SACRAMENTO – Scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey have, for the first time, demonstrated how aquifer composition can affect how excessive levels of phosphorous – an essential nutrient contained in fertilizers – can be carried from fertilized agricultural fields via groundwater to streams and waterways.

This finding will allow for more informed management of agriculture, ecosystem and human water needs, according to the agency.

Nutrient transport from agricultural fields, including nitrogen and phosphorus compounds, is one of the most serious environmental problems throughout the world because it can cause adverse effects on aquatic ecosystems and/or drinking water supplies, USGS reported.

Excess phosphorus can stimulate algal growth in streams and lakes, which can lead to decreased levels of dissolved oxygen resulting in the death of sensitive organisms including fish, or can cause changes in the types of algae that are present. Some forms of algae can also release toxins that can negatively impact human health.

“While the widespread use of fertilizer has increased crop yields, excessive application is not only wasteful, but it can also be harmful to water quality, fish, and human health,” said USGS director Marcia McNutt. “New USGS science demonstrates how and when excess phosphorous is moving underground from fields to streams, and what underground conditions can mitigate nutrient transport.”

Researchers examined phosphorus quantities and movement in soils, and groundwater in five agricultural settings across the United States, including California, Washington, Nebraska, Indiana and Maryland.  

Sites were chosen to represent common variations in soil geochemistry, climate, irrigation usage and cropping systems found across the nation, allowing for the first time, a comparison of factors that contribute to phosphorus movement in shallow aquifers.

The study included assessment of a variety of agricultural practices, so that factors contributing to phosphorus movement via groundwater could be compared.  

“Until now, studies of phosphorus transport to streams have been focused on surface-water pathways because it was previously assumed that phosphorus does not dissolve into soil water and is not mobilized to groundwater,” explained USGS researcher Joseph Domagalski. “Farmers and resource managers can use the study information to better manage the application of fertilizer on agricultural fields and minimize phosphorus contamination in downstream water bodies.”

The study examines how iron and other elements present in particles in an aquifer can immobilize phosphorus and remove it from groundwater.

Under the right conditions, such as in the Maryland site, these processes completely limit phosphorus movement in groundwater. However, if aquifer particles are continually exposed to excess phosphorus and become saturated, the excess phosphorus will eventually be transported to a discharge zone, such as a stream.

Using this information, resource managers can evaluate what types of aquifer systems are more likely to transport phosphorus into surface water bodies.

The study also shows that inexpensive soil tests, routinely employed to estimate fertilizer requirements, can be used on deeper soil samples to evaluate the potential for downward movement of phosphorus below the plant rooting depth in agricultural areas.

The potential for groundwater transport of phosphorus can be evaluated with basic geochemical information, such as measurements of pH, dissolved oxygen, and dissolved phosphorus in samples of shallow ground water.

The study of agricultural chemicals is one of several priority topics currently being addressed by the U.S. Geological Survey National Water-Quality Assessment Program.

More information about the study is available online at http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2012/3004/ and in the Journal of Hydrology, “Subsurface transport of orthophosphate in five agricultural watersheds,” http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022169411005403.

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LAKEPORT, Calif. – The first witnesses in the trial of two local men alleged to have been responsible for the murder of a 4-year-old boy and the shooting of five others last June took the stand on Wednesday.

Janet Leonor and her great-granddaughter, 18-year-old Ashli Athas, were the first witnesses called by District Attorney Don Anderson in the trial of 21-year-old Paul William Braden and Orlando Joseph Lopez, 24, both of Clearlake Oaks.

Braden and Lopez are on trial for the shooting on June 18, 2011, in Clearlake that claimed the life of 4-year-old Skyler Rapp, and left five others – his mother, Desiree Kirby, her boyfriend, Ross Sparks and his brother, Andrew Sparks, and friends Ian Griffith and Joseph Armijo – wounded.

Before testimony started late Wednesday morning, the court spent an hour and a half rearranging the small Department 1 courtroom to accommodate the two juries – with a total of 35 jurors – who will hear the trial.

The defense and prosecution tables were turned to face the jurors, and half of the audience was blocked off with a partition and set up to seat the rest of the jurors who couldn’t fit into the jury box.

Leonor, who took the stand first, testified about a party held at her 16th Avenue home in Clearlake the day of the shooting.

It was there that Braden and Lopez were reported to have been in the hours before the shooting, and where Braden was allegedly seen with a shotgun, the butt of which he was said to have sawed off in Leonor’s garage.

Athas and her then-boyfriend, Leonardo Lopez – Orlando Lopez’s brother – and their young son lived with Leonor at that time. Several of Athas’ and Leonardo Lopez’s friends reportedly spent the afternoon hanging out, drinking and playing beer pong in the backyard, according to Wednesday’s testimony.

Leonor said she saw four young men go into her garage, among them Orlando Lopez and a tall young bald man, alleged to have been Braden, who at the time reportedly had a shaved head.

She said they were “fooling around at the work table,” and she could see they were standing near a vice, but her car blocked her full view.

The young men had no business being in the garage, so Leonor said she told them to get out of it.

The next day, Leonor went out to the garage and found a hacksaw and another saw lying on the table, not hanging on the peg board where they belonged. Those two saws were presented as exhibits in court, contained in large plastic bags. Leonor identified both.

She also found on the work bench a black bolt – which the prosecution alleges was from the shotgun stock – that had been cut.

Outside on a table in her backyard was found a roll of duct tape that Braden allegedly used to wrap around the sawed off shotgun butt in order to make a pistol grip. Anderson showed Leonor a picture of the table where the duct tape was found by police.

During cross-examination by Lopez’s attorney, Stephen Carter, Leonor said she never saw a weapon, and didn’t know the tall, bald young man she had seen at her home.

Leonor testified that at one point she had had weapons of her own in the home, but by June 2011 she had sold them all.

Athas testified to hearing Braden argue on the phone with Ross Sparks around 3 p.m. or 4 p.m. June 18, allegedly telling Sparks, “Let’s meet up and handle this.”

She said of Braden, “In a sense you could tell he was angry but he was being calm about it.”

According to Athas, a short time after that phone call, Braden and Lopez left, coming back about a half-hour later, with Braden holding a black shotgun wrapped in a sweatshirt.

She said Braden went to the garage along with several male subjects who were at the party – among them several individuals said to belong to a group called the Avenue Boys – with one of the young men then coming out to throw the shotgun butt in a recycling bin.

Athas said Braden spent several minutes popping shells in and out of the shotgun before he allegedly said, “I didn't bring this gun to Clearlake for nothing, let's go use it.”

She also recalled Braden saying, “I’m bored, let's go shoot somebody,” two to three times.

Athas didn’t recall seeing Braden drinking, but said she was sure there was marijuana at the party, although she didn’t remember Braden or Lopez using any.

Leonor started asking people to leave around 9 p.m., and again at 10 p.m. Athas said her grandmother got angry when some people still hadn’t left, so Athas went out to ask them to leave herself.

She said it was at about 10:15 p.m. or 10:30 p.m. that night, as she was looking out her bedroom window, that she saw Braden and Lopez leaving, walking toward what she described as a dark-colored SUV driven by Kevin Stone.

“Paul was holding the sweatshirt with the gun in it,” she said.

Within minutes of the shooting – which occurred shortly before 11 p.m. June 18 – Athas said she received a phone call from her father, asking why he heard Leonardo Lopez’s name over the scanner in connection with the shooting of the little boy. Athas said her then-boyfriend was at home with her.

The next day, when Leonardo Lopez went to the Clearlake Police Department to answer questions from police, his cell phone – which he had left at home – rang, and Athas said she answered it.

The call was from Braden, said Athas.

Although she had never met Skyler Rapp, she said her younger sister and the little boy had a mutual aunt, so she considered him a relation.

When she accused Braden of shooting the little boy, “All he had to say was, ‘I’m sorry, oh my God, I’m sorry.” Athas said she hung up on him.

She admitted during her Wednesday testimony that she originally had lied to police out of fear, because she had heard things about Braden’s family that scared her.

In his cross-examination, Rhoades questioned Athas about her differing testimony in the case’s October preliminary hearing, during which she had said there was no drinking or beer pong at her home on June 18.

She clarified that she had not recalled it at the time, but remembered after she spoke with some of the others who had been there.

Testimony continues Thursday morning.

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LAKEPORT, Calif. – A man whose travel trailer burned last week has been arrested for allegedly setting it on fire.

John Austin Mitchell, 48, was arrested Friday, Feb. 24, by Lake County Sheriff’s Deputy Jay Vanoven on suspicion of arson.

Lakeport and Kelseyville firefighters responded early last Friday evening to the report of a burning travel trailer on Mission Rancheria Road outside of Lakeport, as Lake County News has reported.

Lakeport Fire Chief Ken Wells said the travel trailer was destroyed and the occupant was gone by the time firefighters arrived.

Shortly after 6 p.m. Friday sheriff’s deputies responded to the scene based on a report that it may have been arson, according to a report from Capt. Chris Macedo.

Macedo reported that the deputies met with Wells, who informed them that a bystander had told him the fire had been intentionally set.

When the deputies met with Mitchell to interview him, Mitchell allegedly told them that he recently had been despondent and wanted to get rid of “some of the bad things” in his life, according to Macedo.

Based on the interview with Mitchell, deputies learned that he allegedly started the fire by igniting a blanket in the dwelling, Macedo said.

Mitchell also is alleged to have told deputies that he used no accelerants in starting the fire, and that he had no intention of harming anyone.

Mitchell was arrested and booked into the Hill Road Correctional Facility for maliciously setting fire to an inhabited structure, Macedo said.

Jail records showed that Mitchell remained in custody on Tuesday, with bail set at $100,000.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Richard Hinchcliff said the case against Mitchell has been submitted to the District Attorney’s Office, and that he charged Mitchell with arson of an inhabited dwelling.

Hinchcliff said Mitchell will be in court next Monday for appearance of counsel.

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SACRAMENTO – Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. on Thursday released annual applicant and appointee data for his administration’s first year of judicial appointments.

Under SB 56, signed in 2006, the governor is required to disclose aggregate statewide demographic data provided by all judicial applicants relative to ethnicity and gender each year by March 1.

In 2011, there were a total of 768 judicial appointment applicants, the Governor's Office reported.

Women accounted for 32 percent of the applicant pool and 33 percent of Governor Brown’s judicial appointments, according to the report.

Nearly one-third of the applicant pool identified themselves as American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Black or African-American, Hispanic, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, or other/unknown, and more than half (53 percent) of Gov. Brown’s appointees were from these groups.

Governor Brown’s judicial appointees included a number of notable minority judges, including Goodwin Liu, appointed to the California Supreme Court; Kathleen O’Leary, the first female presiding justice in the history of the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division Three; and Raquel Marquez, the first Latina judge in the history of the Riverside County Superior Court.

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LOWER LAKE, Calif. – Lake County Sheriff's investigators are asking for the community's help in tracking down leads in an assault case from early February.

Capt. Chris Macedo said detectives are investigating the assault of a 61-year-old woman on Feb. 9.

He said on that day relatives discovered the woman unconscious in her Lower Lake residence.

The woman had several severe injuries and was flown by REACH air ambulance to an out-of-county hospital, Macedo said.

The victim has since been released from the hospital, is recovering from her injuries and is in stable condition, according to Macedo.

Macedo said the woman has been interviewed by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office’s Major Crimes Unit, which is actively investigating several leads in the case.

Anyone with information related to this crime is asked to contact the Lake County Sheriff’s Office at 707-263-2690.

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The problem of drugged driving continues to rise, according to figures released Tuesday by the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS).  

Based on data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 30 percent of all drivers who were killed in motor vehicle crashes in California in 2010 tested positive for legal and/or illegal drugs, a percentage that has been increasing since 2006.

Drugged driving is a problem not widely recognized by the public, but increases in crashes, fatalities and injuries point out that society must acknowledge this serious problem and work to curb it, the agency reported. The problem of drugged driving is growing, even while DUI fatalities have been in decline.  

Drugs which can impair driving are not only illegal narcotics and stimulants, but can be prescription and over-the-counter drugs as well as marijuana and its synthetic substitutes.  Many, when combined with alcohol, heighten the effect of both, the report noted.

“You can be as deadly behind the wheel with marijuana or prescription drugs as you can with over-the-limit alcohol,” said Christopher J. Murphy, director of the Office of Traffic Safety.  “The bottom line is drugs and driving do not mix.”

Drug-impaired driving is often under-reported and under-recognized and toxicology testing is expensive, the agency said. Additionally, because there is no established impairment level for drugs, prosecuting drug impaired driving cases can be difficult.

With the increased awareness of this growing problem, the Office of Traffic Safety and the California Highway Patrol are working together to provide officers statewide with specialized training to detect and apprehend drug-impaired drivers.

The federally funded program, new to California and developed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, is called Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement (ARIDE).

In the past five months alone, more than 700 officers from police departments across the state have attended ARIDE training.

Police departments also are being encouraged to send officers to the most advanced drug recognition program to become Drug Recognition Experts (DRE).

CHP manages the statewide program that currently has over 1000 officers as active DRE’s – the most in the nation.

Drug detection experts will be in place more often at DUI checkpoints and federally funded grant support will be used to fund operations to detect and apprehend drug-impaired drivers, OTS reported.

“This invaluable ARIDE and DRE training for law enforcement is the key to successfully removing drug-impaired drivers from the road, ultimately reducing the number of people killed and injured by irresponsible behavior and making our communities a safer place,” said CHP Commissioner Joe Farrow. “It’s also imperative that the public realize the synergistic effect of combining alcohol with prescription or over-the-counter drugs, and the danger this presents while driving.”

OTS announced last month that Sacramento and Orange counties were awarded federal funding to purchase state-of-the-art drug testing equipment.

In addition, district attorney offices in eight counties are being funded to create special “vertical prosecution” teams that will follow drug-impaired driving cases from arrest through trial.  

Regional traffic safety resource prosecutors are providing training to district attorney offices on how to successfully prosecute drug impaired driving cases.

“Drug impaired driving is the new challenge for not only law enforcement and the judicial system, but for DUI prevention efforts as well,” said Ventura County District Attorney Greg Totten, president of the California District Attorneys Association. “We need to make sure that drivers displaying objective signs of drug impairment either through bad driving or failed standardized field sobriety testing are arrested and prosecuted.”

Research shows drugs have an adverse effect on judgment, reaction time, motor skills and memory – critical skills for safe and responsible driving.

Recently, experts at the Dalhousie University in Canada released the results of a study that found that drivers who had used marijuana within three hours of driving had nearly double the risk of causing a crash as those not under the influence of alcohol or drugs. The Canadian research reviewed nine studies of more than 49,000 people involved in crashes.

In fall 2010, six cities in California conducted nighttime weekend “voluntary” roadside surveys and found that the percentage of drivers who tested positive for marijuana (8.4%) was greater than the percentage that were using alcohol (7.6%).  

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CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Firefighters were able to save a Clearlake home that caught fire Wednesday night.

The fire occurred in a modular home located at 15992 39th Ave., said Lake County Fire Chief Willie Sapeta.

Firefighters were dispatched to the scene at 7:17 p.m. Wednesday, arriving on scene five minutes later to find about 25 percent of the home involved, Sapeta said.

Radio reports Wednesday night indicated witnesses saw smoke and flames coming from the back of the home.

Lake County Fire sent two engines, a water tender and two medic units, with Sapeta reporting that he also responded. No one was at home when firefighters arrived.

The fire was contained at 7:40 p.m., with the fire damage limited mostly to one room, with heat and smoke damage throughout the rest of the structure, he said.

He said firefighters cleared the scene at 8:45 p.m.

Sapeta estimated damage to be between $40,000 and $50,000.

The fire’s cause remains under investigation, Sapeta said.
             
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews, on Tumblr at www.lakeconews.tumblr.com, on Google+, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .

When it comes to buckling up, daily efforts by the public and the California Highway Patrol (CHP) are making a difference.

Every click of a seat belt represents another life potentially saved, and the CHP said that's a trend it is striving to continue throughout the state.

“Motorists are to be commended because seat belt usage is at an all time high in California,” said CHP Commissioner Farrow. “However, there are still a small percentage of people who have yet to realize the benefits of passenger restraints and continue to ignore the warnings about not buckling up. This education and enforcement campaign is aimed at saving their lives.”   

To assist in this safety mission through September 30, 2012, the CHP has obtained the Vehicle Occupant Restraint Education and Instruction (VOREI) grant.

The money from this grant will be used to support statewide community outreach and enforcement efforts by CHP officers who will encourage Californians to not only buckle up themselves, but to ensure their passengers are properly secured as well, the CHP said.

The grant also will provide child passenger safety certification training to personnel from CHP and other law enforcement agencies.

According to data from the Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System, an average of five vehicle occupants were killed in collisions everyday in California during 2009 (the most recent year for which finalized data is available).

Among those five vehicle occupants killed daily, statistics indicate at least one of them was not properly secured inside the vehicle.

In addition to lives lost for failure to wear a seat belt, hundreds of citations are issued daily. The cost of a citation for an adult not wearing a seat belt is at a minimum $142, while the cost of a ticket for an unrestrained child under 16 starts at $474, along with a point against your driving record.

“This is an unnecessary risk and a needless expense,” added Commissioner Farrow. “Buckle up, it saves lives.”

Funding for this campaign is provided by the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

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CLEARLAKE, Calif. – On Wednesday Golden State Water Co. will break ground on a new $418,600 pipeline replacement project as part of its infrastructure improvement plan for its Clearlake Customer Service Area.

The project involves installing 2,175 feet of new 8-inch diameter pipeline at San Joaquin Avenue east of the intersection of Lakeshore Drive at Island Drive, proceeding east to Parkview Drive and Park Terrace Drive at 12480 San Joaquin Ave., the company reported.

Existing 2-inch steel water mains that are more than 50 years old will be replaced with new polyvinyl chloride pipe (PVC), Golden State Water said.

The company said the replacement project will result in reduced leaks and improved fire protection for the Clearlake Customer Service Area.

In addition to this project, which was budgeted in a previous year, Golden State is authorized to invest another $480,000 in local improvements in 2012. More information about these projects is available at www.gswater.com/csa_homepages/clearlake.html.

“This project is one of several scheduled in our Clearlake Water System this year to help us maintain our critical infrastructure for our customers,” said Golden State Water Company District Manager Paul Schubert.

Golden State believes that proactive system maintenance is critical to protecting water service now and for future generations. Delaying or deferring needed improvements can be more costly and jeopardize water quality.

The work will consist of cutting through the existing concrete to remove the older pipeline and to install the new one.

The streets will remain open to traffic during the construction period but traffic and parking may be restricted during the working hours. The construction crews will make every effort to keep dust to a minimum.

Residents may experience periods with an increased level of noise during construction. Weekly activities such as trash pickup will not be interrupted.
The work is scheduled to last up to 45 days. Normal water service will not be interrupted except as needed to connect the new water mains to the existing system.

Customers will receive advance notification if their service will be temporarily interrupted.

Customers with questions about the project can call Golden State’s 24-hour Customer Service Center at 800-999-4033.

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LAKEPORT, Calif. – Testimony that was scheduled to take place on Thursday in the murder trial of two Clearlake Oaks men was continued due to the illness of a defense attorney in the case.

Testimony in the trial of Paul William Braden, 21, and Orlando Joseph Lopez, 24, began on Wednesday.

They are alleged to have been responsible for shooting into a crowd at a Clearlake home on June 18, 2011, killing 4-year-old Skyler Rapp, wounding his mother Desiree Kirby and stepfather Ross Sparks, and also wounding Andrew Sparks, Ian Griffith and Joseph Armijo.

Two juries composed of approximately 35 jurors have been seated to deal with Braden’s and Lopez’s cases separately.

When court convened shortly before 9:30 a.m. Thursday in Lake County Superior Court’s Department 1, Yolo County Judge Doris Shockley – who has been brought in to preside over the trial – told the two juries that Lopez’s attorney, Stephen Carter, was too ill to attend the proceedings, which were continued.

Ashli Athas, the 18-year-old former girlfriend of Lopez’s brother, Leonardo, was set to continue testifying on Thursday.

Athas, the second witness called in the case, said Wednesday that both Braden and Orlando Lopez were at her home in Clearlake in the hours before the murder.

She said they disappeared briefly, with Braden returning with a black shotgun wrapped in a sweatshirt.

Braden is alleged to have sawed off the shotgun’s butt, and according to Athas said he was bored and wanted to go shoot somebody. “I didn't bring this gun to Clearlake for nothing, let's go use it,” she remembered him saying.

Braden’s attorney, Doug Rhoades, has called into question Athas’ testimony, which differed from that given at Braden’s and Lopez’s preliminary hearing last October in that she previously said there was no drinking or “beer pong” taking place that day.

Athas also has admitted to initially lying to police and telling them that Braden and Lopez weren’t at her home in the hours before the fatal shooting occurred.

With the Lake County Superior Court scheduled for a mandatory furlough day on Friday due to budget cuts, Shockley ordered jurors to return to court on Wednesday, March 7. Testimony will resume at 9 a.m. that day.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews, on Tumblr at www.lakeconews.tumblr.com, on Google+, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .

California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris on Wednesday announced the California Homeowner Bill of Rights designed to protect homeowners from unfair practices by banks and mortgage companies and to help consumers and communities cope with the state's urgent mortgage and foreclosure crisis.

Joined by Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg and Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez, Attorney General Harris announced her sponsorship of six bills designed to guarantee:

• Basic standards of fairness in the mortgage process, including an end to dual-track foreclosures.
• Transparency in the mortgage process, including a single point of contact for homeowners.
• Community tools to prevent blight after banks foreclose upon homes.
• Tenant protections after foreclosures.
• Enhanced law enforcement to defend homeowner rights – paid for by fees imposed on banks.
• A special grand jury to investigate financial and foreclosure crime.

"California communities and families are being devastated by the mortgage and foreclosure crisis. We must ensure the deceptive practices that caused it never happen again," said Attorney General Harris. "The California Homeowner Bill of Rights will provide basic fairness and transparency for homeowners, and improve the mortgage process for everyone."

The legislation builds on the California commitment announced by Attorney General Harris earlier this month, which is expected to result in $18 billion of benefits for California homeowners.

That agreement included reforms for mortgages owned by the five banks that were signing parties. The California Homeowner Bill of Rights will strengthen those protections, make them permanent, and apply them to all mortgages in the state.

"When I secured the California commitment, I made clear it was only one of many steps I am taking to comprehensively address the mortgage and foreclosure crisis," Harris said. "I want to thank Senate President Pro Tem Steinberg, Assembly Speaker Pérez and all the other lawmakers who are supporting this urgent package of legislation for homeowners."

"I want to congratulate the Attorney General on the victory she won on behalf of the people of California," said Speaker John A. Pérez. "Our state has suffered greatly as the result of bad actors in the banking and financial industries, and this settlement holds them accountable as we continue the difficult work of recovering the housing market and stemming the tide of foreclosures, evictions and auctions."

"Millions of Californians have already lost their homes to foreclosure and the mortgage crisis is far from over," said Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg. "This landmark settlement negotiated by Attorney General Harris helps thousands of Californians but thousands more need the same help. We need to put these protections into law so that more people can save their homes."

CALIFORNIA HOMEOWNER BILL OF RIGHTS LEGISLATIVE PACKAGE

ASSEMBLY BILL 1602 / SENATE BILL 1470- THE FORECLOSURE REDUCTION ACT OF 2012

Authors: Assemblymen Mike Eng and Mike Feuer; Senators Mark Leno, Fran Pavley and Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg.

• Requires creditors to provide documentation to a borrower that establishes the creditor's right to foreclose on real property prior to recording a notice of default.
• Requires creditors to provide documentary evidence of ownership, the chain of title to real property, and the right to foreclose, at the time of the filing of a notice of default.
• Prohibits creditors from recording a notice of default when a timely-filed application for a loan modification or other loss mitigation measure is pending.
• Prohibits creditors from recording a notice of sale when a timely-filed application for a loan modification or other loss mitigation measure is pending.
• Prohibits creditors from recording a notice of sale while a borrower is in compliance with the terms of a trial loan modification or after another loss mitigation measure has been approved.
• Requires creditors to disclose why an application for a loan modification or other loss mitigation measure has been denied.
• Requires that notices of foreclosure sales be personally served, including notices of foreclosure sale postponement.
• Provides homeowners with a private right of action in instances in which the requirements set forth in the legislation are not followed

ASSEMBLY BILL 2425 / SENATE BILL 1471 - DUE PROCESS REFORM LEGISLATION

Authors: Assemblywoman Holly Mitchell; Senators Mark DeSaulnier and Fran Pavley.

• Requires creditors to provide a single point of contact to borrowers in the foreclosure process who will be responsible for providing accurate account and other information related to the foreclosure process and loss mitigation efforts.
• Requires creditors to provide a dedicated electronic mail address, facsimile number and mailing address for borrowers to submit information requested as part of a loan modification, short sale or other loss mitigation option.
• Authorizes borrowers to challenge the unlawful commencement of a foreclosure process in court.
• Imposes a $10,000 civil penalty on the recordation or filing of "robosigned" documents, defined as documents that contain information that was not verified for accuracy by the person or persons signing or swearing to the accuracy of the document or statement.
• Requires that certain documents be recorded in a county recorder's office.

ASSEMBLY BILL 2314 / SENATE BILL 1472 - BLIGHT PREVENTION LEGISLATION

Authors: Assemblywoman Wilmer Carter; Senator Fran Pavley.

• Prevents blight enforcement actions from being taken against new purchasers of blighted property for 60 days, provided that repairs are being made to the property.
• Requires banks that release liens on foreclosed property to inform local code enforcement agencies of the release so that demolition of blighted property can proceed.
• Increases fines against owners of blighted property from $1,000 per day to $5,000 per day, and allow the imposition of the costs of a receivership over blighted property to be imposed directly against the owner of blighted property.

ASSEMBLY BILL 2610/ SENATE BILL 1473 - TENANT PROTECTION LEGISLATION

Authors: Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner; Senator Loni Hancock.

• Requires purchasers of foreclosed homes to honor the terms of existing leases and give tenants at least 90 days notice before commencing eviction proceedings.

ASSEMBLY BILL 1950 - ENHANCEMENT OF ATTORNEY GENERAL ENFORCEMENT

Author: Assemblyman Mike Davis.

• Imposes a new $25 fee to be paid by servicers upon the recording of a notice of default. The fee would be deposited into a real estate fraud prosecution trust fund that would support the Attorney General's efforts to deter, investigate and prosecute real estate fraud crimes, including the work of the Mortgage Fraud Strike Force.
• Extends the statute of limitations from one year to four years from the date of discovery for violations of law commonly occurring in connection with foreclosure-related scams, including acting as a real-estate agent without a license and charging up-front fees for loan modification services.

SENATE BILL 1474 / ASSEMBLY BILL 1763 - ATTORNEY GENERAL SPECIAL GRAND JURY

Authors: Assemblyman Mike Davis; Senator Loni Hancock.

• Authorizes the attorney general to impanel a special grand jury for the purposes of investigating and indicting multi-jurisdictional financial crimes against the state.

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SACRAMENTO – Department of Water Resources snow surveyors on Tuesday confirmed that California’s mountain snowpack holds far less water than normal for this time of year.

Manual and electronic readings show that statewide, snowpack water content is only 30 percent of historic readings for the date.

That is a mere 26 percent of the average April 1 measurement, when the snowpack is normally at its peak before it begins to melt with rising spring temperatures, the state reported.

“The weather news so far this winter has not been good,” said DWR Director Mark Cowin. “We still have good reservoir storage due to last winter’s storms, but we would like to see more rain and snow this season.”

Due to persistent dry weather, DWR on Feb. 22 dropped by 10 percent its estimate of the amount of water the State Water Project (SWP) will deliver this calendar year.

The delivery estimate – or allocation – was reduced from 60 percent to 50 percent of the slightly more than 4 million acre-feet of water requested by the 29 public agencies that supply more than 25 million Californians and nearly a million acres of irrigated farmland. An acre-foot is 325,851 gallons, enough to cover one acre to a depth of one foot.

The 50 percent allocation is not severely low, and could be increased if late season storms significantly improve hydrologic conditions.

One area visited by DWR snow surveyors on Tuesday was off Highway 50 near Echo Summit, approximately 90 miles east of Sacramento.  

Electronic readings from remote sensors indicate that snowpack water content in the northern mountain ranges is 31 percent of normal for the date and 28 percent of the April 1 seasonal average.

Electronic readings for the central Sierra show 26 percent of normal for the date and 23 percent of the April 1 average.

The numbers for the southern Sierra are 33 percent of average for the date and 28 percent of the April 1 average.

Statewide, the snowpack water content is 30 percent of normal for the date and 26 percent of the April 1 average.

DWR and cooperating agencies conduct manual snow surveys around the first of the month from January to May.  The manual surveys supplement and check the accuracy of real-time electronic readings.

Mountain snow that melts into streams, reservoirs and aquifers in spring and summer normally provides approximately one-third of the water for California’s households, farms and industries.

But unless conditions change this winter, water from the snowpack will be substantially less than normal this year, DWR reported.

One bright spot is good reservoir storage carried over from last winter.

Lake Oroville in Butte County, the State Water Project’s principal storage reservoir, is at 100 percent of average for the date (71 percent of its 3.5 million acre-foot capacity), Lake Shasta north of Redding, the federal Central Valley Project’s largest reservoir with a capacity of 4.5 million acre-feet, is at 94 percent of its normal storage level for the date (69 percent of capacity), according to DWR.

San Luis Reservoir in Merced County, an important storage reservoir south of the Delta, is at 99 percent of average for the date (85 percent of its capacity of 2,027,840 acre-feet). DWR said San Luis is a critically important source of water for both the State Water Project and Central Valley Project when pumping from the Delta is restricted or interrupted.

Statewide, reservoir storage is 110 percent of normal for the date.

Unusually wet conditions last winter allowed the State Water Project to deliver 80 percent of the slightly more than 4 million acre-feet requested for calendar year 2011.

The final allocation was 50 percent in 2010, 40 percent in 2009, 35 percent in 2008, and 60 percent in 2007.

The last 100 percent allocation – difficult to achieve even in wet years because of fishery agency restrictions on Delta pumping to protect threatened and endangered fish – was in 2006.

This winter’s unusually dry conditions to date have principally been caused by a high pressure ridge along California’s coast that has diverted most storms to the north.

Electronic snowpack readings are available on the Internet at http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/snow/DLYSWEQ.

Electronic reservoir level readings may be found at http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cdecapp/resapp/getResGraphsMain.action.

See DWR’s new Water Conditions page at http://www.water.ca.gov/waterconditions/ .

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