Woodside/Portola Valley Rotary - Newsletter

President, Dave Hyman, will introduce Oliver Bock who will talk about The Green Riders which is an electric bicycle ride across the country featuring sustainable solutions at events along the way.

Last Week's Program:

President David Hyman introduced temporary newsletter editor, Dean Babcock, to speak to us about California Water: Supply and Demand. Dean was born in Minnesota, which means “Land of many waters” in prairie Sioux. If the Sioux had named California, they would have called it “Land of few waters.”

Dean’s talk was in the form of a Power Point presentation. His slides showed where precipitation falls and where the people are.. Then a map shows the network of aqueducts, canals and rivers that transport the resulting runoff to where it is needed. In the far northwestern area precipitation exceeds 200 inches per year – there are very few people there. In the far southeastern area precipitation is less than 4 inches per year. In the heavily populated areas of Los Angeles and San Diego precipitation is only about 9 inches per year. Water that falls in the northeastern Feather River area flows into Shasta Lake, down the Sacramento River to the delta and then down canals and aqueducts to the coastal area between Santa Maria and Santa Barbara. The 192 reservoirs of California hold the runoff from all the rivers except the few in the far northwest, e.g. Eel, Russian and Van Dusen – rivers which are now designated by the federal government as “Wild and Scenic” and thus are untouchable. The demand for water continues to increase along with the population, which grows by an average of 440,000 people per year. Some cities in the southwest are now building desalinization plants and rationing water. The Calif. Water Board sees a need for an additional 1,075,000 acre feet of water per year by the 2012. The only sources in sight are dams to hold the snow that melts too early and water conserved before it is too late.

Next Week's Program:

President David Hyman has two proposed speakers, one of which is Sr. Christina of St. Francis Center. Bring donations of clothes and food for St. Francis Center. Please bring all stored club items for transfer to the new storage site at SAFKEEP in Redwood City. It will be fitted with a combination lock.

Club News:

Intrepid newsletter editor, Joan Fuetsch, reports from India that she contemplated bathing in the Ganges to become "sin free", but after studying the condition of the water, she opted for good health instead and did her bathing in the hotel swimming pool.

Events:

Next Board Meeting: Tuesday, Nov. 3rd at 7:30 am, Church Library

Rotary Means Business and our Social Evening: You are all encouraged to attend this combination bash on Wednesday at 5:30 pm; Encore Performance Catering's kitchen.

Taste of Woodside: On a Sunday in September 2010, 3-7pm, Woodside Village Church

District Conference: San Francisco, April 16-17, 2010, www.rotary5150.org Discounted Price Ended 10/19/2009

Announcements: Have you had a look at the Rotary International website lately for what is going on in Rotary's world? www.rotary.org How about finding out about what is going on in the district? www.rotary5150.org