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The California Department of Water Resources on Friday announced an initial water allocation of 10 percent for the State Water Project contractors for the 2019 calendar year.
Allocations often change as hydrologic and water supply conditions change.
“Even with the recent rainfall, Water Year 2019 has started dry and many of the state’s largest reservoirs are below average for this time of year,” said DWR Director Karla Nemeth. “With California’s extreme hydrology, we have to plan for a wet or dry year.”
The Department’s initial allocation for 2018 was 15 percent. The final allocation for 2018 reached 35 percent. The lowest initial SWP allocation was 5 percent in 2014 due to the record drought.
Reservoir storage, snowpack, precipitation and releases to meet local deliveries are among several factors used in determining allocations.
Lake Oroville, the SWP’s largest reservoir, is at 29 percent capacity and 48 percent of average for this time of the year. Shasta Lake, the Central Valley Project’s largest reservoir, is at 48 percent of capacity and 80 percent of average.
San Luis Reservoir, the largest off-stream reservoir in the United States where water is stored for the SWP and CVP, is at 57 percent of capacity and 96 percent of average.
DWR transports SWP water to 29 SWP contractors which serve more than 27 million Californians and 750,000 acres of farmland. The 2019 initial allocation amounts to 427,167 acre-feet of water.
DWR’s California Data Exchange Center website shows current water conditions at the state's largest reservoirs and weather stations and measures current rain and snow precipitation.
Allocations often change as hydrologic and water supply conditions change.
“Even with the recent rainfall, Water Year 2019 has started dry and many of the state’s largest reservoirs are below average for this time of year,” said DWR Director Karla Nemeth. “With California’s extreme hydrology, we have to plan for a wet or dry year.”
The Department’s initial allocation for 2018 was 15 percent. The final allocation for 2018 reached 35 percent. The lowest initial SWP allocation was 5 percent in 2014 due to the record drought.
Reservoir storage, snowpack, precipitation and releases to meet local deliveries are among several factors used in determining allocations.
Lake Oroville, the SWP’s largest reservoir, is at 29 percent capacity and 48 percent of average for this time of the year. Shasta Lake, the Central Valley Project’s largest reservoir, is at 48 percent of capacity and 80 percent of average.
San Luis Reservoir, the largest off-stream reservoir in the United States where water is stored for the SWP and CVP, is at 57 percent of capacity and 96 percent of average.
DWR transports SWP water to 29 SWP contractors which serve more than 27 million Californians and 750,000 acres of farmland. The 2019 initial allocation amounts to 427,167 acre-feet of water.
DWR’s California Data Exchange Center website shows current water conditions at the state's largest reservoirs and weather stations and measures current rain and snow precipitation.
Bequests – or gifts – in a will or a trust can require a beneficiary to meet a “condition precedent” in order to receive the bequest.
Only if the condition is met does the beneficiary’s interest vest. Must a condition precedent always be satisfied?
If a requirement becomes impossible to fulfill, a beneficiary may sometimes still inherit if he or she did what he or she could to fulfill the requirement before it became impossible.
That was an important issue decided by the California Court of Appeal, First District Court in Schwan v. Permann (A151070 and A151073).
In 1999, Walter C. Permann, a successful business owner, established a trust that included three employees as beneficiaries.
Mr. Permann openly attributed much of his success to their loyalty. He also wanted these employees to continue working for his company after he died in order to help his wife with the company.
Accordingly, Mr. Permann conditioned the gifts on their still working for his company when he died.
However, before Mr. Permann died, he sold his company. Nevertheless, he did not amend his trust to reflect the sale. He even continued to tell these employees that they were taken care of in his trust.
After Mr. Permann died, a lawsuit ensued amongst all possible parties over who was a beneficiary.
The lawsuit raised various legal issues including whether the foregoing “condition precedent” prior to vesting – regarding employment at Mr. Permann’s death – was ambiguous because the Trust did not address the possibility of the business being sold.
Under California law, the express terms in a will or trust are given their plain and ordinary meaning, all words are given effect, and external (extrinsic) evidence is used only if necessary to clarify an ambiguity within the document in order to give effect to the testator’s intention.
Here, the condition precedent was unambiguous as the words had a plain meaning even though they did not contemplate the possible sale of the business.
Resolving whether the condition precedent still applied to the employees – who were still employees when the business was sold – rested on whether the settlor primarily made the employee gifts to benefit the beneficiaries or to see that the requirement itself was satisfied.
The court looked outside the trust at the extrinsic (external) evidence that demonstrated the decedent’s long relationship with the employee beneficiaries. The court then applied the Doctrine of Impossibility found in California case law; even though its codification within the probate code was repealed.
The court recognized California law’s favorable treatment of gifts to employees and the unfairness of upholding the condition precedent. Also, California law limits the application of conditions precedent.
The court found a way out of its dilemma through the Doctrine of Impossibility: A condition precedent may be removed if its satisfaction becomes impossible provided that doing so is consistent with the settlor’s intent.
Although Mr. Permann could have amended the trust after the sale to remove the contingency, the court found that his not doing so did not evidence his intent to disqualify two employee beneficiaries who still worked for his business at the time of sale.
The third employee, however, was removed as a beneficiary due to the fact that she no longer worked for the business when it was sold.
Given Mr. Permann’s appreciation and desire to reward his employees – whom he said “were taken care of” even after he sold the business – he would have wanted this favorable result.
No one intends for their estate planning to fail, but people do fail to plan. Here, Mr. Permann failed to update his trust after he sold his business.
Had he either addressed what happened to the employee gifts if the business were sold or later updated it to address the issue then much litigation would have been avoided.
Dennis A. Fordham, attorney, is a State Bar-Certified Specialist in estate planning, probate and trust law. His office is at 870 S. Main St., Lakeport, Calif. He can be reached at
Mars has just received its newest robotic resident. NASA's Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) lander successfully touched down on the Red Planet after an almost seven-month, 300-million-mile (485-million-kilometer) journey from Earth.
InSight’s two-year mission will be to study the deep interior of Mars to learn how all celestial bodies with rocky surfaces, including Earth and the Moon, formed.
InSight launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California May 5. The lander touched down Monday, Nov. 26, near Mars' equator on the western side of a flat, smooth expanse of lava called Elysium Planitia, with a signal affirming a completed landing sequence at 11:52 a.m. PST (2:52 p.m. EST).
"Today, we successfully landed on Mars for the eighth time in human history,” said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. “InSight will study the interior of Mars, and will teach us valuable science as we prepare to send astronauts to the Moon and later to Mars. This accomplishment represents the ingenuity of America and our international partners and it serves as a testament to the dedication and perseverance of our team. The best of NASA is yet to come, and it is coming soon.”
The landing signal was relayed to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, via NASA's two small experimental Mars Cube One (MarCO) CubeSats, which launched on the same rocket as InSight and followed the lander to Mars. They are the first CubeSats sent into deep space.
After successfully carrying out a number of communications and in-flight navigation experiments, the twin MarCOs were set in position to receive transmissions during InSight's entry, descent and landing.
From fast to slow
"We hit the Martian atmosphere at 12,300 mph (19,800 kilometers per hour), and the whole sequence to touching down on the surface took only six-and-a-half minutes," said InSight project manager Tom Hoffman at JPL. "During that short span of time, InSight had to autonomously perform dozens of operations and do them flawlessly – And by all indications that is exactly what our spacecraft did."
Confirmation of a successful touchdown is not the end of the challenges of landing on the Red Planet. InSight's surface-operations phase began a minute after touchdown. One of its first tasks is to deploy its two decagonal solar arrays, which will provide power. That process begins 16 minutes after landing and takes another 16 minutes to complete.
The InSight team expects a confirmation later Monday that the spacecraft's solar panels successfully deployed. Verification will come from NASA's Odyssey spacecraft, currently orbiting Mars. That signal is expected to reach InSight's mission control at JPL about five-and-a-half hours after landing.
"We are solar powered, so getting the arrays out and operating is a big deal," said Hoffman. "With the arrays providing the energy we need to start the cool science operations, we are well on our way to thoroughly investigate what's inside of Mars for the very first time."
InSight will begin to collect science data within the first week after landing, though the teams will focus mainly on preparing to set InSight's instruments on the Martian ground. At least two days after touchdown, the engineering team will begin to deploy InSight's 5.9-foot-long (1.8-meter-long) robotic arm so that it can take images of the landscape.
"Landing was thrilling, but I'm looking forward to the drilling," said InSight principal investigator Bruce Banerdt of JPL. "When the first images come down, our engineering and science teams will hit the ground running, beginning to plan where to deploy our science instruments. Within two or three months, the arm will deploy the mission's main science instruments, the Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure (SEIS) and Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP3) instruments."
InSight will operate on the surface for one Martian year, plus 40 Martian days, or sols, until Nov. 24, 2020. The mission objectives of the two small MarCOs which relayed InSight’s telemetry was completed after their Martian flyby.
"That's one giant leap for our intrepid, briefcase-sized robotic explorers," said Joel Krajewski, MarCOproject manager at JPL. "I think CubeSats have a big future beyond Earth's orbit, and the MarCO team is happy to trailblaze the way."
With InSight’s landing at Elysium Planitia, NASA has successfully soft-landed a vehicle on the Red Planet eight times.
"Every Mars landing is daunting, but now with InSight safely on the surface we get to do a unique kind of science on Mars," said JPL director Michael Watkins. "The experimental MarCO CubeSats have also opened a new door to smaller planetary spacecraft. The success of these two unique missions is a tribute to the hundreds of talented engineers and scientists who put their genius and labor into making this a great day."
JPL manages InSight for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. InSight is part of NASA's Discovery Program, managed by the agency's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The MarCO CubeSats were built and managed by JPL. Lockheed Martin Space in Denver built the InSight spacecraft, including its cruise stage and lander, and supports spacecraft operations for the mission.
A number of European partners, including France's Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR), are supporting the InSight mission. CNES, and the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (IPGP), provided the SEIS instrument, with significant contributions from the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS) in Germany, the Swiss Institute of Technology (ETH) in Switzerland, Imperial College and Oxford University in the United Kingdom, and JPL. DLR provided the HP3 instrument, with significant contributions from the Space Research Center (CBK) of the Polish Academy of Sciences and Astronika in Poland. Spain's Centro de Astrobiología (CAB) supplied the wind sensors.
For more information about InSight, visit https://www.nasa.gov/insight/. For more information about MarCO, visit https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/cubesat/missions/marco.php . For more information about NASA's Mars missions, go to https://www.nasa.gov/mars.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – On Nov. 10, Habitat for Humanity dedicated its 30th Lake County home, welcoming Jose and Lily Lopez and their family into the Habitat community.
The Lopezes hosted family, friends and Habitat staff in celebrating their new home.
After having lived in a crowded, unaffordable situation previously, the Lopezes and their three children are excited to have their own home, as well as a large yard in which the children and the family dogs can play.
“I’d given up hopes of this ever happening for us,” said Jose Lopez. “If this opportunity hadn’t come up, I don’t know where we’d be.”
Lily Lopez added, “I was willing to do anything to make this happen. Habitat worked hard with us to get our home complete, and it’s great to finally have somewhere to be home.”
If you or someone you know are low income Lake County residents in need of safe, affordable, decent housing, you are encouraged to call Habitat for Humanity at 707-994-1100, Extension 106, for more information or an application packet.
You can also stop by the office at 15312 Lakeshore Drive, Clearlake, Tuesday through Thursday, for the application and to speak to the family selection staff.
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Board of Supervisors has approved a new resolution that establishes the way members of the Lakeport Fire Protection District Board are to be selected, and also directed staff to set up a meeting with city of Lakeport and fire board representatives to further discuss the selection process.
Concerns about the selection process for the five-member board began to ramp up in late summer, as the district’s financial problems became urgent, ultimately leading to the acceptance of a new budget that required laying off three full-time firefighters, as Lake County News has reported.
The Lakeport Fire Protection District Board is the only appointed fire district board in the county; the rest are elected.
At its Nov. 20 meeting, the board considered and ultimately approved a resolution that County Counsel Anita Grant – who worked with the attorneys for the fire district and the city of Lakeport – presented that established a protocol for appointing the members.
The resolution said that the appointments made by the county and city have been determined according to each entity’s proportionate share of population within the Lakeport Fire Protection District based on the 2010 census and redistricting data presently available.
When updated census data or other reliable population info becomes available in the future, each entity’s proportionate share of population may change. Should that be the case, the document calls for the county and city to meet and confer in good faith to determine whether it’s necessary to change the proportionate number of appointments to be made by each entity.
Initially, the resolution calls for appointments to be made as follows: There will be two vacancies on the district board as of Jan. 1, 2019, one to be filled by the county and one by the city, with the terms of the remaining three district board members to continue until Jan. 1, 2020. At that time the county shall appoint two district board members and the city one board member.
It was explained during the meeting that whether the board seats should be filled by appointment or election is, ultimately, up to the fire district board.
Supervisor Rob Brown said he supported making the seats elected.
“This resolution will not stop that determination. It just simply sets the stage for the appointments,” said Grant.
There was no public comment and the board approved the resolution 5-0.
With the protocol now set, county staff said they would advertise for applicants for the one position to be appointed by the county at the start of the year.
Brown raised the issue that a meeting the board had directed he and Supervisor Tina Scott to have with city and fire board officials to discuss the selection process hadn’t happened. “Are we just going to disregard that?”
Lakeport City Manager Margaret Silveira said she had been involved in the discussions on the resolution and was comfortable with what the attorneys produced. The protocol is set to be presented to the Lakeport City Council at its Dec. 4 meeting.
“I was told there was going to be a meeting but we weren't contacted,” she said.
Brown said he didn’t have a high comfort level with the situation. “This issue with Lakeport Fire Department isn’t just a formality. It’s a mess. It’s a real mess,” he said, explaining it’s a mess because it affects public safety, and not just in the Lakeport district but in neighboring districts.
Grant said the protocol in the resolution simply establishes a mechanism for appointments, and she encouraged the board to have a meeting with other officials if they have concerns. She said the resolution resolves how appointments are to be made and under what circumstances to get back on an even keel. “It’s not intended to do anything more than that.”
Scott took Brown’s comments to mean she hadn’t been involved in meetings about the matter, which he maintained he hadn’t said.
While she also supports going to election, Scott said, “You’ve made it sound like I’ve been absent.” Scott added that it’s her district. “I’m actually not really sure why you are stepping all over this.”
Brown said his concern was that a meeting the board had directed happen didn’t occur. As far as it being her district, he said it has a tremendous impact on the Kelseyville Fire Protection District, whose ambulances have been getting called out due to Lakeport’s needs.
Board Chair Jim Steele received consensus from the board to direct staff to set up the previously directed meeting.
Email Elizabeth Larson atThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
Concerns about the selection process for the five-member board began to ramp up in late summer, as the district’s financial problems became urgent, ultimately leading to the acceptance of a new budget that required laying off three full-time firefighters, as Lake County News has reported.
The Lakeport Fire Protection District Board is the only appointed fire district board in the county; the rest are elected.
At its Nov. 20 meeting, the board considered and ultimately approved a resolution that County Counsel Anita Grant – who worked with the attorneys for the fire district and the city of Lakeport – presented that established a protocol for appointing the members.
The resolution said that the appointments made by the county and city have been determined according to each entity’s proportionate share of population within the Lakeport Fire Protection District based on the 2010 census and redistricting data presently available.
When updated census data or other reliable population info becomes available in the future, each entity’s proportionate share of population may change. Should that be the case, the document calls for the county and city to meet and confer in good faith to determine whether it’s necessary to change the proportionate number of appointments to be made by each entity.
Initially, the resolution calls for appointments to be made as follows: There will be two vacancies on the district board as of Jan. 1, 2019, one to be filled by the county and one by the city, with the terms of the remaining three district board members to continue until Jan. 1, 2020. At that time the county shall appoint two district board members and the city one board member.
It was explained during the meeting that whether the board seats should be filled by appointment or election is, ultimately, up to the fire district board.
Supervisor Rob Brown said he supported making the seats elected.
“This resolution will not stop that determination. It just simply sets the stage for the appointments,” said Grant.
There was no public comment and the board approved the resolution 5-0.
With the protocol now set, county staff said they would advertise for applicants for the one position to be appointed by the county at the start of the year.
Brown raised the issue that a meeting the board had directed he and Supervisor Tina Scott to have with city and fire board officials to discuss the selection process hadn’t happened. “Are we just going to disregard that?”
Lakeport City Manager Margaret Silveira said she had been involved in the discussions on the resolution and was comfortable with what the attorneys produced. The protocol is set to be presented to the Lakeport City Council at its Dec. 4 meeting.
“I was told there was going to be a meeting but we weren't contacted,” she said.
Brown said he didn’t have a high comfort level with the situation. “This issue with Lakeport Fire Department isn’t just a formality. It’s a mess. It’s a real mess,” he said, explaining it’s a mess because it affects public safety, and not just in the Lakeport district but in neighboring districts.
Grant said the protocol in the resolution simply establishes a mechanism for appointments, and she encouraged the board to have a meeting with other officials if they have concerns. She said the resolution resolves how appointments are to be made and under what circumstances to get back on an even keel. “It’s not intended to do anything more than that.”
Scott took Brown’s comments to mean she hadn’t been involved in meetings about the matter, which he maintained he hadn’t said.
While she also supports going to election, Scott said, “You’ve made it sound like I’ve been absent.” Scott added that it’s her district. “I’m actually not really sure why you are stepping all over this.”
Brown said his concern was that a meeting the board had directed happen didn’t occur. As far as it being her district, he said it has a tremendous impact on the Kelseyville Fire Protection District, whose ambulances have been getting called out due to Lakeport’s needs.
Board Chair Jim Steele received consensus from the board to direct staff to set up the previously directed meeting.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County has seen heavy rainfall this week, and forecasters are calling for more rain through this weekend and into next week.
The National Weather Service issued a short range forecast from Friday through Sunday that anticipates more heavy precipitation in the West, including snow for the Sierra-Nevada and the
Rockies.
The short range forecast said a wet, active weather pattern is expected to continue through the weekend for the Western U.S., particularly in California and also areas downstream across
the Rockies.
“A vigorous upper low and associated frontal system” brought heavy rainfall with embedded thunderstorms across California, along with heavy snow over the higher terrain of the Sierra-Nevada, through Thursday night
As that system moves toward the southern Plains on Friday night, forecasters said a new storm system will arrive across the Pacific Northwest, which will bring another round of heavier precipitation to areas including southwest Oregon and Northern California Friday night and Saturday.
There also will be a new round of heavy snowfall is expected over the Sierra-Nevada and also
portions of the Cascades, based on that forecast.
Because of the heavy rainfall, the National Weather Service said there are concerns for some flash flooding in California and especially in and around the burn scar areas. “In fact, the
Weather Prediction Center has highlighted a Slight Risk of excessive rainfall for these areas.”
A flash flood warning had been in effect earlier in the week for burn scar areas – including the Mendocino Complex in Lake County and the Camp fire in Butte County – but on Thursday night no new flash flood watch had been issued for those areas.
The specific Lake County forecast calls for showers Friday through Saturday, with a break on Sunday.
Chances of showers are again forecast from Monday through Wednesday night, the forecast said. There also are chances of winds with speeds ranging in the low double digits.
Temperatures will range from the high 40s to the mid 50s during the day from this weekend through the coming week, with nighttime temperatures down to the low to mid 30s.
Email Elizabeth Larson atThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
The National Weather Service issued a short range forecast from Friday through Sunday that anticipates more heavy precipitation in the West, including snow for the Sierra-Nevada and the
Rockies.
The short range forecast said a wet, active weather pattern is expected to continue through the weekend for the Western U.S., particularly in California and also areas downstream across
the Rockies.
“A vigorous upper low and associated frontal system” brought heavy rainfall with embedded thunderstorms across California, along with heavy snow over the higher terrain of the Sierra-Nevada, through Thursday night
As that system moves toward the southern Plains on Friday night, forecasters said a new storm system will arrive across the Pacific Northwest, which will bring another round of heavier precipitation to areas including southwest Oregon and Northern California Friday night and Saturday.
There also will be a new round of heavy snowfall is expected over the Sierra-Nevada and also
portions of the Cascades, based on that forecast.
Because of the heavy rainfall, the National Weather Service said there are concerns for some flash flooding in California and especially in and around the burn scar areas. “In fact, the
Weather Prediction Center has highlighted a Slight Risk of excessive rainfall for these areas.”
A flash flood warning had been in effect earlier in the week for burn scar areas – including the Mendocino Complex in Lake County and the Camp fire in Butte County – but on Thursday night no new flash flood watch had been issued for those areas.
The specific Lake County forecast calls for showers Friday through Saturday, with a break on Sunday.
Chances of showers are again forecast from Monday through Wednesday night, the forecast said. There also are chances of winds with speeds ranging in the low double digits.
Temperatures will range from the high 40s to the mid 50s during the day from this weekend through the coming week, with nighttime temperatures down to the low to mid 30s.
Email Elizabeth Larson at