#San Joaquin River

[demoniccow]

Do you use seasonal photos for your devices? Here's a gorgeous photo of a spring morning beside a river to add to your collection:

[anarcho-mom-unist]

Yo, this is the Waterfront! Right on the San Joaquin River, the park (where they hold the Stockton Pride Festival) and the surrounding area are quite nice. Not only does a bunch of recreational activity happen on the river, Stockton is also California’s largest inland port!

This is a deeply weird selection for a curation of images called “unplaces” —it lacks, for one example, have the uncanniness of a warehouse or underpass or some type of factory.

N Center St, Stockton, California.

[pcttrailsidereader]

Another casualty of a tough winter and spring. This bridge crosses the South Fork of the San Joaquin River at the junction of the Piute Pass Trail and the PCT/JMT in the High Sierra.

[politicintel]

Hike

.

of that day only photos recall the curves in rock and color of sky

nothing at all about the quality of the air inhaled under strain of hike

nor of the scurried creatures under the brush as we strode by in determination for another view, another beautiful rise

nor of the waters streaming sound distant as a long gone song that memory cannot reconstruct

that day happened and happens now as I tell it again

although you can never know anything true beyond the evidence my words

my joy that I was there

and a sadness that you were not.

[sonyachristian]

California Community Colleges Advancing the AI conversation

It’s the end of an era… The Bakersfield Californian is moving from 7 days a week paper to 5 days a week, Tuesday through Saturday. The Bakersfield Californian’s history can be traced to Kern County’s first newspaper, the Weekly Courier, which was first published August 18, 1866. It got its present name in 1907, and it moved to its downtown location in 1926. I remember being heartbroken when…

[wine-porn]

Harris Ranch

After last night’s Shiraz, wanted to head a–possibly–opposite direction in style, but honestly, not much different. Incredibly eucalyptus in the nose, the body dense and purple-staining. Drrrrty, oily earth grasps the bouquet, the fruit buried beneath musty funk and wilted floral. Tasting it presents a nice, even mouth-feel, well-balanced between a well-acidified wine and one blossoming with…

[thorsenmark]

Wide Open Spaces in Devils Postpile National Monument by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: While walking the Devils Postpile Trail and taking in views with some nearby forest and river with reflections. The view is looking to the south.

[wachinyeya]

A historically and culturally significant lake in California's San Joaquin Valley that first disappeared in 1898 has returned after last year's atmospheric rivers flooded the region.

Tulare Lake, known as Pa'ashi — or "big water" — to the local Tachi Yokut Tribe, was "once the largest body of freshwater west of the Mississippi River," per Earth.com.

Vivian Underhill, who published a paper on Tulare Lake as a postdoctoral research fellow at Northeastern University, noted it was mostly sustained by snowmelt from the Sierra Nevada mountains and was 100 miles long and 30 miles wide at its peak.

The lake served as a key resource for Indigenous Peoples and wildlife and was once robust enough to allow steamships to transport agricultural goods throughout the state.

However, government officials persecuted and displaced the indigenous communities in the late 1800s to convert the area for farming through draining and irrigation.

"They really wanted to get [land] into private hands so that indigenous land claims — that were ongoing at that time — would be rendered moot by the time they went through the courts," Underhill told the Northeastern Global News. "It was a deeply settler colonial project."

While Pa'ashi periodically reappeared during the 1930s, '60s, and '80s, the barrage of atmospheric rivers California experienced in 2023 revived the lake despite the region receiving just 4 inches of rain annually. According to Underhill, Tulare Lake is now the same size as Lake Tahoe, which is 22 miles long and 12 miles wide.

Its resurgence has led to the return of humid breezes at least 10 degrees cooler than average and native species, including fish, amphibians, and birds. Lake Tulare was once a stopping point for migratory birds traveling a route known as the Pacific Flyway.

"Something that continues to amaze me is — [the birds] know how to find the lake again," Underhill told the Northeastern Global News. "It's like they're always looking for it."

The Tachi Yokuts have also returned to Pa'ashi's shores, once again practicing their ceremonies and planting tule reeds and native sage.

[dailyoverview]

Water and sediment swirl through San Francisco Bay, mixing with the Pacific Ocean on the west coast of California. The Bay, which covers roughly 1,600 square miles (4,000 square km), drains water from approximately 40% of the state — including the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers and the Sierra Nevada mountains. Surrounding the Bay are the cities of San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland.

37.670000°, 122.270000°

Source imagery: Maxar

[collapsedsquid]

“Consistent with the direction in the Executive Order on Emergency Measures to Provide Water Resources in California, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is releasing water from Terminus Dam at Lake Kaweah and Schafer Dam at Success Lake to ensure California has water available to respond to the wildfires,” wrote Gene Pawlik, a supervising public affairs specialist in the Army Corps’ Washington, D.C. office. Indeed, President Trump boasted about the releases on his X page Friday posting a photo of a river and writing: “Photo of beautiful water flow that I just opened in California. Today, 1.6 billion gallons and, in 3 days, it will be 5.2 billion gallons. Everybody should be happy about this long fought Victory! I only wish they listened to me six years ago – There would have been no fire!” Tulare County water managers were perplexed and frustrated, noting both physical and legal barriers that make it virtually impossible for Tulare County river water to be used for southern California fires. First, it would have to be pumped at great expense across the San Joaquin Valley to get to the California Aqueduct and then travel hundreds of miles south.  Second, this isn’t “loose” water free for the taking. “Every drop belongs to someone,” said Kaweah River Watermaster Victor Hernandez. “The reservoir may belong to the federal government, but the water is ours. If someone’s playing political games with this water, it’s wrong.” It was no game on Thursday when area water managers were given about an hour’s notice that the Army Corps planned to release water up to “channel capacity,” the top amount rivers can handle, immediately.  The Army Corps later agreed to more measured releases, alleviating a mad scramble to alert first responders and have crews on standby in case river banks were breached and levees overtopped, as happened during the 2023 floods.

[demoniccow]

[lizardsaredinosaurs]

Hey, this is my little piece of river, okay?

Riparian Woodrat (Neotoma fuscipes riparia), subspecies of the dusky-footed woodrat

San Joaquin valley, California, currently only areas of the Stanislaus River

Status: federally Endangered

[transit-fag]

[darkmaga-returns]

Here they go again, blaming the wildfire catastrophe in Los Angeles on Climate Change when the actual culprits are the very politicians who never stop howling about what is a monumental hoax.

In the first place, of course, the raging California fires, like those which have periodically gone before, are largely a function of misguided government policies. Officials have essentially curtailed the supply of water available to LA firefighters, even as they have drastically increased the supply of combustible kindling and vegetation which feeds these wildfires. The latter, in turn, are being amplified by the seasonal Santa Ana winds, which have visited the California coast since time immemorial.

The kindling at issue stems from forest management policies which prevent the removal of excess fuel via controlled burns, which are fires intentionally set by forest managers to reduce the build-up of hazardous fuels. As we amplify below, red tape and bureaucratic obstacles have frequently delayed or prevented these controlled burns, allowing brush, dead trees, and other flammable materials to accumulate excessively.

In this case, state and Federal politicians have simultaneously curtailed the supply of water available to Los Angeles firefighters in order to protect so-called endangered species. Specifically, southern California is being held hostage by sharp curtailment of the water pumping rates from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta in order to protect the Delta Smelt and Chinook Salmon.

[sonyachristian]

Wrapping up an academic year

I started my week in DC for a White House AI summit, and so did my Washington Monument photo ritual… Back in Sacramento, the executive team had a two-day planning meeting, and we also celebrated Deputy Chancellor Daisy Gonzales who is transitioning to lead the California Student Aid Commission: *** It was also a time to honor Juneteenth, a federal holiday to commemorate the ending of slavery…

[mikeyhorrorpictureshow]

The San Joaquin River

California, USA