Marin IJ Readers’ Forum for March 12, 2024
MMWD can dredge to increase water capacity
As a fisherman who goes to Bon Tempe Lake every few days, I recall talking to the two guys doing the sonar grid map for a study seven years ago. They were part of a team surveying all Marin Municipal Water District reservoirs.
I would like to know more about that study. MMWD lists the capacity of Nicasio Reservoir at 22,400 acre-feet. A 1974 U.S. Geological Survey limnological report lists the same capacity. I find it hard to believe that, in 50 years, we have had no siltation in the lake and no reduction in water capacity. I would like to see a closer examination.
Online, MMWD lists the original capacity of the reservoirs as 79,566 acre-feet. I think it should reflect the data from the most recent survey instead.
If you throw a weighted lure right next to the middle of the Alpine Dam, and let it settle to the bottom, you will understand that the water level there is about 40 feet deep. Then, go look at the other side of the dam. The creek is 120 feet below. It is clear to me that the difference is the result of more than a hundred years of siltation.
Dredging the local lakes to increase our local supply is a really good idea. It is not expensive. I think MMWD officials just need to be brave enough to take on the task of doing it themselves.
— Michael Miller, San Anselmo
Biden is best choice for president in November
All the chatter about President Joe Biden’s age basically goes nowhere. He is who he is, with strengths and weaknesses. He may not be the charismatic and eloquent personality that Barack Obama is or John F. Kennedy was, but the country feels a lot more solid than it did in the administration before him, when constant chaos reigned.
We’ve made the presidency into a personality cult. In reality, what changes in a new administration is more influenced by the various layers of personnel that come with a change in party.
Former President Donald Trump brought in businessmen, his family and cronies from whom he demanded loyalty. As that scenario played out, constant turnovers undermined the whole executive branch. Biden’s strength, built from years of service in Washington, D.C., was knowing who was seasoned and productive and dedicated. Because of his choices, a lot got done — and undone.
It’s not ideal that we have two older candidates seeking the presidency this year. But, at this point, it is what our system has produced. Historically, other presidents have faltered while in office. It really matters who is on hand to pick up the slack and keep the country functioning, with or without the head of state.
It’s quite apparent to me that one of Biden’s skills is appointing professional people who are highly capable and genuinely loyal — not to a personality, but to the deep ideals of American democracy.
As a Democrat, Biden expresses the need to make those ideals real for people struggling against the inequalities and injustices that our economic system has produced. You are not going to see this in a Trump administration. We need to notice that the picture of our near future is a lot bigger than these two personalities.
— Elizabeth Whitney, Inverness
Our Utilities Commission should be picked by voters
How did we get to this flawed system where the supposed regulatory body for our vital utilities seems to be more concerned with profits for the utilities they’re charged with regulating?
In January, the Pacific Gas and Electric Co. was fined $45 million for their faulty equipment causing fires. The California Public Utilities Commission awarded $ 2.5 million to the victims, $2.5 million to the attorneys who won the case and donated $40 million back to PG&E to, in part, “digitize their records.”
Why aren’t PG&E’s records already digitized? Not only should it have been done a long time ago, the cost should have been absorbed by the company.
PG&E’s plans to reduce fire risks sound like cockamamie. A simple cost-effective fix would be to replace current bare wires with insulated wires. This could be done in 10 years. Instead, the utility proposes to underground wires at a high cost and with a 50- to 100-year timeline.
Most vile are the billions in excessive salaries, bonuses and shareholder profits paid for, in part, by raising customers’ fees. The PUC rubber-stamps and approves these rate increases with no little apparent guard for the public they’re meant to protect. I think it is time for the PUC to be elected by the voters.
— Elaine Reichert, Santa Venetia