Valley Solutions

Tracking CA’s data centers

Smart Water Magazine. CA can’t manage what it can’t measure: Data centers, water and governance.
Synopsis: As demand accelerates for ever more power for the data centers used in AI computing, California is still operating in the dark. It is impossible to determine how much power is being used or how much water is being used to cool all those computers. It’s not just how much water, but where it will be used and how it will get there and what that means for areas that no longer have it. The first “geospatial analysis of every known operating and planned data center” in the state looked at the numbers. The largest “hyperscale facilities” are being built in rural and exurban areas where water systems are smaller and political opposition less robust, says the study. “The Central Valley and Imperial Valley emerge as the regions of greatest concern – the former subject to chronic groundwater depletion and contamination, the latter … almost entirely dependent on the Colorado River” which is drying up. Every water provider in every district where data centers are located was contacted, and not one provided figures on water use. The report calls that a “fundamental lack of transparency.”
MAD Take: It’s one thing to build solar-panel farms, covering thousands of fallowed acres of farmland. While we’ll never see any of that power in our homes, we won’t miss it. Water is a different story.

Spectrum News. CA senator proposes legislation to force data centers to bring their own energy.
Synopsis: Sen. Adam Schiff is proposing legislation to make certain local residents won’t be on the hook for power-grid upgrades required for data centers being built in rural areas. His Energy Cost Fairness & Reliability Act would require accountability and transparency when it comes to energy demand. “They’re being built all over the country, and they’re massive,” said Schiff. “META, Facebook, they’re building data centers, one of which is the size of all of Manhattan. … That’s extraordinary.” And these new data centers are relying on the same energy that’s on our grid today. Which means there will be “a lot more competition for energy, which means prices go up,” said Schiff.

Regulate AI, don’t ban it

Marin Independent Journal. Concerns about data centers deserve a closer look. 
Synopsis: The Bloomberg editorial board writes about all those “unremarkable warehouses” now generating so much controversy in communities across California and America. “Politicians from both parties are pushing bills to restrict them. Some want a nationwide moratorium. That would be an historic mistake.” There are 4,000 data centers operating in the US, with another 3,000 under construction or being planned. Cloud computing for communications, finance, healthcare and consumer services is now a fact of life. Yes, they consume a lot of water and power, but mitigating the downsides is better than banning them. The first step is transparency. We must be clear-eyed about energy and water demands. One red line: They must pay their own way when it comes to power demand and never increase costs to nearby residents. Regardless, “Data centers aren’t the enemy. They’re the future.”

Republicans voting early

Valley Sun. Two weeks to CA primary, GOP outperforming Dems in voter turnout across Valley.
Synopsis: Voter turnout is unusually low across the state so far. Republicans, however, are outperforming Democrats at the polls. As of Monday, 48% of all ballots cast in the Valley are from voters age 65 and older. Turnout is 2.3% across the state. In Fresno County, turnout is 4.3% with 23,000 ballots returned, and 46% of those are from Republicans. In Merced County, 4,300 ballots have been returned, with 42% from Republicans. In Stanislaus, 9,200 ballots have been returned with 47% from Republicans.

Backing the badge in Congress

Office of Adam Gray. Gray backs efforts to support Valley law enforcement during National Police Week. 
Synopsis: Rep. Adam Gray is backing legislation to provide additional administrative tools, resources and opportunities to “keep our communities safe.” Gray voted for a more transparent bail system and for making improvements in the court-appointed monitor systems that keep violent offenders off the streets. He and the Blue Dog Coalition worked to build bipartisan support for three bills. The Protect & Serve Act creates federal penalties for anyone targeting law enforcement or injuring an officer during a crime. The HELPER Act sets up a home-loan program for first-time buyers. Invest to Protect Act provides money specifically to small- to mid-size police departments for recruitment, retention and training.

STAR task force resumes

Merced Focus. STAR Task Force returns to Merced County Sheriff’s Office after four years. 
Synopsis: The Sheriff’s Tactics And Reconnaissance team has been reactivated and assigned to partner with local agencies to solve violent crimes. It has three deputies, who started working on May 7. In the first week, they responded to gang-related activities among other investigations. Lt. Jose Barajas leads the unit, following in the footsteps of Sheriff Vern Warnke, who led the original STAR team in 2002.

Port’s demand: Dredge channel

Journal of Transportation. Port of Stockton’s DeJesus says resolving dredging challenges will aid growth.
Synopsis: The Stockton deepwater channel is legally required to be 35 feet, but the Army Corps of Engineers is refusing to fully dredge the channel. The port’s exec director, Kirk DeJesus, told the Journal that he is in Washington four or five times a year to plead his case. The problem is that the Corps contracts dredging based on volume, not channel depth. Once a certain volume of sediment is removed, the dredging stops regardless of the channel’s depth. But if the channel is not 35 feet, ships must carry less cargo, which limits the port’s capacity. Over the past few years, shipped tonnage has dropped at the Port due entirely to water depth.
MAD Note: The Deepwater Channel marks the northern boundary of the redrawn Congressional District 13 following Prop 50.

Reservoirs full … for now

Active NorCal. Shasta, Oroville, Folsom - all are nearly full; so why are water managers still worried?
Synopsis: CA’s largest reservoirs are over 90% full and most are at 100% for this time of year. Just looking at numbers, the state appears in great shape. But numbers can mislead. The snowpack was low to begin with and now it’s gone, meaning no more water will be flowing into the reservoirs this year. As water is drawn down for urban and ag use, it will not be backfilled by incoming melt.

Prime? Choice? Meaningless

Successful Farming. Why the beef industry is rethinking yield grades after 60 years. 
Synopsis: There are two ways of assigning “grades” to beef – quality and yield. Ranchers say genetics and improvements in ranching have made both forms of “quality” grades irrelevant. Today’s cattle are “heavier, leaner and more muscular” than cattle being sold in the 1960s when the grading systems were developed. They’re fed in ways that simply didn’t exist then. Today, only 18% of the carcasses are graded by humans, with the rest graded by more accurate cameras attached to 3-D imaging and radar, computer grading. Unfortunately, beef prices are attached to the outmoded grading system.

Farmers get the leftovers

Farms.com. US farmers receive just 18.5 cents per food dollar.
Synopsis: The USDA says farmers are getting a relatively small share of every dollar spent on the food they grow. Figures dating to 2024 show farmers get 18.5% of grocery dollars but just 7.1% of the dollars spent on prepared foods. The rest goes to those who prepare, package, deliver, advertise and sell the food.

Tis the season for Valley Fever

Modesto Focus. Summer agriculture, end of school may bring upswing in Valley Fever cases. 
Synopsis: Tim Sheehan writes about the dust that gets kicked up across our Valley every summer, and what that dust carries. Valley Fever is a fungal disease created in the burrows of rodents living in dry fields. When the fields are disturbed, the dust gets in the air, and we inhale the microscopic Coccidioides spores. That can cause respiratory distress and sometimes death. So far this year, there have been 1,200 confirmed cases from Kern to San Joaquin counties. While every county has had cases, the incidence in Kern is off the chart followed far behind by Fresno and Tulare. Since 2018, there have been 284 deaths attributed to Valley Fever, including 103 in Kern, 10 each in Kings, Madera and Merced and 19 in Stanislaus. Many doctors still don’t recognize the illness, so it is likely going underreported. Fatigue, exhaustion, difficulty breathing, night sweats, fever and skin rashes all are, or can be, symptoms.

And the season for Valley fires

Modesto Bee. Hot, dry May winds ignite almond hull piles in east Stanislaus County. 
Synopsis: Smoke billowed from an almond-hull pile near Hickman on Meickle Road. When wind moves the shells, it creates friction, which creates heat. “There’s really no way to prevent it,” said operator Ken Braden. “Yesterday was just way crazy, out-of-control winds.” Such fires are usually allowed to burn out because adding water compacts the material and makes even more friction, more heat and more fire.

Merced Sun Star. High winds and low humidity lead to 200-acre fire in Merced.
Synopsis: Wind drove flames across a 200-acre field on Sunday along East Childs Ave. and Campus Parkway. Strong wind, said meteorologist Alex Cooke, gives fire “a steady supply of fresh oxygen and makes it spread more quickly.” 

Beard gets biochar facility

Merced Sun Star. Large-scale bioindustry testing hub planned for Stanislaus County.
Synopsis: BEAM Circular has secured $17 million to help bring a biochar facility to Beard Industrial District. The firm will turn crop waste such as nut shells into soil amendments and building products. No exact location has been named.

Renoir, PeeWee or Swine Dive?

Modesto Bee. What is Stanislaus County’s favorite sandwich? Reporters share their picks. 
Synopsis: Reporter Maria Figueroa compiled a list of the sandwiches favored by Bee employees. Dean Condoleo likes the club at The Sandwich Shop on Kansas. Andy Alfaro and Kathleen Quinn get their favorites at Food Fix Butcher & Baker, especially the Swine Dive. Picasso’s Deli is the favorite of several others, who prefer the Renoir, the Van Gogh and Mozart. For veggie lovers, the Ike’s Pee Wee fits the bill. Dominique Williams loves the chicken sandwich at Ferrarese’s Deli in Oakdale. Maria suggests the Space Force at Crave Subs.