How was your St. Paddy’s Day? Merry is an Irish surname, rooted in County Tipperary. I looked it up many years ago and found a family crest and everything. Then the internet arrived and I found the New York Times’ obituary for my great-great-great(?) grandfather, Harley Merry.
Harley came to America in 1863 at age 18. His wife, Adelaide Roselle, and he were working actors. They mostly appeared in comedies, which explains a lot. Later he became the preeminent scenic designer on Broadway. He was the first president of the Protective Alliance of Scenic Painters of America and was well known for his realistic scenery.
In 1904, Harley acquired the motion picture rights to Wagner’s Parsifal and partnered with the (Thomas) Edison Manufacturing Company to create the early silent film version of the opera, which lost a ton of dough.
The internet helped me stitch together a feel for who my famous Irish granddad was, but there was a twist to the story. Harley’s real name was Ebenezer Britton and he emigrated from England, not Ireland.
Shockeroo. Learning that was like a gut punch to my very identity. I have always loved my last name and try to live up to its definition. To find out it was just a stage name was quite a blow, until I decided to be grateful Harley chose it. He picked out this adjective as the name for his progeny, as if to bestow cheerfulness upon us as a birthright. Thanks, Granddad.
And speaking of gut punches, imagine you have no drinking water. Last year over 120 domestic wells were reported dry in Tehama County, mostly in the southwest part of the county and the Antelope area.
With the continuing lack of precipitation and warm temperatures, the wells that went dry last year probably will again. They will be joined by many others because the aquifers haven’t recharged sufficiently and irrigation will be starting earlier than ever. In fact, it’s already started. Orchardists had to use irrigation to protect their nut trees during the recent frost.
It’s not front page news, but the Groundwater Sustainability Plans are open for public comment. I could give you the 5 links, but each plan is over 1,000 pages long and let’s be honest – nobody is reading them. There are probably some good ideas to create sustainability in the future, if we ever get a bunch of wet winters in a row to replenish the basins and subbasins.
But neither the sustainability plans nor the lame and ineffective ordinance presented by the Groundwater Commission and rejected by the Tehama County Board of Supervisors will do anything to help those who know their wells will soon be dry.
Quick review – the Groundwater Commission – which is almost exclusively populated with people whose livelihoods depend on heavy groundwater use – volunteered to create an ordinance when the Supes were considering a moratorium on new ag well permits. Not new ag wells. Permits for new ag wells.
They promised to have an ordinance ready by late November, but just presented it a few weeks ago. It was a complete mess, so the board voted to send it back to the Commission to work on some more. Don’t hold your breath waiting for it to return. It will do nothing to help the dry well crowd this year.
All is not lost, however. The board of supervisors has the power to create their own ordinance placing a moratorium in affected areas on drilling, not permitting, new ag wells until the current crisis is over. And that doesn’t mean next winter when it rains a few inches. That means when the aquifers are replenished. Be proactive for once, will ya supes?
The supes also can and should implement a metering system for ag users and monitoring wells to gauge the effects of ag wells on neighboring domestic wells. Aquifers don’t have underground walls erected between property lines. The biggest, deepest, straw gets most of the milkshake.
District 4 Supervisor Bob Williams and District 3 Supervisor Dennis Garton should be leading the charge on this since it’s their constituents who are suffering. And yet…crickets. They are both up for re-election in June and I hope voters are paying attention. Their opponents have a slam dunk if they can make people understand that Williams and Garton do not have their best interests at heart, water-wise.
Photo by Liz Merry
The supes should be joined by long-time family orchardists – new orchards are taking water from their trees, too. Why aren’t they protecting their own interests and those of their neighbors? Especially if they don’t want their own water use measured and scrutinized. Maybe they should only be allowed to grow enough nuts for personal use. Hah.
Fellow Red Bluff Daily News columnist and almond grower Shanna Long’s recent plea for support for Tehama County’s ag community was laughable. She wrote, “The strength of our (ag) revenue source will help build a strong sheriff’s department, balance a struggling county budget and allow for improvements that will lead to a better way of life for all of us.”
Um, we’ve been depending on ag forever and how’s that working out? Our sheriff’s department has been decimated – some believe intentionally but that’s another column. Balance a struggling county budget? Ag has not been a savior there either. It has long been considered a main revenue source, but only employs 7% of Tehama County’s workforce. It’s past time to consider alternative revenue streams, new industries, and other ag crops that use less water and provide a greater profit margin. Like hemp, for example. Oh, you don’t know how to grow hemp? No worries – plenty of residents do and we’ll be happy to help you switch over.
This column usually doesn’t deal with global issues, but the war in Ukraine has everyone feeling frustrated and wanting to help. My buddy Denise Derk and ARTS Theatre put a fundraiser show together for Saturday, April 23 at the Redding Performing Arts Center. 100% of proceeds will go to BStrong’s Refugee Boxes Fund, which has been sending relief packages since the first day of the war. Click here for info and tickets . If you can’t attend but want to donate, click here .
Granddad Harley approves.
