Central Valley

In the Trenches of California’s Water War: A Farmer, an Environmentalist and a Republican Envision the Future

What’s really happening, and will Gov. Brown listen?

Water lazily rolls by, acres of pear trees blanket the horizon, and tiny communities dot the landscape. Walnut Grove is a Delta town with 1,500 residents, just one ice cream shop and a mom-and-pop grocery store. It feels sleepy, humid and slow—like the Sacramento River. Brett Baker, a sixth-generation pear farmer who lives nearby, on Sutter Island, describes the area nostalgically:

The Sacramento River is the largest river in the state. It carries nearly one-third of the total annual runoff of all California streams.

“I enjoy the peace and quiet, the landscape and scenery,” he said. “I have a personal relationship with almost everyone in my town. I have known them all my life, played sports with them, was coached by them growing up. Out here, there is a real sense of community. When tragedy strikes, your neighbors pick you up and help support you.”

Tragedy might be striking.  Just 10 minutes away is the roar of Interstate 5, one of California’s major freeways. Twenty minutes farther is Sacramento and the buzzing State Capitol, where the fate of this farming community, the Delta, the state’s river system, and the largest estuary on the West Coast will be determined.

The Delta is the heart of the state’s water resources. Most rivers flow into it, the ocean meets it, key species migrate in and out of it, 25 million people draw water from it, and a large portion of agriculture relies on it to irrigate crops.  And now, Gov. Jerry Brown wants to forge ahead with a $23 billion plan to build two massive tunnels underneath or around the Delta.

The Tunnel Options – Photo courtesy of PPIC

The stakes are enormous.

The governor’s proposed Bay-Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP), also known as the tunnel conveyance system or peripheral canal, would carry part of the Sacramento River underneath the Delta in two 35-mile long tunnels to the California Aqueduct. There, the water would be pumped uphill to cities and farms in more parched regions of the state, including the southern Central Valley, Los Angeles and Santa Clara.

The canal plan has been kicking around for decades. Brown’s original peripheral canal project was voted down in a referendum in 1982, but he is back in the saddle again. “We’re going to take into account the opposition,” Brown vowed, “but we’re not going to sit here and twiddle our thumbs and stare at our navel. We’re going to make decisions and get it done.”

But it’s unclear what Brown is trying to get done. The project would continue to move water from one part of the state to another, with questionable benefits for citizens, farmers, fish, fishermen and even state and federal water contractors, who have funded the project thus far. The differing perspectives of a Delta farmer, a seasoned environmentalist and a Republican supervisor show the complexities and contentiousness of what lies ahead.

Brett Baker—Delta Farmer

Delta Farmer Brett Baker and his wife Meredith stand near their 40-acre farm in Courtland, CA. The couple is expecting their first child in October.

“The Delta is the largest contiguous acreage of prime farmland in California,” said Baker. “It has a naturally reliable supply of high quality water and sufficient drainage. Basically, you are taking water from land that has proven to be sustainably productive for over 150 years and moving it to lands with toxic drainage impairments.”

Acre to acre, Delta land is one the most productive farm areas in the state.

The toxic land that Baker refers to is on the west side of San Joaquin River in the Central Valley. The area has long had problems with salinity and selenium, and it’s also a primary importer of Delta water. Salinity on the west side can be flushed out with water, provided there is drainage. But there isn’t excess water or drainage, and there may never be. The taxpayer cost of fixing the drainage problem is $2.6 to $7 billion. Only $346 million in funds are currently allocated.

Selenium presents a more significant problem for the west side. It cannot be safely dispersed into the environment. It bio-accumulates and in large quantities is toxic to wildlife, livestock and humans. In the 1980s, Kesterson Reservoir had to be closed, because of the mass bird and livestock deformities that were discovered there due to selenium build-up. The area has since been cleaned up, but pollutants are still flowing into the San Joaquin River, and more water will not fix the problem.

So why construct a canal or tunnel conveyance system and route water there?

The West Side of the San Joaquin River. Graphic courtesy of the EPA.

A portion of that water flows elsewhere, to the Metropolitan Water District and the Kern County Water Agency, for example. The giant pumps that sit in the southern part of the estuary entrap and kill thousands of fish annually. The pumps also alter the habitat of the estuary by creating a north to south flow across a tidal ecosystem, which would naturally flow east to west. The proposed tunnels would move the intake upstream to locations that might be less harmful to smelt, salmon and other endangered species. They also might avoid delivery disruptions associated with salt water intrusion and climate change.

But under the microscopes of science and regulation, even those benefits begin to look dubious. And that’s because moving intakes upstream will affect water quality for fish and farmers downstream. “If we allow the canal to be built it will ultimately result in the salting up and ruination of one of our state’s most valuable assets,” Baker said. ”Research has continued to reveal that shunting more water from the system stands to condemn the canary in the coal mine.”

And Baker is right. The birds are in trouble too. Although endangered fish species get more attention because of their effect on water exports, the Delta is a primary habitat and migratory stop for millions of birds, like tundra swans and sandhill cranes. Nearly 50 percent of the Pacific Flyway’s migrating or wintering waterfowl depend on it.

Altogether, the Delta is home to more than 750 species of plants and animals, 33 of which are endangered, and likely to go extinct within the next 25 to 50 years, if not sooner. Those species includes chinook salmon, smelt, steelhead, splittail, sturgeon and river lamprey, all of which are supposed to be protected by state and federal agencies.

And California hasn’t left much breathing room for its once abundant wildlife, particularly in the Central Valley and the Delta, where most of the land is privately held and about 95 percent of natural wetlands are gone.  And water, the other primary habitat, has been over-allocated to such a high degree that little is left for plants and animals. All total, water rights exist for 531 million acre-feet, which is nearly 10 times as much as is annually available (63 million acre-feet).

The Environmentalist—Leo Winternitz

Staten Island with sandhill cranes. The area works as a habitat and a farm. Photo courtesy of Leo Winternitz.

Leo Winternitz, associate director of Delta Restoration and Policy for the Nature Conservancy, has been living amidst these water wars for the past 30 years. He has worked for CALFED, the Sacramento Water Forum, the Department of Water Resources, and the State Water Resources Control Board—all major players in water management.

As to how things are going – he says simply, “The situation is more acute. The environment is really suffering from the overuse. We need to think in terms of migratory corridors,” he continues. “If you acquire any piece of property, without a strategic plan then you have postage stamp approach and that doesn’t work. You need to have a corridor of different habitats interconnected.”

But putting that into action is no easy task. The Delta region has more than 500,000 acres of agricultural land, most of which was formerly wetland habitat. About five percent of the original environment is left.

To restore a portion, the Nature Conservancy acquired a 9200-acre tract in the Delta, called Staten Island. The area provides prime habitat for sandhill cranes and other migratory waterfowl. But the $35 million land purchase has been criticized. Half of the money for the acquisition came from the state funds for flood protection, and today, it’s managed primarily as a farmland and wetland—not as a flood plain. The island is below sea level, and it isn’t ideally located for tidal marsh restoration. Still, 15 percent of the Sacramento Valley sandhill crane population and thousands of birds use the area as a winter habitat.

Sandhill cranes and tundra swans fly thousands of miles in the fall to spend their winter in the Delta. Photo courtesy of Leo Winternitz.

The BDCP, at least, has a cohesive plan for restoration. It may include 80,000 acres of tidal marsh habitat and up to 45,000 acres of agricultural and grasslands habitat. But that makes Delta farmers nervous, as does changing the position of the water intake system and increasing exports, which was originally part of the plan.

And that’s where the project starts to hit serious trouble.

The BDCP sets off a series of agency interactions between the Department of Water Resources (DWR), the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB), the California Department State Fish and Game (DFG), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Delta Stewardship Council (DSC). Each agency is tasked with a particular aspect of protecting and managing the state’s natural resources. And there is a lot to protect:—California is one of the most bio-diverse places in the world.

Among these water agencies, there is a confusing array of regulations and interactions. But there are clear guidelines. “It is now state policy that we have co-equal goals of ecosystem restoration and water reliability,” Winternitz said, regarding the Delta Reform Act of 2009. “Any solution has to include environmental consideration. That is a big positive. We just have to communicate better about what this means and how to implement it.”

But what’s being communicated is tough medicine for everyone.

The public trust recommendations for the Delta are the hub of public policy, and the agencies are circling around it. To resuscitate the system, scientific research indicates the need to increase river flows and decrease Delta water consumption by nearly 50 percent, or 13.7 to 14.6 million-acre feet. Those recommendations are supposed to play a primary role in water planning and policy—and to some extent they have.

In July, when Brown made his public announcement, he endorsed a 55-page joint set of agency recommendations for the BDCP. The latest version includes a smaller intake system and no guaranteed export amount; instead, continued scientific studies over the 15-year construction period will determine whether exports are higher or lower than they are today. But notably, the joint recommendations also state: “Only a small percentage of research in the Bay Delta is controversial.”

Right now, what keeps the Delta ecosystem intact are court-ordered flow criteria. The current rulings limit south of Delta exports to an average of 4.9 million acre-feet. If you applied the public trust recommendations exports would drop to 3.7 to 3.9 million acre-feet, about 25 percent. That also means that the rest of the state, including cities, irrigation districts and farms, would have to reduce use and put water back into the system.

What would we gain?

Winternitz explains, “The species we are concerned about evolved in the habitats we need to restore. Those ecosystem processes, which provide for water quality and other important benefits, are the same ones that we humans need.  And that’s why there is this whole effort to get these species turned around. If we can repair their world, we can repair our world. We’ll have better air, better places to swim and play, better places to live. It’s really our own system that we are trying to clean up.”

But can California clean up? The quick and easy answer is yes. With water recycling, conservation, efficient technology and better water management, California can meet the needs of the environment, agriculture and a growing population. There is a mountain of data, coming from nearly every water agency, suggesting that improvements can be made. Conservation is the cheapest and easiest way to create to a new supply. There is more new potential water from these investments than California regularly exports from the Delta, and they come without the damage to fish or farmers.

But the long hard truth is that change is difficult.

The Republican Supervisor—Jim DeMartini

DeMartini spends his mornings on his farm and the afternoons in the county supervisor’s office in downtown Modesto.

Stanislaus County Supervisor Jim DeMartini knows first-hand just how difficult. In his office in Modesto, just south of the Delta, pictures of George W. Bush, Ronald Reagan and Arnold Schwarzenegger hang from the walls. DeMartini is a Republican farmer pushing to preserve prime farmland from sprawling development.

“There is no other place in the world like this; we can grow 200 types of crops here,” he said. “We have good access to water, and right now, there is no permanent protection of agriculture.”

California agriculture produces half of U.S. grown nuts, fruits and vegetables. It is also home to nine of nation’s most productive counties, and Stanislaus County is one of them.

DeMartini owns 1200 acres between Ceres and Patterson and grows a mixture of almonds, walnuts, peaches and grapes on the east side of the Central Valley. Three miles of his land borders the Tuolumne River, a primary tributary to the San Joaquin River, which flows into the Bay-Delta. He has voluntarily remediated about 120 acres and turned it back into wetlands. “Wilderness and agriculture can co-exist; there is no reason we can’t work it out,” he said, “We have 43 species of birds out there, and I want to keep it that way. It’s beautiful.”

Stanislaus County has adopted a land use plan for agriculture, but the cities within the county haven’t come up with their own plans and agreed to control sprawl. “They just want to keep growing out,” DeMartini said. “You can’t keep eroding the farmland and stay self-sufficient. The building association doesn’t want any policy adopted at all. They don’t want any restrictions.”

DeMartini planned a workshop with the Mayor’s Association to create a land use policy for each of the nine cities. “Everyone had a scheduling problem, and I never did hear from them again,” he said. ”It’s been more than a year now.”  It’s surprising, since sprawl has never worked for the region. Stanislaus County has double-digit unemployment and high foreclosures—all remnants of the housing crisis.

Still, the area is on the forefront of innovation. The Oakdale Irrigation District is improving its water delivery system, and the Patterson Irrigation District is building a cross-valley channel, which could transport water east to west without going through the Delta. More recently, Modesto farmer Bill Lyons sold 1,603 acres along the Tuolumne River, to be used for wildlife and wetland restoration.

In general, what DeMartini is advocating has little to do with the peripheral canal or the tunnels. But his plans aren’t far from what’s likely to become state law. His proposals mirror the legally-mandated policies set forth by the state’s overarching water plan. California’s  88-year Delta Plan focuses on wetland preservation, habitat restoration, farmland protection and reduced reliance on Delta water. The agency putting the plan together, the Delta Stewardship Council (DSC), has an appellate role regarding the canal and conveyance system. If the BDCP is approved, it will automatically be folded into the Delta Plan without review, unless someone makes an appeal.

Regarding the peripheral canal, DeMartini remains skeptical.  “I don’t think the plan is going to make it past environmental review,” he added. “I don’t know how they will pay for it either. It seems like it’s come out of nowhere.”

The question remains: Where will it go?

Note: This South of Delta Exports chart was updated on August 30, 2012 for clarity. The tunnel intake capacity is 6.5 million acre-feet. The total physical capacity to export water is 11 million acre-feet. A detailed explanation will follow in a forthcoming article.

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Art painted on the wall titled CAFE INC., and fish made out of paper named Stella

Sarah Lippincott

STOCKTON, CA – Celebrate Stockton flags decorated the entrance of the 235 N. San Joaquin Street with sounds of music echoing out.

Continue reading »

Candy Vargas poses for Bilingual Weekly cover-shoot by Sarah Lippincott.

Candy Vargas,

Born and raised in Lamont Bakersfield, Vargas moved to Stockton six years ago to attend the University of the Pacific.

It was during a study abroad program at Lima, Peru where Vargas renewed her interest in the public service. Continue reading »

RICHMOND, Calif. (AP) — Air quality regulators say they were wrong about pollution caused by the Chevron refinery fire in Richmond.
The Bay Area Air Quality Management District originally said that air samples taken during Monday’s fire showed that toxic air contaminants were below levels considered safe by federal health officials.

On Thursday the district said its “initial statement was incorrect.” In one of eight samples taken throughout Richmond, levels of the toxic compound acrolein were above the federal standard.

The air district also says the refinery fire generated smoke containing particulate matter that is the likely source of health complaints by Richmond residents.
After the fire erupted and sent plumes of black smoke into the sky Monday night, hundreds of people showed up at local hospitals complaining of respiratory problems.

WASHINGTON— Today, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) submitted a Federal Register notice announcing new forms and instructions to allow individuals to request consideration of deferred action for childhood arrivals from USCIS. USCIS will begin accepting completed forms tomorrow, August 15, 2012. On June 15, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano announced that certain people who came to the United States as children and meet other key guidelines may request, on a case-by-case basis, consideration of deferred action.

“The release of the new form and instructions to allow individuals to request consideration of deferred action for childhood arrivals from USCIS marks an important step in our implementation of this new process,” said USCIS Director Alejandro Mayorkas. “While requests should not be submitted until August 15th, it is important that individuals wishing to be considered for deferred action understand the requirements necessary to demonstrate eligibility to be considered.”

Individuals requesting consideration of deferred action for childhood arrivals must submit Form I-821D, Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals; Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization (with accompanying fees); and an I-765WS, Worksheet. USCIS recently developed a series of resources to inform the public on how the process will work. The website, www.uscis.gov/childhoodarrivals, includes a flier, a How do I brochure, frequently asked questions, and a number of other resources. USCIS encourages individuals with questions to visit this website or call the USCIS National Customer Service line at 1-800-375-5283.

USCIS is aware of immigration scams surrounding the deferred action for childhood arrivals process. Often, unauthorized practitioners of immigration law may try to take advantage of individuals by charging a fee to submit forms to USCIS, or to provide other services. The USCIS website www.uscis.gov/avoidscams includes tips on filing forms, reporting scams and finding accredited legal services.

USCIS is committed to ensuring that this new process works within the agency’s mission to ensure the integrity of the immigration system.

For more information on USCIS and its programs, please visit www.uscis.gov or follow us on Twitter (@uscis), YouTube (/uscis) and the USCIS blog The Beacon.

STOCKTON, CA – On Labor Day, Monday, September 3, the San Joaquin Regional Transit District (RTD) will not operate its regular fixed route bus services (Stockton Metro, Metro Express, Intercity, Hopper, and San Joaquin Commuter) and Dial-A-Ride services. RTD’s administrative offices and the Downtown Transit Center (DTC) Customer Service Center will be closed.

RTD will resume regular service and reopen its administrative offices and the DTC Customer Service Center on Tuesday, September 4.

For route and schedule information: RTD Customer Information Line, (209) 943-1111 or 1-800-HOW-TO-RIDE (1-800-469-8674) or visit RTD online at

http://www.sanjoaquinRTD.com and follow San Joaquin RTD on Facebook and Twitter.

WASHINGTON, D.C. –Congressman Dennis Cardoza (D-Merced) submitted a formal letter of resignation from Congress to Governor Jerry Brown and Speaker John Boehner, effective midnight August 15th.  Continue reading »

STOCKTON, CA – Representatives from local organization met at El Concilio in downtown Stockton, on Wednesday, August 8^th to discuss Latino challenges in the community and the possible creation of a Latino statewide agenda. Continue reading »

Poll: What would you like to ask the Candidates this election cycle?

New Deputy City Manager for Stockton

NEW DEPUTY CITY MANAGER FOR STOCKTON

(Stockton, CA) – Stockton’s City Manager has announced the appointment of Kurt Wilson as Deputy City Manager, replacing Mike Locke. Mr. Wilson will join the City of Stockton on September 4, 2012. His Deputy City Manager position oversees the departments of Community and Economic Development, Public Works and Municipal Utilities.

“I believe that we have appointed excellent new department heads who know their fields well,” said City Manager Bob Deis. “I have confidence in them; therefore, I was looking for a generalist manager who demonstrated qualities such as leadership, problem solving, accountability and assisting in “closing the deal.” I feel that Kurt fits that bill.”

Mr. Wilson serves as the city manager of Ridgecrest, California, with previous roles in the cities of San Bernardino and Rialto. In addition, he has extensive private sector experience. He also served in the Schwarzenegger administration as the Chief of external affairs for the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and the Executive Director of the Corrections Standards Authority.

“While recent events have overshadowed Stockton’s successes, the fact remains that Stockton is a strong city with enviable natural resources and endless potential,” said Wilson. “I’m excited about being part of Bob’s team, and I am anxious to get to work.”

Information provided by the City of Stockton

Slain Calif. carjacking suspect ID’d as parolee

MERCED, Calif. (AP) — Authorities say an attempted carjacking suspect who was shot and killed at the end of a police chase on a Northern California highway was a parolee who was wanted after another chase.

Turlock police say Joseph Davis was shot by officers when he jumped out of the stolen car he was driving after a pursuit on Highway 99 a little after 6 a.m. Saturday and tried to carjack a passing pickup truck by firing at the truck.

Turlock police Sgt. Stephen Webb says officers shot the 29-year-old Davis to protect the driver. Davis was pronounced dead at the scene.

One police officer was wounded in the leg. He is expected to recover from his injuries.

Merced County Sheriff Mark Pazin told the Modesto Bee (http://bit.ly/P7Xrms ) that Davis had served time on drug, burglary and car theft convictions. Turlock police had been looking for Davis after a chase last week.

Brown’s Tunnel Vision: The Governor Promotes the Bay-Delta Conservation Plan, Again

A Portrait of Governor Brown in the Capitol Building

(BW) California — Flanked by Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, Gov. Jerry Brown announced on Wednesday, July 25, that he will forge ahead with a $23 billion plan to build two massive tunnels around the Delta. The Bay-Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP), also known as the tunnel conveyance system or peripheral canal, would carry part of the Sacramento River’s flow underneath the Delta in a 37-mile long tunnel system to the California Aqueduct.

“Analysis paralysis is not why I came back 30 years later to handle some of the same issues,” the 74-year-old former governor said in Sacramento Bee report. “At this stage, as I see many of my friends dying — I went to the funeral of my best friend a couple of weeks ago — I want to get s— done.”

Brown’s move is seen by many as igniting an age-old water war, between northern and southern California. The BDCP is financed primarily by south of Delta water contractors, particularly the Metropolitan Water District in Los Angeles.

Brown advocated the peripheral canal in his last term as governor, but it was defeated in a referendum in 1982. His father, former Gov. Edmund G. Pat Brown, helped develop the original State Water Project and the California Aqueduct, when he served from 1959 to 1967. Taxpayer-funded bonds provided 78 percent of the financing for the construction of that project.

Funding for this project is not yet determined, but the costs have been estimated. According to the BDCP, the total cost for the entire project is approximately $23 billion, which includes construction, habitat restoration, monitoring and adaptive management. The debt servicing costs associated with financing the project are $1.1 billion a year for 35 years, which significantly increase the price.

In addition to the cost, the BDCP faces considerable hurdles, such as water availability and environmental review. Water in California has been over-allocated and over-promised to a variety of groups, and water needs to go back into the Delta to keep it alive.

The Delta is home to more than 750 species of plants and animals, 33 of which are endangered, and likely to go extinct within the next 25 to 50 years, if not sooner. This includes chinook salmon, Delta smelt and steelhead. While the Delta’s decline is due to many factors, including pollution, invasive species and loss of wetlands, one of the primary reasons for species loss are water diversions and excessive pumping in the estuary. The San Joaquin and Sacramento Rivers are the Delta’s primary tributaries. The San Joaquin River has often run dry due to diversions, and the Sacramento River, which once flowed out to sea, is used to convey water to federal and state pumps for export.

The Delta and River Tributaries

The BDCP plan, as set forth in March 2012, would increase water exports to 5.9 million acre-feet, which is 16 to 24 percent higher than average. The most recent version of the tunnels reduces their pumping capacity by 40 percent, from 15,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) to 9,000 cfs, and it may reduce exports, as well. But that change still gives the tunnels the capacity to export 6.5 million acre-feet of water, which is about the annual average flow of the Tuolumne, Merced, Stanislaus and American rivers.

Increasing exports directly conflicts with the public trust recommendations for the Delta, as set forth by the State Water Resources Control Board. The doctrine of public trust indicates that water is jointly owned by the people, and that it should be managed for the best benefit of everyone, including aesthetic, recreational and ecological values. Those recommendations suggest the need to increase river flows and decrease Delta water consumption by nearly 50 percent, or 13.7 to 14.6 million-acre feet.

While these recommendations will be weighed against economic needs, the point is clear: California has to reduce use to keep its ecosystems intact. And it’s been well-documented that the cheapest way to reduce use is via water conservation, recycling and newer technologies, which improve efficiency.

So why build the tunnel? The pumps, which sit in the southern part of the estuary, are used to convey water up and out of the system. As they do, they kill thousands of fish annually via entrapment. They also alter the habitat of the estuary by creating a north to south flow across a tidal ecosystem, which would naturally flow east to west. The proposed tunnels would move the intake upstream to locations that might be less harmful. The BDCP would also secure water exports from threats such as earthquakes, floods and sea level rise. Some state and federal contractors view the project as vital to the state’s economic well being, but others are critical.

The Sacramento River

Those on the critical end held a rally on the same day of Brown’s declaration. The rally included legislators, citizens, farmers, fishermen and activists from Friends of the River, Restore the Delta and the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance. Senators Lois Wolk (D-Davis) and Mark DeSaulnier (D-Concord) condemned the announcement. “I’m disappointed. Californians resoundingly rejected the same ‘plumbing before policy’ approach in the Delta 30 years ago,” said Senator Wolk, who spoke out against the BDCP at the rally. “We already learned this lesson. It doesn’t need repeating. This is a step backward,”

Wolk and DeSaulnier represent most of the Delta counties in the State Senate. Contra Costa, Sacramento and San Joaquin Counties have all voted to oppose the plan.

“We’re being asked to take a lot on faith,” said Senator DeSaulnier. “We’re being asked to believe that in the future the amount of water diverted from the Delta will be based on science, when science has been persistently ignored up to this point. We’re being asked to believe that fish will miraculously need less water to survive in the future, and that returning water exports to the levels that first decimated Delta fisheries will help restore the estuary. That’s a lot to ask. Too much.”

An updated set of joint recommendations for the BDCP was published July 16. An analysis of that report along with other aspects of state and federal water policy is forthcoming.

Voters to Consider New Term for County

(BW) SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY, CA – On July 17, 2012 the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors decided in a 4-1 vote to place a measure on November’s ballot to increase Board of Supervisors term limits to three terms in a lifetime. Continue reading »

Local Galleries offer coordinated effort of Art

Stockton, CA — for the second month in a row art galleries, not-for-profit organizations, and independent artist, and businesses orchestrated art exhibits in what has become ART Splash.  Continue reading »

Dialog: Honoring Frida Kahlo

  

Museo Frida Kahlo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In July in Mexico celebrates the birth and  the death  of one of the most important painters in Mexican art- Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo Calderó

Frida Kahlo was born on July 6, 1907 in Coyoacan, south of Mexico City and died on July 13, 1954, at the of  47 years old- leaving behind  an artistic legacy of great cultural value.

Eva`s Smile

by Felipe Ríos

-Hello, how is going’?-  said ‘Eva on her way,  like a slight greeting.

 -Good, and you ‘? …
-Good, also-… Eva said, walking, as she follow her way downhill.
-Hey, wait …! ? Where are you from? …
-From México- she said, showing her smile as he opened, as if one would  open,  from a single pull, a blind single..
-’I see! And? From what part? …
-! North! Eva said, as she paused for a reaction … -? And you? ..
-From the South! … And…? Where are you walking to?
-Down over there, I`m going to wash these clothes …
-And… You probably live around here…
-No, Not so close, but I work nearby, two blocks up …
- And why not wash your clothes at home?
-My house is a bit far from here, I’m washing   clothes for my masters  …

-of your masters? Who are your masters? …
- The Orozco family …
-Orozco?!

- Yes, they are from México as well …  friends of your father …
-Of my father?!, Hahahaha, you just made me laugh…? Where is my father?
-Hmm… the man who lives here, in this house!, Well I think he is your …
-No, Eva,   that is my husband …
-Your …! Oh … excuse me … I did not wanted …
-Do not worry, Eva …
-Well, I`m leaving … I pass by here almost every day, I can help with the chores whenever you like… except washing your dresses
-And? why not ? ….? what`s wrong? …
-Because I think those are not for washing, they are to be saved a lifetime …
- They are beautiful huh? … Look, I got paint on this one already…
-Seems like it was painted!
- And what do you think it is?
-MHH, something like a heart but? A blue heart?, Oh, no, no,
- the one you had on, when you got here, is the one I like the most
-A red one with …
- Yes, it looked beautiful on you! …
-Oh, Leonor made that one, especially for my birthday … they must have here …
-Ooooh, no…! Not at all! ….

-Well, I promise you that as I return to México, I will give them all to you, you look like a very nice person
-Fridaaaaaa!! …? Where are you? …
-Here, chubby, here …
- Come,give me your hand, let’s have breakfast, I already prepared something

-Hey Diego …
- Yes, tell me …
-When are we leaving to San Francisco? …
-I told you, if all goes well, I’ll leave in November..Why?
-MMHH…!
-You will leave after I settle in …
-Diego, give me a kiss …
- Frida!! That is a beautiful tone!! …
- You mean red one?
-Yes, the red dress … and, God! Look at this … well, well, my girl, this is great … fantastical composition: a blue apple … bluer than the sea, the brightness …
-No Diego, more bluer the sky…