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Very interesting questions.

This last summer, the biggest lake near where I live, Flathead Lake, was I think 3 feet below normal. Residents and businesses that live on or rely on the lake for income (boat rentals, etc.) have complained very loudly, blaming the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribe’s management of the downstream dam, saying they released too much water. But while our snowpack had its usual inches, my understanding was that the snow was very “dry” partly due to bouts of severe cold -- each snowflake held less water than usual -- and we had an early snowmelt in spring. Critics of the CSKT also said that water upstream should have been released from Hungry Horse Dam (controlled by Interior? can’t remember), but I was camping on that reservoir in early June and have never seen it so low, either.

It doesn’t bode well for social futures. A group of people who’ve been aligned with many far-right beliefs formed an organization that essentially demands that government protect people from any variations in snowpack and its effects on water level -- literally protect them from reality. And the loudest critics are the better-off, largely conservative people with houses on the lake. (The number of people who’ve complained that they couldn’t get their JetSkis in the water is astounding.) As with many places, future responses will probably be decided to benefit them.

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At the richer end of the far-right wealth spectrum, people openly voice the view that the only role of government is to protect private property.

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From my long weekend in the Coachella Valley, I brought back notes for a story on water. Unfortunately, I also brought back COVID. Hence today's "another chance to read..." brought forward a couple of weeks. Waiting for the brain fog to clear before I try to write. My comment replies might be making less sense than usual!

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Oh NO. I'm so sorry. I'm still in brain fog after recovering from it last week. Or partly recovering I guess. I hate this virus. Take care of yourself.

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Thank you. Not too bad so far. I was actually surprised I tested positive. I figured it was just a cold.

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I came down with it exactly one week after my booster shot. Very annoying. If you have the strain I did (and my sister the same a couple weeks before that), it comes with a stabbing headache that Advil barely dulled -- be gentle with yourself.

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No headache, fortunately. I'm not making that Seattle meetup either.

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Last week I listened to the recording of a county commissioners' work session. They were discussing seal level rise in the wake of last winter's flooding. In an odd twist, one of the democrats was pushing to change code to allow a seawall in one community "because the neighbors have one", despite the fact that Planning pointed out that they're for erosion, not high-water flooding. Meanwhile, the republican was against spending any public money on helping shoreline residents - "you bought there, it's your problem" - although she undid that by saying there shouldn't be any restrictions on shoreline building.

I highly recommend Rosanna's book. There is a lot in there about private versus public property.

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I dislike everything about this local group and they're involved in all sorts of other crap, but my least favorite thing is this bleak statement: “It is the job of people to take measures such that drought and floods don’t negatively impact us and when people don’t do their job properly, events like low lake levels are bound to happen.”

https://flatheadbeacon.com/2023/08/09/save-flathead-lake-group-demands-truth-over-depleted-water-levels/

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Ugh. What's wrong with humanity in one sentence.

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💯

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Add it to my vast pile ...? 🫠

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Yes, definitely!

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YES

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This is so frustrating--and yet I'm still thinking about the ways that being near water impacts a community's sense of place, meaning in place, etc. My folks lived on Bainbridge Island for a few years and I loved being near the water like that. Puget sound is a gorgeous place--so wish we could do right by the land and by those with less, rather than worshipping a bottom line, and the wealthiest's claim to private property. Ugh. I did really think this line is a perfect summation: "In other words we need to start measuring what we care about rather than settling for caring about what we can measure."

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Thank you, Freya. We have 200 miles of shoreline in Island County, and just 60 public beach access areas, many of which are just one lot wide and which we have to continually defend against private property creep. The private beach signs are up, the sprinklers and security systems are on, in winter even the generators, but the owners are in Seattle.

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I wish we had public access to shorelines like Hawaii or right of way in nature like in Scandinavia. Interesting to consider the inequality with shoreline protection, I can see how it might be a huge divide in this area given the tech millionaires.

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California and Oregon (The Peoples' Coast) are better off in that regard, but California in particular is still facing similar issues.

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I didn’t know that about Oregon and California.

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Private ownership of tidelands is a Washington thing. The state sold them off originally to grow oysters, but many shoreline homeowners believe it gives them the right to keep people off the beach.

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Good to know. Learning from you, thank you!

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You're welcome, Kim, and thanks for giving me a post idea! I figure if l know this, everyone else must know it too.

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This predicament reminds me of when the steel industry collapsed and many of the small towns along the rivers here in the Pittsburgh area were abandoned for the most part and left the poor to scrape out a living because they couldn’t afford to move. The steel mills were demolished and turned into brownfields. Some of the land was reclaimed to build shopping centers or green buildings used as economic incubators for tech startups. I’m wondering if your area would do better to be turned into some kind of wildlife sanctuary and a public asset.

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That's what happened in Sayreville, New Jersey, as part of Chris Christie's Blue Acres program. The houses were razed and, along with the industrial areas, became a "wildlife refuge". Cheaper than a superfund site, which is what it should have been. The homeowners on LBI, however, got their beaches replenished.

Our beach residents include people with last names like Nordstrom, Costco, and Microsoft. You can guess which way that's going.

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Joris Lechene has some interesting observations about access to the beach in Guadeloupe (where he grew up). I see him in insta, he’s very interesting about the built environment, capitalism, racism etc. I did not realise it was so widespread in the US (except of course it would be). Good luck fighting the good fight and recovering fully from COVID. I’m a month out from my most recent bout and don’t recommend it.

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Thanks for that info and for those kind words, Michelle.

It's a manifestation of inequality wherever that is found.

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Yes, I’m kind of embarrased I didn’t realise. Here in Australia I was told the 200m of coastline next to the sea is classified as the sea and can’t be claimed as private property. And we have a lot of coastline. I’m sure its different where billionaires live. And of course the whole country was only settled because British lawyers came up with Terra Nullius.

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It's strange here. In New Jersey, the town owns the beach and you need to buy a badge to go there.

In Washington, people can ever own tidelands and use that to try to stop people going on "their" beach. The public trust doctrine, derived from British common law, and in turn from Roman law, states that below the high tide line is public. It hasn't been tested in court, so a tension remains,

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Thanks, John.

Wishing you well🌱

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Thanks Katharine.

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