Valley Solutions

Computers need a lot of water

LA Times. Amid a data center boom, CA lawmakers pass bill to track water use.
Synopsis: All that computing done each day requires a LOT of artificial intelligence generated at server farms across the West. Those servers get hot making memes of Donald Trump in a Space Force suit. So, they need a LOT of water to cool the servers. But water in CA is precious, so legislators passed a bill to require AI data centers to report actual and projected water use. It’s on Gov. Newsom’s desk. How much water? Data centers “happen to be incredibly thirsty,” said the bill’s author, Diane Papan. An average-size 100-megawatt facility consumes 500,000 gallons a day, and they run 24/7. Business groups are against any regulations requiring any disclosure.
MAD Take: It is never mentioned in this story, but where does the water come from? Most of it comes from our rivers – the Tuolumne, Merced, Stanislaus and Mokelumne. So, let’s do a little math. A typical AI server farm uses 500,000 gallons a day, or about 540-acre feet a year. Not bad. But there are some 60 server farms in the city of Santa Clara alone. That’s about 32,400-acre feet every year just to make memes. That water comes from the Tuolumne River, which not only grows food in Stanislaus County but feeds the reservoirs that supply San Francisco. The folks angry about how much water it takes to grow an almond never say a word about how much water it takes to produce funny Trump meme (about 1.5 gallons) or a dancing salmon (about 3 gallons). But we’re not done. Santa Clara has 60 AI centers. But San Jose has 127 – which takes about 70,000-acre feet to cool each year, with most of it coming from San Luis Reservoir. San Francisco has 193 AI centers (another 105,000-acre feet, also from the Tuolumne). So, you see, it’s not enough that the Silicon Valley tech titans cover our Valley with photovoltaic cells, they also want our water. How do they plan to get it? The next story was produced by the well-respected Public Policy Institute of California, which has been insisting for years that the best way to “allocate” water in California is to create an open market where water can be bought and sold to farmers and other users. How many Valley growers will be able to outbid Silicon Valley data-farmers for even a single drop? What happens to jobs picking and packing food when all the water is used to animate a dancing salmon? Tracking water use is fine. Protecting water is essential.

What’s that water worth?

PPIC. Water markets help farmers facing scarcity in Australia.
Synopsis: PPIC staffers Bradley Franklin and Kurt Schwabe offer a Q&A with two Australians who explain how their water business is going. They start by explaining that in Australia, individuals hold water rights. They can sell them on an open exchange. As Aussie Sandy Iosefellis puts it: “Water is now an asset with a management plan.” He leases water to others, sells water and invests the proceeds in other things. They see water as a “benefit” that can be sold separately from the land, which they admit drives a lot of farmers out of the business. But hey, farming is tough.
MAD Take: What do you call Aussies who sell off their water and have nothing left with which to farm? Speculators. The Aussies never mention any shared assets or public good. Instead, they have turned a publicly held asset (water) over to private owners who create private profit. Great plan for a few; absolutely awful for everyone else. BTW, basic foods and even grapes aren’t high value enough for Aussie water.

Are canal panels a good deal?

KCRA. Turlock’s solar canal project aims to save water and generate clean energy. 
Synopsis: KCRA looks at Project Nexus, the collaboration between TID, UC Merced and a solar-panel company to put solar panels atop a stretch of canal south of Turlock. Story points out that it is more costly to set up the panels over the canal than simply build them on land. But it cuts down on the growth of aquatic weeds, cools the water and saves land for crops. “Does that make the system less expensive? That’s what we’re working on quantifying right now,” said an official. An Australian company has sent a canopy mounted on rails to be set up next month.
MAD Note: Finally, a good water idea from down under. 

Turning shells into fertilizer

LA Times. Stanford grads’ startup turns almond shell waste into organic fertilizer.
Synopsis: Nitricity has raised $50 million to scale up production of its organic fertilizer made from almond shells. It is expanding its reach across the US and Europe, selling to organic growers. Founder and CEO Nicolas Pinkowski says his soil additive reduces emissions, creates better soil health and improves yields by 30%. Almond shells are high in potassium. So far, investors are loving it – putting $100 million behind his product. The company is breaking ground this week on a factory in Delhi that will produce 8,000 short tons of liquid fertilizer a year. Not in the story, the company says this will create 20 jobs in our Valley.

Great spot to take an oath

Fresno Bee. Central Valley immigrants become US citizens at Yosemite National Park.
Synopsis: A group of 70 people went to Yosemite to take the oath of citizenship. One of those quoted was Erika Ramos Hernandez, who talked about finally having the right to vote. It was the first such ceremony in the park since 2019, said PIO Scott Gediman. Of the 70 new citizens, 50 were born in Mexico with others from India, Germany, Canada, Portugal, Vietnam, etc. Several spoke of being inspired to get citizenship now because of troubling events the past few months.

Dispatch system upgrades delayed

Modesto Focus. Stanislaus 911 dispatching will continue with status quo – for now.
Synopsis: Sheriff Jeff Dirkse is looking satisfied if not downright prescient. CentralSquare, the company contracted to update the regional dispatch center’s software, was forced to delay implementation of upgrades. Dirkse went to the mats to get rid of CentralSquare as his department’s dispatch tool and is using a beta-version of Oracle software to dispatch deputies and provide record keeping at the Stanislaus jail. The sheriff provides police services for Riverbank, Patterson, Hughson, Waterson and the rest of the county’s unincorporated 1,300 square miles. Turlock, Ceres, Oakdale and Newman do not go through the regional center or the sheriff’s dispatch system.

School-board shenanigans

Stocktonia. AngelAnn Flores removed from Stockton Unified board following felony sentencing. 
Synopsis: Hours after trustee AngelAnn Flores was sentenced for insurance fraud, the board announced that she had been expelled. Her lawyers will challenge that decision. Flores claims she is a whistleblower and was working to expose $7 million in theft. She is also being investigated for misusing a district credit card and filing a false car-insurance claim.

Sacramento Bee. Was Davis school board right to walk out when woman stripped to bikini?
Synopsis: The Davis school board president stopped the woman who was stripping in protest to a policy related to transgender students. David Loy of the First Amendment Coalition says the board should have stuck around. Others say the action – to protest allowing students to choose their own bathrooms – was meant to disrupt and did. Apparently, some members of the board hadn’t seen enough. They let the woman speak again after a recess, and she started stripping again.

The more the merrier

Sacramento Bee. Former Assembly leader Ian Calderon jumps into governor’s seat.
Synopsis: Ian Calderon, a Democrat from Whittier, was the first millennial elected to the Assembly in 2012 and the youngest majority leader in 2016. He quit the Assembly in 2020 to spend time with his family. He will concentrate on bringing down the cost of living. His father was majority leader years ago and his stepmother replaced him in the Assembly.
MAD Take: It looks like Ian has a clear path to the governorship with only one Katie (Porter), three Tonys (Thurman, Villaraigosa and Atkins), two Steves (Cloobeck and Hilton), one Xavier (Becerra), a Betty (Yee), one Chad (Bianco) and a possible Padilla (Alex) standing in his way.

Future of healthcare in Valley

Modesto Bee. Modesto hospital leaders talk future of healthcare in Central Valley.
Synopsis: Reporter Kathleen Quinn sat in on the most recent panel discussion sponsored by Modesto’s three major med centers – Memorial, Doctors and Kaiser, with participation from Golden Valley Health Centers, Valley Children’s and others. They’re trying to bring down the cancer mortality rate and bring up the number of doctors treating the disease. Sutter Health CEO Tracy Roman said the first cancer center will open in Modesto in 2029. Jay Krishnaswami, CEO or Doctors, talked about the new pulmonary care clinic and other specialty treatment. Doctors and Valley Children’s are partnering with UC Davis to bring more maternity care to the region. All want to keep doctors in the area – one of the essential missions of UC Merced – and residency programs at all of the med centers.

Too much screen time?

Merced Sun Star. When does screen time become ‘too much’ for kids? Merced prof weighs in. 
Synopsis: TVs, cellphones, iPads all play an outsized role in the lives of children. They spend roughly 7.5 hours a day watching screens, said Prof Heather Bortfeld of UC Merced. She says anything beyond 4 hours a day is “heavy use” and likely harmful. Those screens are “coping mechanisms,” and at that level a signal of deeper problems. Most importantly, limit screen use before bed. Also, it can lead to physical problems such as myopia and the loss of distance vision. If the kids complain, they’re likely addicted.

LA Times. Nexstar TV stations will not run ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after return to ABC.
Synopsis: Nexstar Media Group, which owns 200 TV stations across the US and is seeking an exemption from anti-trust laws that would put its stations in 89% of all US households, says it won’t run Jimmy Kimmel’s show when it returns tonight. Kimmel is “insensitive” and Nexstar insists it’s all about “fostering an environment of respectful, constructive dialogue in the markets we serve.”
MAD Take: Is it good business to give viewers another reason to turn off their TVs? Just asking.

Some big birthdays

Politico. CA Playbook: Harris: ‘Recklessness’ comment was ‘about myself.’
Synopsis: Deep in a story that tops with more dishy tidbits from Kamala Harris’s book and her efforts to reshape the critical comments found within it, we find the Playbook’s daily birthday wishes. No. 1 on that list, Rep. Adam Gray. Not that Politico would mention it, but the representative shares a celebratory day with a famous rock star named Springsteen – who was about 28 years old when Adam was born.

‘Vampire chicks’ in Modesto

Modesto Bee. Vampires in Modesto? Horror movie shot in city to premiere at State Theatre.
Synopsis: “Only Fangs” is about “a bloodthirsty gang of vampire chicks” who move into a small town to feed but find a business opportunity instead. The town is Modesto; the vampires are hot. It was written by couple Paul Ragsdale and Angie De Alba, aka, A&P Productions. He was raised in Patterson on “The Lost Boys” and “RoboCop.” She is from Newman and doesn’t really like horror movies but loves storytelling. Look for Graceada Park, McHenry Bowl and even the State in the film.