It’s Fourth of July week and it’s the perfect time for Darcy and Darcy to share the top produce grown in California and pretty much – you guessed it - your entire summer fruit salad is provided by your friendly California Farmer! And with California's Central Valley temperatures inching up past 110 for over a week, Darcy V shares his strategies on crop “sunscreen.” Darcy B discusses hazardous algae, another fun summer topic, and a special shout out to the farmer that sent Darcy B. her favorite cantaloupes just in time for America’s birthday party.

We Grow California Podcast is paid for by the Exchange Contractors Federal PAC and Exchange Contractors State PAC and is not authorized by any candidate or candidate committee.

This week Darcy and Darcy have some good news to share when they welcome Eddie Ocampo, Director of Community Sustainability with Self-Help Enterprises, a nationally recognized community development organization. Eddie and Self Help work with communities to build resiliency through housing, water reliability, waste-water services, and community development. They work collaboratively with other technical assistance organizations, funding entities, as well as state and federal agencies. Darcy and Darcy learn how Self-Help got started, and some of the projects Eddie is most proud of. They learned that when Central Valley California communities’ have big problems – like the well has run dry - better than “I gotta guy,” call Eddie and Self Help. Listen in!

We Grow California Podcast is paid for by the Exchange Contractors Federal PAC and Exchange Contractors State PAC and is not authorized by any candidate or candidate committee.

Jason Phillips, Chief Executive Officer of Friant Water Authority, and Water Blueprint for the San Joaquin Valley Blueprint Board Member joins Darcy and Darcy this week for an interesting and thought-provoking conversation. Jason covers what the Blueprint is, who is part of it, why it is needed, new partnerships, and top priorities. He also explains how the Blueprint works with the Central Valley’s Groundwater Sustainability Agencies. Darcy and Darcy learn why Temperance Flats is not a priority project and you will too. They also learn the sobering statistic of what an annual 2-4 million-acre-foot water deficit looks like. Spoiler alert – it’s not sad, it’s devastating.

We Grow California Podcast is paid for by the Exchange Contractors Federal PAC and Exchange Contractors State PAC and is not authorized by any candidate or candidate committee.

Steve Chedester, Director of Policy and Programs at the San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors Water Authority (Exchange Contractors) is back for part two of local project investments, the Orestimba Creek Recharge and Recovery Project – say that three times fast! Steve shares information about a groundwater recharge project in the Del Puerto Water District’s service area. This project covers approximately 80 acres and has the capacity to store over 20,000-acre-feet of water, or for our urban listeners, that’s enough water for 60,000 people for one year! Located south of the Delta, and northeast of the San Luis Reservoir, this recharge project can be fed from the Delta Mendota Canal or from flood waters, when conditions exist.

For this effort, the Exchange Contractors partnered with Del Puerto Water District. Information on this and other Exchange Contractors projects can be found on their website.

We Grow California Podcast is paid for by the Exchange Contractors Federal PAC and Exchange Contractors State PAC and is not authorized by any candidate or candidate committee.

Darcy and Darcy welcome back Steve Chedester, Director of Policy and Programs at the San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors Water Authority (Exchange Contractors). Steve shares some innovative infrastructure news that for us Water Nerds, is super exciting! The Exchange Contractors partnered with the San Luis Water District and the Grasslands Water District for the Los Banos Creek Detention Dam Reservoir Re-Regulation Project. (That was a mouthful!) This reservoir was once only used for the Central Valley Project Flood Control and now, through strategic improvements and re-purposing of existing infrastructure, yields new water reliability for the partners. The Project was made possible through Federal funding opportunities championed by Congressmen Costa and Duarte.

Steve also provides an update on the San Joaquin River Restoration Project. You guessed it! It’s been 15 years and not a lot of infrastructure progress yet, the price tag for the project continues to go up. A needed project without a viable funding source is problematic and additional funding is necessary to move forward.

We Grow California Podcast is paid for by the Exchange Contractors Federal PAC and Exchange Contractors State PAC and is not authorized by any candidate or candidate committee.

Darcy and Darcy are discussing some pretty incredible milestone events this week. First, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California entered into two Memorandums of Understanding. The first with Friant Water Authority and Westland Water District and the second with the San Joaquin Valley Blueprint. These non-binding agreements open the door to explore mutual beneficial groundwater storage projects as well as other water reliability efforts. Urban and Ag are working together to solve big issues, and some said it would never happen! It all starts with trust.

Speaking of trust, Darcy B also shares some results from a recent Public Trust focus group study. Spoiler alert – it’s not good. And the Darcys heard from you regarding their out-of-the-box water infrastructure funding ideas, more on that conversation to come.

We Grow California Podcast is paid for by the Exchange Contractors Federal PAC and Exchange Contractors State PAC and is not authorized by any candidate or candidate committee.

Darcy and Darcy are back in the studio this week and tackle water affordability. With the USEPA finalizing the PFOS Maximum Contaminant Level at 4 PPT (Parts per trillion), California setting the Hexavalent Chromium 6) level at 10 PPB (Parts per billion), lead service line replacement costs, lower Arsenic standards coming, revised Lithium standards on the horizon, and microplastics regulations looming, how will Californians and Americans afford safe drinking water? Darcy B. shares the impacts of the costs of these treatment options including capital investments, operations, and disposal and what that might look like on your monthly water bill; let’s just say it’s not pretty. The Darcys discuss possibilities on other ways to cover costs, including some crazy tourism tax ideas, and hope you, our listeners, might have some answers. Join the conversation!

We Grow California Podcast is paid for by the Exchange Contractors Federal PAC and Exchange Contractors State PAC and is not authorized by any candidate or candidate committee.

Darcy and Darcy welcome George Hawkins, founder and CEO of Moonshot Missions, a non-profit organization dedicated to clean and healthy water and waterways in underserved communities. Prior to starting Moonshot Missions, George was the General Manager of DC Water, where he served for eleven years, including several as a Board member. Darcy and Darcy discuss how Moonshot helps disadvantaged communities and tribal water and wastewater systems across the country, how they are funded, what makes them different, and how they might be able to help your community. Join the conversation!

We Grow California Podcast is paid for by the Exchange Contractors Federal PAC and Exchange Contractors State PAC and is not authorized by any candidate or candidate committee.