractions, or may be cease and desist orders, or may convey the results of investigations and hearings including what fines or other penalties are assessed.

The Water Board relies on the California Water Code, case law from lawsuits in the State Superior Courts or other courts, and those resolutions, orders, and decisions made by the Board itself, which it designates as “precedential”. That means the Board looks back at these documents to help make decisions in the future.

In many cases the Board does not act alone, since it is just one of many California state and federal agencies. It may combine its efforts with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW, was Fish and Game), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the State Attorney General (AG), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)…the list could include many more. How does this cooperation with other agencies work?

The Water Board has authority over many water rights and uses of water, but other agencies have the primary authority over other uses of water. For example, CDFW has authority over the California Fish and Game Code, which gives guidance on how much water must be left in streams by diverters. Solid scientific studies must be made to prove how much water is needed. In place (or pending the outcome) of these expensive, long-term studies, CDFW determines and/or negotiates flow amounts, and the Water Board uses their power to convince diverters to comply. This works because CDFW could not prove the exact need in the near future, and CDFW is very reluctant to go to court to sue diverters. However, the Water Board can act on the “best available information” or “reasonable estimates” to determine how much water must be left…and the Water Board can assess fines by itself without having to go to the Superior Court. This makes for some very interesting stories…and those will be taken up in a later post. wbwa

eWRIMS Board Water Rights Search – Part 2

In Part 1 of t his discussion, we looked at the different types of water rights included in the Water Board’s eWRIMS water rights search database. Now we’ll talk about how to narrow down your search to find just the water rights of interest. The majority of questions people have are about their own water rights. How can you find out what eWRIMS has about your water right?

If you pick the eWRIMS Database System link, and hit the “Accept” button at the bottom of the next page, you’ll arrive at at the Water Rights Records Search page. This looks like a data entry form, and allows you to search by water right type, status, ID, county, etc., and most relevant for finding your own, by Primary Owner. Whoops! I sure thought it was – it is now disabled. Maybe that’s temporary, but even a couple of weeks ago I was able to put in “California”, for example, and find the rights held by State agencies. As a matter of fact, none of the searches I am trying right now even list any results in the “Holder Name column.

UPDATE: Search by Primary Owner is working again as of June 29, 2016 at 8:30 A.M. Thanks, eWRIMS folks for restoring it!

Next, try your County, Source (River name or Source Name), Entity Type, and any other information that you know. This will give you a list of results. For example, entering Trinity for County and Hayfork Creek for Source yields 31 results. Without the “Holder Name” listed it is tough to tell which one is yours…unless you also know one of your IDs. If that functionality is restored that it makes it easy. One CAVEAT – if you or the previous owner have not updated the current owner (as the Board requires), then the person’s name will be some previous owner. You’ll likely recognize it.

eWRIMS GIS Hayfork - Edited If “you can’t get there from here”, then you can search by map, in the eWRIMS Web Mapping Application (GIS). The map starts by showing all of California and you zoom in to your area. When you zoom in far enough, you’ll see rectangular labels of various colors start to appear. You can click on these to see the individual Application, Permit, License, or Statement of Use. The screenshot above shows part of Hayfork Creek in Trinity County.

If you have not used eWRIMS, try it out for your and your neighbors’ water rights. Remember, most riparian and nearly all adjudicated water rights will NOT show up here, but pre-1914, post-1914, some riparian, and some other rights will. Next time we’ll talk about some of the information you can find on forms for the various rights and statements.

For now, happy water rights searching!

AllWaterRights Blog Moving To ShawnPike.com / eWRIMS Board Water Rights Search – Part 1

The AllWaterRights Blog is Moving! http://www.shawnpike.com is my permanent site, and as soon as I get the formatting done all the new posts will be over there.

In the meantime, how does someone search for water rights in California? It used to be an onerous task – and today it is only half-onerous. 🙂 Actually the Water Board gets more information every day and puts it into the Electronic Water Rights Information Management System – eWRIMS for short (pronounced ee-rims). This screenshot shows the two important links. The first is to the database, which gives text tables of results and links to some form-entered documents, and some scanned documents. The second link goes to the geographic information system (GIS), which consists of mapped points linked to the database, on top of reference maps.

What can you find here? In short, nearly all the post-1914 appropriative Water Rights Applications, Permits, and Licenses can be found here. Most of the pre-1914 appropriative, and an increasing number of riparian water rights can be found here. The 2009 water laws that increased reporting requirements and greatly increased penalties, moved most water right holders who had not been filing, to get on the train and avoid the pain. If you search with no parameters, then the database returns a listing of all records, over 52,000 right now. eWRIMS_query_all_edited

What’s missing? Nearly all adjudicated water rights are not found on eWRIMS. There are thousands of rights defined in numerous Superior Court Decrees, that are not found in the database. Statements of Use are filed for these rights, but not in a form that is easy to put into eWRIMS. Where could you find these? We’ll cover that in future posts.

http://www.shawnpike.com is up and running, right now with the brief front page. More to come soon! A good night to all.

Can I lose my water right?

This is a question that comes up all over California, every day. It usually comes in one Headgate on stream of two ways:

I’m about to buy some land. Will I have a water right if the previous owner did not use it for X years ?
My neighbor hasn’t used his right in X years. He lost it, so I can use it, right?

The short answer is yes, an appropriative, post-1914 water right can be lost. Court-decreed water rights, riparian rights, and pre-1914 are major exceptions, usually – we’ll discuss those cases later in the post. What most people are thinking of is the provision from WATER CODE SECTION 1240-1244:

1241.  If the person entitled to the use of water fails to use beneficially all or any part of the water claimed by him or her, for which a right of use has vested, for the purpose for which it was appropriated or adjudicated, for a period of five years, that unused water may revert to the public and shall, if reverted, be regarded as unappropriated public water. That reversion shall occur upon a finding by the board following notice to the permittee, licensee, or person holding a livestock stockpond certificate or small domestic use, small irrigation use, or livestock stockpond use registration under this part and a public hearing if requested by the permittee, licensee, certificate holder, or registration holder.

Diversion box to field “Board” means the State Water Resources Control Board. The emphasis on “may” and “if” is mine, and it is important. Loss of a water right under this provision is not automatic. It takes a complaint by someone to get it started, just as it takes a complaint for someone to get a water rights case heard by the judge of a Superior or Federal Court.

Then, if the water right holder protests that yes, he or she has diverted water during the last 5 years, it’s up to the complainant or the Board to prove that water was not diverted. This might be from yearly photos of the land in question (rare), testimony by several neighbors;, or a lack of records from the water right holder, showing that there was indeed pasture with cattle, or hay, or some other beneficial use; or some other evidence.

Let’s consider riparian rights and then put that discussion aside. A riparian water right cannot be lost for non-use, since it is established by the Constitution of the State of California. Riparian rights are not being considered here.

How does someone know that their water right may be on the chopping block? They will have already had phone calls and probably visits from Board staff. There should be no surprise at this point. Then, the Board will send a letter that starts something like this:

There is an opportunity to dispute the assertions in the letter, and a water right holder can request a hearing (or hearings) before the Board. If the alleged non-use is not a watertight case, the process can take a year or longer.

What if the water is a pre-1914 water right? Can it be lost? The answer used to be a fairly solid “no”, but the Board’s authority has increased in recent years. It is harder to lose a pre-1914 right but the best defense is having used it at least once in the past five years, and having some proof it was used.

Diversion box from diversion

What if the water right is part of a State Superior Court or Federal District Court decree* or adjudication? Interestingly, very few decrees have ANY provision for expiration of water rights. In addition, courts usually maintain jurisdiction of these cases, so that any following petitions or lawsuits over decreed water rights must go back to court. In essence, this makes decreed rights “eternal” or permanent, unless the rights are changed in a subsequent lawsuit. *Statutory adjudications where the Board issued an Order of Determination, and then took it to the Superior Court to be adjudicated, might be easier for the Board to bring before the court for a revocation action.

What does the Water Board think about that? Board staff assert that they have “concurrent authority” with State Superior Courts. That means they have equal power over water rights.

Some at the Board say they have authority over the same water rights that the court does. Is that true?

Let’s say that it is true. Has the Board ever asserted its authority over decreed water rights in court? The last few times I asked Board staff, the answer was

“no”. So it may be true, but as far as I have heard, it has not been tested. So, no, decreed rights cannot be revoked by the Board without going to court.

Summarizing the subject of losing post-1914 appropriative water rights for five years of non-use, then, they can be lost if the water right holder admits it, or if there is good evidence that water has not been used. Pre-1914 rights are harder to lose but it can happen. The Board cannot revoke riparian rights because they are defined in the State Constitution. Court-decreed rights cannot be revoked by the Board without going to the court with a petition or as part of a lawsuit.

Do Something Wrong, Instead Of Nothing!

Do something wrong, rather than nothing at all. Have you ever heard that before? I have heard it from Army veteran friends, a boss, even an elder of a church.

What it means to you and me is, if action is necessary, do something, maybe ANYthing, rather than freezing in place or ignoring a problem. This is obvious when you see a tornado 5 miles away, for example; either drive away from it if you are in a car, or take shelter if you are on foot. If you have a plumbing leak in the house and no parts to replace broken pipe, then put a bucket under it, or turn off the valve, and call a plumber. All of us have seen a TV show (or maybe had it happen to us) where a bad guy or an enemy pointed a rifle and said, “Don’t move.”. What do we all say to the TV? “Don’t just stand there, run!”. Doing nothing is a much worse choice!

Man working in ditch CostaDisc2-129 - Edited What about water rights – how does doing something wrong help? Everyone knows by now that surface water diverters need measurement devices, so put in a weir box and boards and try to measure flow if the Water Board, your watermaster, or your neighbor is promising painful consequences. Even stick boards in a ditch and seal the sides with gravel – something to take positive action to reduce future pain.

There is a philosophy based in law and a lot of experience, that says don’t put any controls on yourself until the court or government makes you. Why remodel your house to accommodate the wiring or plumbing, if you aren’t selling the house and everything works okay? Who would put a lot of money into an old truck to make it pass smog, if it just might pass a smog check the next time it has to be done? What farmer would change how he irrigates or ranches if everything still operates and the bank will keep making operating loans?

Surface water and groundwater are getting 10 times the attention they were prior to 2009. If the Water Board, or California Fish and Wildlife, or any other agency comes along, do something, anything, to comply sooner, even if it’s not the ultimate solution. Two posts ago, bureaucrats were discussed – they are still human beings and most people appreciate some effort to “get with the program”.

Be proactive, take some inexpensive action, educate yourself for free with some time in the Internet. Even a small, less-than-perfect improvement in your measurement device, flow and water use record keeping, diversion practices, or acreening, can pay back a lot more when you have to deal with agencies, a court, or an angry neighbor in the future.

Working with Regulators, Dealing with Bureaucrats

Whenever you divert water, you’ll inevitably have to deal with people. There are laws and rules about the diversion, use, return, and other factors of water use…and of course laws are made by people. These aren’t the laws of physics or chemistry, of course, but human laws. The documents and organizations that establish, make, change, and enforce water laws and rules include the California Constitution, the Legislature and Governor, the Courts at various levels, and everyone’s favorite: federal, state, and local agencies.

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Agencies, otherwise known as bureaucracies, all have one thing in common. They are all run and staffed by people. Some people are easy to deal with, others aren’t. Some act like normal folks, and others hide behind the requirements of a job.

What exactly is a bureaucracy? Here is a very good explanation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bureaucracy

Really, corporations are the same as bureaucracies in a lot of ways. Since we are talking about the diversion of surface water, that means bureaucracies. And bureaucrats.

There are some money-saving, hassle-saving methods to dealing with bureaucrats. These are time-tested and have worked for me and many others. Hopefully these will aid you in dealing with an agency or a particularly difficult bureaucrat.

Do some research. “Google it”, as the saying goes, and learn about the agency you are dealing with. Google for comments by people who had the same problem as you. How did they handle it, and what was the result? Did someone have a particularly effective way of getting a problem solved? It might be worth an hour of your time to use the Internet to find out everything you can first.
Document your problem in writing before contacting a bureaucracy, with text, photos, maps, drawings, contacts, everything you can get on paper. Scan it if possible so everything you have can be emailed.
Assuming you are calling or talking to the person, write everything down. E-ver-y single thing. Date all the entries. Get each person’s name. You might buy a cheap spiral bound notebook at a WalMart or Dollar store – or buy a few, and the ones you don’t use when dealing with bureaucrats you can use for a diary, or shopping lists, or dealing with corporations. Let the person know that you are keeping careful notes.
Always be polite during at least the first few contacts about a problem. Do not threaten, curse, yell, or any of those things that would be classified as “impolite”. If the person you are talking to gets unpleasant, just keep a record of it for later, and maintain your calm demeanor.
Explain your problem or need in as few words as possible. That way a helpful person can get you the help you need quickly, without strain on your vocal cords or his or her ear.
Give thanks and credit to the people who help you. Write their bosses a note about the great work they did in helping you.
If a bureaucrat says “It’s not my job”, politely explain the person’s statutory/legal/moral or other obligation to help you, and the terrible consequences to you if the person does not carry out his or her agency’s mission. Give a reasonable estimate of the economic harm involved.
On the other hand, if the answer is “I have no idea how”, don’t get frustrated, get more contacts from the person. You’ll be following a trail, sometimes clear, sometimes through thick brush.
If you are talking to the right person and cannot get the help you need, or an exemption from a rule, or whatever help you are looking for, ask to talk to the bureaucrat’s boss. Don’t insult the employee to the boss, just explain to the boss that he or she has the great power needed to help you.
If the boss cannot help, ask to talk to his or her boss. See the pattern here? Be courageous and go up the line as high as you need to go.
If needed, know the names and contact information of the people on the Board, or the Director, or the Chief, of the bureaucracy you are dealing with. It can help to let a bureaucrat know that you know who these people are, and while you really don’t want to have to go that far, you will contact them if necessary.
If you are being harassed or threatened by an agency and you are pretty sure they are going above and beyond their normal practice, there are ways to get them to back off or slow down and listen. Sometimes mentioning that they may be in violation of RICO, the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, can give them pause. Ask them for all communications in writing – that can cut half or more bureaucratic actions off right at the knees. Ask for them to include references to all laws, rules, regulations, codes, court cases, etc., that they are relying on.
Find the agencies, boards, or people to whom you can file a complaint, if you have exhausted all normal ways of getting the help you need and you haven’t been helped. There are some particularly effective ways of jumpstarting a stuck process, but I won’t list those here because I don’t want to make the bureaucrats I have to deal with angry. As suggested at the start of this list, use the Internet.
Although it is expensive, you may have to hire an attorney.

That’s a long list, but if you are dealing with the State Water Resources Control Board, a lot of those folks are reasonable people. The main problem at the Board is that these folks have five times the work to do than they can get done. You’ll probably have to call several times to get someone’s attention. See Rules 1 and 2 above!

StateWaterBoardHomePage

Why Should I Measure Flows If My Neighbors Don’t?

Why should I measure my surface water diversions if others on the same stream do not?

Unmeasured_Ditch

Installation of a device costs time and money, maybe thousands of dollars and a few days plus the use of a loader. Sometimes the unspoken question is, if I am getting more than my water right, why should I hold myself to just diverting what is legally mine? None of the readers of this blog would ask that, but some others out there might.

This is something like the question, why should I drive the speed limit if some or most o CHP_resized f the other drivers are speeding? We have all seen the answer – speeders eventually get pulled over by police or highway patrol, while those who stay close to the speed limit generally get left alone. I’ll bet that you’re like me- I am a lot more relaxed after driving within the limits, then if I put the pedal to the metal and get somewhere an hour earlier.

50 years ago, many diversions were in the middle of nowhere and the only way there was past a protective landowner or manager. Now roads have pushed out to the middle of nowhere and so have Google Earth, recent aerial mapping, government regulations, and government employees.

Shawn_Sticking_Weir

In the world of water diversions, the water district, ditch tender, watermaster, or Water Board folks know who is complying with the law and who is not. The one who has a measurement device and stays within his water rights tends to get left alone. On the other hand, the law-abiding diverter gets listened to more when he or she complains that he’s not getting the water he should. winning-trophy

Social influence – peer pressure – also come into play after the first person on a stream installs and starts using a measurement device. The fact that a neighbor invested and did the right thing to comply with water laws encourages other diverters to do the same. Or at least, the water right holders who don’t have a weir or meter can see that it is inevitable and they’ll be more readily convinced to do the same.

Sometimes a diverter is not getting the sunflower full water right, even though he thinks he is. In this case, being able to measure the water means being able to demonstrate that when the diversion is increased, it is still within the legal amount. I have seen this happen a few times, and the result is a rancher or farmer who is a whole lot happier than he or she was last week!

Not Small: Water Board Fines

When California diverters think of water laws, the ESA comes to mind first . Water Board fines, while rare, will be used more in the next few years.

The federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the California Endangered Species Act (CESA) are the first environmental laws that come to mind for diverters in California. Streams with Chinook salmon or Steelhead trout are of the greatest concern, since they may be in any creek or river that eventually drains into the Pacific Ocean. Most diverters have heard that a “take” of a federal endangered species can result in a $50,000 fine and up to a year imprisonment – and that’s possible for the death of just one fish.

However, there are penalties more directly related to the diversion of water, not just environmental laws. The California Water Code specifies fines or jail that the State Water Board can impose, for falsely reporting a diversion, failing to file a statement, or tampering with a measurement device. These fines have rarely been imposed in past years. Usually diverters will take the opportunity to correct problems after the first warning.

With the Board’s increased focus on measurement devices being installed and certified, and and diversion amounts being reported much more often, the likelihood of fines being assessed goes up.

Willful misstatement (lying): $1,000 plus up to 6 months in jail
Failing to file a statement: $1,000 plus $500 per day
Accidental device malfunction or misstatement: $250 plus $250 per day
Knowingly tampering or making misstatement: $25,000 plus $1,000 per day
Any other violation: $500 plus $250 per day

These can add up if the Board’s initial letters are ignored. What’s the best strategy? Work with the Board, seek government funding to help defray installation costs if funds are available, and make sure the end result satisfies the Board’s requirements.

California Water Code Section 5107

5107.  (a) The making of any willful misstatement pursuant to this
part is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not exceeding one thousand
dollars ($1,000) or by imprisonment in the county jail for not to
exceed six months, or both.
   (b) Any person who fails to file a statement required to be filed
under this part for a diversion or use that occurs after January 1,
2009, who tampers with any measuring device, or who makes a material
misstatement pursuant to this part may be liable civilly as provided
in subdivisions (c) and (d).
   (c) Civil liability may be administratively imposed by the board
pursuant to Section 1055 in an amount not to exceed the following
amounts:
   (1) For failure to file a statement, one thousand dollars
($1,000), plus five hundred dollars ($500) per day for each
additional day on which the violation continues if the person fails
to file a statement within 30 days after the board has called the
violation to the attention of that person.
   (2) For a violation resulting from a physical malfunction of a
measuring device not caused by the person or any other unintentional
misstatement, two hundred fifty dollars ($250), plus two hundred
fifty dollars ($250) per day for each additional day on which the
measuring device continues to malfunction or the misstatement is not
corrected if the person fails to correct or repair the measuring
device or correct the misstatement within 60 days after the board has
called the malfunction or violation to the attention of that person.
   (3) For knowingly tampering with any measuring device or knowingly
making a material misstatement in a statement filed under this part,
twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000), plus one thousand dollars
($1,000) for each day on which the violation continues if the person
fails to correct the violation within 30 days after the board has
called the violation to the attention of that person.
   (4) For any other violation, five hundred dollars ($500), plus two
hundred fifty dollars ($250) for each additional day on which the
violation continues if the person fails to correct the violation
within 30 days after the board has called the violation to the
attention of that person.
   (d) When an additional penalty may be imposed under subdivision
(c) for failure to correct a violation or correct or repair a
malfunctioning measuring device within a specified period after the
violation has been called to a person's attention by the board, the
board, for good cause, may provide for a longer period for correction
of the problem, and the additional penalty shall not apply if the
violation is corrected within the period specified by the board.
   (e) In determining the appropriate amount, the board shall
consider all relevant circumstances, including, but not limited to,
all of the following factors:
   (1) The extent of harm caused by the violation.
   (2) The nature and persistence of the violation.
   (3) The length of time over which the violation occurs.
   (4) Any corrective action undertaken by the violator.
   (f) All funds recovered pursuant to this section shall be
deposited in the Water Rights Fund established pursuant to Section
1550.
   (g) Remedies under this section are in addition to, and do not
supersede or limit, any other remedies, civil or criminal.

How Can You Keep Up With The Water Board?

How can anyone keep up with all the new regulations from the California Water Board? Subscribe to the email lists affecting you (links below).

It’s impossible to keep up with everything, so we have to pick and choose. But the pace of Water Board regulations is already jet-speed and headed toward hypersonic. It’s wise for everyone who diverts surface water to subscribe to relevant email lists and then at least scan the ones that look important. The link for all Water Board Subscriptions is:

http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/resources/email_subscriptions/

The link for statewide issues is below. I think I counted 174 possible email lists, but you can probably pick the 10 that affect you the most and keep up pretty well by reading these:

http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/resources/email_subscriptions/swrcb_subscribe.shtml

Of course, AllWaterRights.com, this blog, will highlight the most important issues for surface water diversion measurement, water rights, laws, and regulations. Come back often and you’ll see one or two new posts each week. 🙂

As a bonus for those of you who read this post, here are a couple of Death Valley photos my wife and I took last weekend. This year there is a super bloom! Last year was very wet, DeathValleySuperBloom and while we were there were good showers in several parts of the valley.

There is also stunningly beautiful geology, with colors ranging from white to black, and in between amazing hues of green, red, blue, orange, yellow, purple…. It’s the first time we had ever been there in daylight and we want to go back. If it is raining in Death Valley, that bodes well for all of California this year. DeathValleyGeology_2

Good night all, and enjoy the rain and snow!

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