Meeting called to order by Vice President Rachelle Lopp at 12:30pm.
Diane Eriksson led the pledge of allegiance.
Judy Rodriguez gave our inspirational message about how this Club and all the kind, friendly, intelligent, energetic, organized and generous people that make up the Rotary have inspired her.
The Los Gatos Rotary Club is celebrating 100 years of service this year and that is quite an accomplishment; and a testament to all the people in this room and all the others that served before us. She was so pleased to hear this year we gave $93,000 to 48 different charitable organizations---truly remarkable!
Judy has been associated with this club for almost 30 years as a wife, Inner Wheel member and Rotarian. She loves coming to Tuesday meetings because of all of you. Judy ended her message with “let’s continue to serve the Los Gatos Rotary Club for another 100 years!”
Visitors:
Mike Egleston, a travel advisor was introduced by Ed Stahl
Gali Dodium, who was interested in finding out about the Rotary community, was introduced by David Hubbard.
Our Rotarian in the Wild this week is Marie Rector among the Mayan ruins in Tikal.
Announcements:
April Birthdays
- Claire Vickers - April 9
- Laura Douglas - April 10
- Michelle Myers Nelson - April 12
- Preston Hill - April 14
- Mike Frangadakis - April 15
- Jeffrey Blum - April 20
- Martha Sterne - April 22
- Bobbi Bornstein - April 25
April Anniversaries
- Andrew Stearns - 28 years
- Lydia Norcia - 20 years
- Dan Snyder - 11 years
- Riley Barr - 6 years
- Jon Cowan - 5 years
- Stefka Bonev - 2 years
- Martha Sterne - 1 year
- Sergio Michel - 1 year
- Jason Deppong - 1 year
April 23—Change in meeting location due to the Jewish Holiday. So, we will enjoy a field trip to the New Museum of Los Gatos; time 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM.
There will be a 30-minute free lunch spread in the lobby followed by a 30-minute Rotary private tour of the Museum. 106 E. Main Street, Los Gatos.
April 14, This SUNDAY, the Great Race—
Paul Christensen discussed last minute details for the race this Sunday. We still need volunteers for open slots; there is a link to sign up via emails that have been sent to members. Today, Cindy Gentile sent another email with the link for volunteers needed for pre-Race on Saturday, day of, during the Race and post-Race. This is a major fundraiser for the club and a big contributor to the Scholarship Foundation.
Great Race t-shirts for sale, $20.00
May 7—Mike Norcia gave us an update on the Centennial Celebration, - 6pm-9pm at the Mountain Winery, $175.00/person
- 6pm—no host bar. Live music by Lavendar Fields
- 7pm—sit down dinner. Let Mike know what entrée you would like.
- 8pm—program hosted by our own Lissa Kreisler
There will be shuttles from downtown Saratoga up and down the hill Please sign up by April 23 at meeting or email mdnorcia@gmail.com
Attire: cocktail attire
30 For 30:
- Kirsten Bridges thanked everyone for their concern and well wishes for her husband who is having health issues. The support means so much to Kirsten.
- Ramon Ware pledged to the Scholarship foundation for his daughter graduating from Law School.
- Rachelle Loop pledged for her daughter graduating from college.
Guest Speaker: Jan Merryweather, from Sustainable Conservation
Since 1993, Sustainable Conservation has been advancing the collaborative stewardship of California’s land, air, and water for the benefit of nature and people. Jan is a Director at Sustainable Conservation, where she has worked for over 10 years—first leading the PlantRight program, then moving to the Water program, before arriving in her current role on the Development Team. She endeavors to work with, not against, businesses to adopt more environmentally friendly practices that make economic sense.
Sustainable Conservation led a 15-year collaborative effort to understand and address the environmental impact of brake pad debris (copper) generated from motor vehicles, specifically on salmon. Due to this cooperative effort, in 2010, a senate bill was signed into law that phases out copper from vehicle brake pads to make the state’s urban waterways safer tor salmon (copper is toxic to salmon and interfered with their ability to navigate) and other species; and save cities billions of dollars in potential environmental cleanup costs. In 2025, brake pads will be copper free; and this is happening all across North America.
There are two types of water sources: surface water (rain, snow, fog, etc.) and groundwater. Groundwater accounts for ~40% of California’s water supply in an average rain year, and ~60% in a dry year.
-- 2/3 of U.S. fruit and nuts are grown in California. 99% of these U.S. specialty crops are grown in California: almonds, artichokes, cannery tomatoes, clingstone peaches, prunes, figs, garlic, olives, persimmons, pistachios, pomegranates, raisins, sweet rice and walnuts.
-- 1/3 of U.S. vegetables are grown in California
-- 1/5 of U.S. dairy is in California
-- The intensity of extreme events of droughts and floods are increasing.
-- An atmospheric river carries up to 15 times the flow of water released at the mouth of the Mississippi River. The majority of atmospheric rivers are from snow melt that create fast and flashy rain. Sustainable Conservation is looking at ways to manage these extreme weather conditions.
Jan discussed the need to manage groundwater levels and depletion. Subsidence, or the sinking of land, has been documented throughout California for almost a century due to over-pumping of groundwater—in some areas, land has dropped 30 feet. This limits aquifer storage capacity. There weren’t any regulations on groundwater management until the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act of 2014, which sets forth a statewide framework to help protect groundwater resources over the long-term. Local agencies, businesses and farmers are working together to change the way groundwater is managed. The law requires community driven solutions for groundwater management and over-pumped groundwater basins. It empowers locals to form Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs) to define community goals for groundwater management and to find other options to prevent over-pumping. Each GSA must create a plan to show how they will manage groundwater over the next 20 years to ensure it’s available for use long into the future.
-- California’s more than 500 groundwater basins possess 16 times the storage capacity of all our major reservoirs (50-million-acre feet).
-- California is home to 69,000 farms that pump an annual average of 2-million-acre feet of groundwater, more than is replenished.
-- Over 1 million Californians do not have access to safe drinking water at home (Central Valley).
Groundwater Recharge:
In 2011, Sustainable Conservation launched a project with an innovative San Joaquin Valley farmer who flooded 1,000 acres of his farm land with floodwater from the Kings River with the aim of recharging the depleted groundwater aquifer below. It was a success.
Now, work is continuing across the Central Valley to continue piloting on-farm groundwater recharge. Sustainable Conservation joined forces with private and nonprofit leaders on constructing a dedicated groundwater recharge basin in the heart of San Joaquin Valley. They also developed a
first-of-its-kind tool, the Groundwater Recharge Assessment Tool (GRAT), to help water managers plan where to develop the best possible groundwater recharge for the most impact.
On-farm groundwater recharge, done on the right crops at the right times, has the potential to significantly bolster our water supplies to help California weather future droughts and provide water that communities and agriculture can count on.
A sustainable water future for California that supports a thriving economy is achievable. But, a future in which nature and people have access to clean, affordable, and reliable water is possible only by working with—not against—each other.