The California water story is so far beyond description, it must be seen to be believed.

IMHO, the two best historians, writers and chroniclers of California, are her now retired, state Librarian, Kevin Starr and investigative reporter and author Mark Arax. Arax's books The Dreamt Land and The King of California are real page turners and so thoroughly researched, I strongly recommend both books. Arax is an equally compelling public speaker (and lunch companion) so I recommend any appearance he makes.

My work in rural land use, development and culture took me inside the California water story, literally; from the tunnels beneath Shaver Lake to most every damn in the state, the bowels of Edmonton pumping station, the entire length of the California Aqueduct, countless water treatment plants, and out into the farms, fields, ranches, concentrated animal feed lots and poultry farms, food processing plants, food storage facilities, food distribution centers and food transportation ports, in all 19 CV counties as well as those in San Bernardino to northern counties.

My cultural planning work in rural life, took me from California's wealthiest farmers, oil, gas and mining executives, to global food corporations, utility company executives, and University presidents... to prison wardens, psychiatrists, teachers, guards, state probation authorities and inmates... to doctors, dentists, and hospital executives... and into the homes and community centers of Native Americans, farmworkers, and whole communities where people live beside open sewers, without running water, and electricity... etc. and so on and on.

Rural experience that extensive is so rare, I've spent months of days on retreats, in seminars and in meetings with U.S. Congressmen and Senators and state representatives, including governors from several states.

PS. Good news for me. This morning, I woke to running water in my kitchen sink. The bathroom faucets are still drooling, which suggest the frozen pipes were under the trailer, not in the input lines.