by Laraine Turk
1279sc
on June 02, 2019
The 9th Desert-Wise Living Landscape Tour provided a chance for several hundred people from the Morongo Basin and beyond to explore 21 landscapes from Flamingo Heights to Twentynine Palms during the last weekend in April. Viewing different sized properties and a multitude of creative ideas and consideration for water conservation, visitors were both delighted and educated.
Read more
Add your reaction
Share
by Laraine Turk
1279sc
on June 02, 2019
California Senate Bill 772, which would have provided a supportive policy for hydroelectric energy storage projects like the Eagle Mountain project, failed to pass a full Senate vote. The bill could be reintroduced next year. Read details in
this Desert Sun article and in the
pre-vote Los Angeles Times opinion piece against the bill.
Add your reaction
Share
by Laraine Turk
1279sc
on May 29, 2019
- Stop Eagle Crest Energy: NO on SB 772
- Paradise Valley Development Threatens Joshua Tree National Park
- Stop Cadiz: Support SB-307
- Desert-Wise Living Essay Contest
Read more
Add your reaction
Share
by Laraine Turk
1279sc
on May 28, 2019
MBCA is pleased to announce the winners of the 2019 Desert-Wise Landscape Tour Essay Contest. Six thoughtful and enthusiastic essays were submitted. The essays were ranked by a panel of 3 judges based on the instruction “Describe your experience and/or comment on how you will apply what you learned on the 2019 Desert-Wise Landscape Tour.”
Read more
Add your reaction
Share
by Laraine Turk
1279sc
on May 24, 2019
While not directly supporting the Eagle Mountain hydropower and storage project, the passage of SB 772 would require California to support projects that would store energy as part of the state's plan to increase renewable energy production. The increasing amount of solar and wind energy is more than can be used as it is produced, so storage becomes more important to continue reducing non-renewable energy consumption. This
in-depth article in the Los Angeles Times provides perspective from both industry and environmental perspectives.
1 reaction
Share
by Laraine Turk
1279sc
on May 24, 2019
Senate Bill 307 passed through the California Senate and will next need approval in the Assembly to provide additional environmental review for groundwater transfers like the proposed Cadiz project. Read details about SB 307 from the
Desert Sun.
Add your reaction
Share
by Laraine Turk
1279sc
on May 14, 2019
The Daggett Solar project northeast of the Morongo Basin near Daggett and Newberry Springs proposes a five-and-a-half square mile array that would bring more damage than benefit to the area's residents and to the Mojave Desert. In
MBCA's April 29, 2019 comment letter, Pat Flanagan outlines the issues and illustrates through photos and maps how the project is flawed despite proposed mitigations. Also noted as likely outcomes are a reduction in human quality of life, for reasons of fugitive dust with health consequences and reduced viewsheds affecting tourism. Potential damage to wildlife and birds, increased temperatures from heat island effects, and reduced panel effectiveness due to dust accumulation are other situations explored in the richly illustrated letter.
Add your reaction
Share
by Laraine Turk
1279sc
on May 14, 2019
MBCA has offered information and advice to Morongo Basin residents for several years concerning WEMO, the West Mojave BLM Land Use Management plan related to off-highway vehicle use. A lot of focused effort and detailed research was conducted a year ago by MBCA Board members Pat Flanagan, Sarah Kennington, and Steve Bardwell, along with many other Basin residents, to advise the BLM in the prior comment period of dozens of OHV "routes" that were untenable. In the recently-released West Mojave Route Network Project Land Use Plan Amendment to the California Desert Conservation Area Plan and Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (FSEIS), the hard work seems to have paid off and many of the targeted routes no longer exist in the Plan. An assessment and links for this final review can be accessed at the Community ORV Watch website.
Read more
Add your reaction
Share
by Laraine Turk
1279sc
on May 14, 2019
- Paradise Valley Development Threatens Joshua Tree National Park
- Stop Cadiz! Support SB-307
- West Mojave Route Network Project (WEMO) Land Use Plan Amendment published
- National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) workshop: Saturday, May 18, 2019
- Submit your Desert-Wise Living Essay!
Read more
Add your reaction
Share
by Laraine Turk
1279sc
on May 12, 2019
"THANK YOU - IT IS DONE AND WE HAVE WON!"
Read more
Add your reaction
Share