Last week, I discussed how the weird belief of “ensoulment at conception” is used to justify banning abortion: If personhood depends on having a soul, and if we start life in the womb with one, then deliberate abortion at any stage of pregnancy is murder. Since the whole dualistic idea of souls is suspect, to say the least (basically Plato’s after-life beliefs grafted onto St. Paul’s attempts to square Jesus’ teaching that “some who stand here will not taste death” with the reality — they did), then falling back on alleged “souls” to make banning abortion okay is a pretty dodgy tactic.

But I’m convinced that the vast majority of lawmakers who pass anti-abortion laws aren’t that stupid, and they put “souls” up there with the tooth fairy and Santa Claus. I believe “ensoulment” is just a smokescreen for the time-honored belief that women are second-class citizens, and that men have the God-given right to control women’s bodies and minds. I gave a couple of examples last week, including how women were thought in ancient Greek times to be merely the receptacles in which male sperm would be nourished and cared for until birth, no female ova involved.

Aristotle, who may have been the first to formalize this belief, was following in the footsteps of his predecessor Hesiod (c. 750 BC), contemporary of Homer, who rhapsodized about an all-male Golden Age: “They lived like gods without sorrow of heart, remote and free from toil and grief: miserable age rested not on them; but with legs and arms never failing they made merry with feasting …They dwelt in ease and peace. ” Their idyllic lives ended when Zeus punished Prometheus for giving the bros the gift of fire (an eagle ate his liver overnight, which grew back the next day), simultaneously punishing men for accepting the gift by giving them “an evil thing for their delight” — women.

It was downhill from then on. The Abrahamic religions reinforced women’s subservience to men — well, they were led by men, after all, who had good reason to keep women in their place. From the mythical Moses endorsing the primary role of men (women are marriage transactions in the Torah, and sexual slavery is endorsed); to Mary’s unwitting impregnation; to arch-misogynist St. Paul preaching that “wives should submit to their husbands as to the Lord”; to Mohammed saying, over and again, that a woman is worth half a man. (A 2-to-1 ratio apparently adopted by SCOTUS’ six men vs. three woman). Not just Judaism, Christianity and Islam; Buddha was a deadbeat Dad, according to the Tripitaka.

Of course, we all know that men prefer large-breasted women, don’t we? (No.) So girls looking for mates should be doing everything in their power to attract men with their “greatest charm, a symmetrically rounded bosom full and perfect,” natural or otherwise, from padded bras to this:

Even practices in what looks like women doing the oppressing can be traced back to an underlying belief in the superiority of men. For instance:

• Foot binding. Only outlawed in China in 1912, aristocratic girls whose feet had been painfully bound when young were more marriageable because, as adults, they couldn’t walk on their own and had to be helped, thus demonstrating their obedience and dedication to their husbands.
• Female Genital Mutilation: The removal of a girl’s clitoris and labia and sewing up of what remains of her vulva, while usually performed by older women on young girls, is all about controlling a woman’s sexuality: her groom can be assured his bride is a virgin. Not forgetting that the obscene “surgery” makes sure she can’t enjoy the independent pleasure of orgasms.

Where to stop?

• It took 144 years for Jefferson’s noble claim that “all men are created equal” in the Declaration of Independence to embrace women, who were only granted — by men! — the right to vote in 1920.
• 63 years ago, the FDA approved an oral contraceptive for women. How about a pill for men, a simple formulation of testosterone and progestin to stop sperm production? Hah! Why should we men have to take a daily pill? We don’t have to go through nine months of pregnancy and the rigors (and risks) of child-bearing. (Not incidental: the US has three times the maternal mortality rate of most other high-income countries.)
• Then there’s our pussy-grabbing ex-POTUS to Harvey Weinstein to Anita Hill (I still believe her!) to the Taliban to…

Nah, I’m done. Banning abortion is all about men controlling women.

“I believe as long as people are breathing, there’s hope,” says new Eureka Mayor Kim Bergel.

Bergel, who took over the office just a few months ago after eight years as a councilmember, is putting her city’s most vulnerable citizens at the forefront of her agenda. 

What makes Bergel think her efforts can find solutions to the homelessness crisis — a problem that is far bigger than Eureka — after so many others have become jaded?

That’s what we’ve set out to explore in our inaugural episode of Humboldt Tea Time, in which the Outpost’s John Kennedy O’Connor plies the mayor with an authentic pot of PG Tips.

Brew up a batch of your own, cut the crusts off your cucumber sandwiches, then join them in the video player above! No RSVP necessary.

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If you’re not looking it’s easy to miss the EXIT Theatre, a small and inconspicuous venue located in an unlikely spot above the Moore’s Sleepwear storefront on the Arcata Plaza. But once you discover the entrance and walk up the flight of stairs, you’ll find an intimate space showcasing many local performances including music, variety shows, plays and burlesque dancing. 

The cozy theater, which seats only 35, is a perfect space for DIVA Burlesque – a monthly showcase put on by a different local group of performers each month, featuring striptease dance entertainment. March’s showcase was presented by Bare Elegance Burlesque Beauties and included performances by Nephelé Rose, Alora Devora, Jadis Coyote, Darling Demoania, MadamFoxx, Lottie Deluscious, Knaughty Nebula, Petite Félicité and hosted by Jamie Bondage. 

Petite Félicité, or Carissa Titius when she’s not on stage, recently took over leadership of Bare Elegance, after the troupe’s founder Electra Gray moved on to new adventures. With a background in tap, jazz, hip-hop and lyrical dance, Titius has been a burlesque performer since 2018. Starting out her career in San Francisco and the Bay Area, Titius moved to Humboldt in 2021. Having lost her husband to cancer in 2020, Titius felt it was time to start fresh. 

Petite Félicité performs at EXIT

“One of the reasons I moved up here was to get away from where everything reminded me of him,” Titius said in an interview with the Outpost after her show on March 10. “I was up here for my friend’s birthday and I just fell in love with the beauty. [We] went to the beach in Trinidad and I cried … I thought ‘this feels like home.’”

After Titius decided to relocate to Humboldt, she promptly went to work finding out where to do burlesque. She found Bare Elegance, went to an audition and secured a spot with the local troupe. Since then she has been performing pretty regularly around Humboldt, making appearances at the Clam Digger, Siren’s Song Tavern and many more local venues. 

Having performed for years in the Bay Area, Titius said that there is something special about the artist community in Humboldt. Because it is a smaller community, Titius said, there is a lot of intertwining of different types of performances. Particularly drag performers and burlesque dancers will often do shows together, whereas in the Bay Area, you might see more separation between the two. There also seems to be less of a competitive attitude in the burlesque world and more of a collaborative one. 

“I feel like over here it’s more community-oriented,” Titius said. “In the Bay Area, it was so easy to be really cutthroat, and to feel like you had to be really good or you can’t get a spot to do [shows].”  

Titius said that with an artform like burlesque, where you are being very vulnerable, it is really important to encourage each other and promote a safe and supportive environment. That attitude is something she really tries to pass on to new performers in the troupe. 

“I’ve just been really trying to think about how we can really push the new performers to be professional and community-oriented,” Titius said. “ I just want them to really understand this is a very sacred artform, and there is a lot of vulnerability with it. So you have to give that capacity to everyone.” 

Christina Augello, the co-owner and artistic director of EXIT Theatre, also relocated from San Francisco pretty recently and took over the Arcata space in 2020. With a long background in theater and acting, Augello owned and operated the original EXIT Theater in San Francisco for the last 40 years, while also working as a bartender to help support herself. After COVID temporarily shut down both of her means of income, Augello said, she started thinking it was time to move on. Having visited Humboldt many years ago, Augello thought it might be the right fit. 

“For me, it was cost, culture and climate,” Augello said in a recent interview with the Outpost at the theater. “And I’m an old hippie. So, I figure this is where old hippies go to die.” 

Since opening in 1983, the EXIT Theater on Eddy Street in San Francisco has become a well-loved gem of the Tenderloin District. Probably most recognized for hosting the SF Fringe Festival, Augello and her theater were also known for hosting unique, independent shows that often gave newer artists a chance to develop their work and build their audience. The venue was quite a bit larger than the Arcata space, holding a complex of four different theaters – the largest was an 80-seat theater, and the smallest a 25-seat café theater that served food and drinks. 

But like many live venues, EXIT Theater struggled to survive after the pandemic. Even after the space was able to open again, it was difficult to cover the overhead costs, Augello told the Outpost. On top of the impacts of COVID, conditions in the Tenderloin District worsened, and people just didn’t want to come to the theater as much. In 2022 Augello had to close the Eddy Street space. 

Before that, Augello had been splitting her time between Arcata and San Francisco, trying to keep both theaters open. Though closing the San Francisco venue was a difficult decision, Augello said, it did give her the opportunity to spend more of her time in Arcata, where she now lives, and to focus on the new space on the Plaza. 

Overall things have been going very well at the Arcata theater, and since live shows have been making a post-COVID comeback, Auguello has had many performers eager to utilize the new Arcata space. With this theater, Augello strives to continue the previous EXIT Theatre’s mission of providing a place for artists to create, experiment, and grow by producing new works, and providing production support and keeping the theater rentals as low-cost as possible.

To check out the list of upcoming events at EXIT Theater – located at 890 G Street, above Moore’s Sleepworld on the Arcata Plaza – and to find tickets, visit the theater’s website. The next DIVA Burlesque is at the theater on April 14 at 8 p.m. You can find tickets here. You can also purchase tickets at the box office inside the theater 30 minutes before showtimes, but because the theater holds only 35 seats, the shows often sell out. It’s recommended that you buy tickets beforehand. 

If you simply want to check out the space it is open during Arts Arcata – the second Friday of every month from 6 p.m. – and features free live music by jazz saxophone artist Stan Fleming. If you would like to use the theater for your own project, Augello can be reached at mail@theexit.org.  

“The door’s always open and I’m open to an eclectic combination of work,” Augello said. “If you wanna do something, just tell me what it is…My job is to build a village. And when the village says, ‘I would like to do this,’ my job is to see how we can make that happen.”

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The sneak attack of the Japanese on U.S. Navy ships at Pearl Harbor set off defensive action along the Pacific Coast and Humboldt County was no exception. The U.S. Coast Guard set up regular patrols at every beach where a landing might be possible. Military men rode horses on the long beaches while, on the smaller beaches, trained dogs accompanied the men as they kept an eye out for enemy invaders.

Airplane watches were set up, which involved many women trained to watch for and recognize enemy planes. They reported to central headquarters any and every unknown flight passing overhead.

A Civil Defense system was set up, complete with headquarters, block captains and air raid wardens throughout various coastal communities. Bomb shelters were set up to supply food and first aid — just in case. Radiological monitors were trained to detect any radioactive material in case of a nuclear bomb attack (this writer went through this training).

At the very beginning of the war, Dec. 19, 1941, the general petroleum tanker Emidio was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine off the coast of Eureka. The entire United States was well aware that the Pacific Coast was in danger.

The shipping lines were warned of Japanese submarines possibly lurking in the coastal waters. The U.S. Navy set up submarine patrols with the command headquarters located at U.S. Naval Air Station Moffett Field in California. The station was commissioned Jan. 31,1942. The U.S. Navy set up the first blimp base at Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay during March 1942. The second auxiliary facility was established at Watsonville, Calif., and anti-submarine patrol operations began from that station. These bases were established all along the Pacific Coast.

In the beginning these non-rigid airships, or blimps, used for patrol were type “L” or primary trainer. These measured 150 feet long and featured a car 23 feet long. On Oct. 31, 1942, the first “K” type patrol airship was received by the squadron, a blimp designed for submarine patrol and convoy duty. It measured 251 and a half feet long, with a car 42 feet long. Several of these type “Ks” were stationed along the coast. Despite the different types, all of these blimps were non-rigid (no frame) structures featuring large gas bags filled with helium.

These blimps featured two Pratt-Whitney R-1340-AN2, 425-HP radial gasoline engines, one on each side of the car or gondola. They boasted a maximum air speed of 67.5 knots per hour (speed varied with wind conditions). They cruised about 50 knots per hour. The ships carried 1,500 gallons of aviation fuel, enough for 38+ hours of flight, with a range of 1,910 nautical miles. The blimps carried a crew of 10. Each blimp carried four, 500-pound depth charges.

When activated and dropped, these charges were set to explode at a certain depth in the ocean. The blimps also had one 50-caliber machine gun mounted over the gondola.

If a blimp left the base with a full load of fuel and, for reasons such as high winds or dense fog conditions had to return to the base, 1,000 gallons of fuel would be dumped into Humboldt Bay to lighten the load and lesson the danger of fire.

On May 22, 1943, the squadron began patrol operations from the auxiliary base at Eureka, with Lieutenant W.W. Bemis, U.S. Navy, serving as pilot aboard the K-47. This blimp base was located where the Eureka Samoa Airport is today, on the north Humboldt Bay peninsula.

These blimps would convoy ships as the crew watched for submarines. They also convoyed many of the big U.S. Navy dry docks built in Eureka by the Chicago Bridge & Iron Co. Some of these dry docks were towed to San Francisco, others to the Hawaiian Islands. While on these long flights, blimps would refuel on the aircraft carriers in the convoy.

The war offered many exciting times for these blimp sailors. Several times the servicemen sighted periscopes of submarines at sea and, appropriately, dropped depth charges. They also assisted in rescue work of shipwrecks, helped lost fishermen and reported floating objects that were hazards to vessels. The Eureka blimp reportedly blasted at least one sub off the coast of Trinidad.

When these blimp sailors had short liberty, they would head for Vic’s Tavern in Samoa for a few beers and hamburgers, or for the Hotel Vance Log Cabin where they would play the jukebox. They enjoyed all the latest tunes of the day, i.e. the Andrew Sisters and “Little Lambs Eat Ivy,” “The Chattanooga Choo-Choo,” “I Don’t Want to Set the World on Fire” and “The White Cliffs of Dover.”

Some of these blimp sailors had girlfriends attending Eureka High School. One day, while they were returning from patrol, they buzzed the high school. While down at very low elevation, they flew over the building with their tie-down ropes dragging the roof, and revved up the engines. The principal of the high school called the commander at the base to report this incident. The crew was severely reprimanded for this action, which they did not do again.

The first Japanese attack on U.S. mainland in 1942 was triggered by cactus spines connecting with a Japanese naval captain. The story goes:

In the late 1930s, Kozo Nishino served as commander of a Japanese tanker taking on crude oil at the Ellwood Oil Field near Santa Barbara, Calif. On the way up the path from the beach to a formal ceremony welcoming him and his crew, Nishino slipped and fell into a prickly pear cactus. Workers on a nearby oil rig broke into guffaws at the sight of the proud commander having cactus spines plucked from his posterior. Then and there the humiliated Nishino swore to get even.

He had to wait for the war between the United States and Japan. But on Feb. 23,1942, he got his revenge. From 7:07 to 7:45 p.m., he directed the shelling of the Ellwood Oil Field from his submarine, the I-17. Though about 25 shells were fired from a 5 and a half-inch deck gun, little damage was done. One rig needed a $500 repair job after the shelling and one man was wounded while trying to defuse an unexploded shell.

U.S. planes gave chase, but Nishino got away. The blimp patrol was, of course, in on this chase.

Thereafter, American coastal defenses were improved; the mainland suffered only one more submarine attack by the Japanese during the war, at Fort Stevens in Oregon.

Probably the strangest bombing campaign in warfare history was launched by the Japanese. This bombing campaign was launched against the entire North American continent in the waning years of World War II; a feeble attempt by the Japanese to get back at the forces who were then laying waste to vast stretches of Japan. The Japanese resorted to the oldest form of aerial transport: balloons.

Thousands of hydrogen-filled paper balloons, most of them carrying one small high-explosive and several even smaller incendiary bombs, were launched from the Japanese home islands. The plan was that the eastward currents of the Jetstream would carry them to North America where, with luck, they would blow up something valuable or set a forest fire. About 9,300 of these lighter-than-air aircraft were released and about 300 are known to have stayed aloft all the way across the Pacific.

The first of the balloons to have approached this country was found floating in the Pacific, 66 miles off San Pedro Nov. 4, 1944.

The last landed in Wood Buffalo National Park in Alberta, Canada, about the time the Japanese surrendered in 1945. The first of these silent visitors to Northern California lit at Sebastopol Jan. 4, 1945. All told, 23 of these bomb- bearing balloons came down in California, all in the northern part of the state.

On January 10, an Army Air Force P38 shot down one of these wind-borne raiders near Alturas; it was taken to Moffett Field for examination. Part of another was found near Red Bluff and one was found caught in a treetop near Hayfork. Still bits of another were found near Cloverdale. In March, one draped itself over power lines in Butte County. On April 1, one came down on Hoopa Indian Reservation land.

Yet, for all their high hopes, the Japanese accomplished almost nothing with their balloons — with one tragic exception. On May 5, 1945, a church group on an outing at Bly, Ore., about 60 miles east of Klamath Falls, discovered one of these balloons in a forest. They began to tug at the balloon. It exploded, killing the minister’s wife, who was five months pregnant with what would have been her first child, and five members of the Sunday school class, ranging in age from 11 to 14. Today a memorial stands on the spot in that forest.

But back to the blimps and their operation: before taking off on a flight, the blimp would be filled with fuel, food supplies and drinking water. Then the total weight was checked to be sure they were not too heavy. Next boarded the flight crew of eight to 10 men, including the pilot (a U.S. Navy officer). The engines would be revved-up until they were running smooth. The pilot would then give the signal and the long hold down lines would be stowed on board, allowing the blimp to take off. The flight might be north to Tillamook, Ore., or south to San Francisco. The crew had to watch the weather conditions and fuel supply as to not go past “the point of no return.” An electric generator supplied 110 volts of electricity for cooking in the small galley as well as other needs. In general, the crew was quite comfortable on board.

Radar equipment on board could detect a submarine periscope at three or even four miles distance. Also, M. A.D. (Magnetic Action Detection) could detect any metal object on the ocean’s surface or at quite a depth at sea.

Upon their return to the Eureka base, the crew would dump any surplus gas and drop down to the landing area where the 30- to 40-man landing crew would be waiting for them (they had been in touch by radio). When the blimp was finally secured, the tie-down tower would be towed out by a small tractor and a man would climb up the tower and anchor the blimp. A gas winch on the tower would pull the blimp in tight and … all was well. The crew was ready for a good night’s rest. In case a high wind came up, the crew had to be there to take care of the blimp.

Sy Beattie, subsequently an electrician and contractor on the North Coast, manned the Blimp Base.

These are the men whom I am aware of who stayed here after the war: Sy Beattie, Frank Toner, I.A. Davis, Ray Lay (later fire chief of Eureka), and Charles Steele of Crescent City. These men comprised the flight crews. In addition, there were ground crew men such as Joseph Carter of Eureka.

On Monday, July 14, 1947, Joe Russ Jr., a Capetown rancher, noticed a U.S. Navy blimp cruising southward off Cape Mendocino after completing a photographic mission off Point St. George. The blimp was moving along at an elevation of about 400 feet when all of a sudden it hit a terrific down draft. The airship plunged nose-first into the sea. The command pilot, Lt. Duane DeVaney, put the ship to full throttle in an attempt to divert the crash, but she struck at 50 knots. The front section of the gondola was smashed. Pilot Lt. DeVaney and Lt. Britton Goetze, co-pilot, were thrown clear while six others took to the water. Three men leaped out of the gondola as the blimp drifted unmanned into the air, from a height of some 50 feet. It was first reported there were two men still aboard — not so.

Ray Crockett, Cape Mendocino lighthouse keeper, also witnessed the disaster. He logged the crash at 2:50 p.m. Joe Russ called the U.S. Coast Guard station, which then radioed the Blunts Reef’s lightship. The Coast Guard sent out a rubber raft and picked up the men. A lifeboat from Humboldt Bay station arrived, eventually bringing the 11 men to Eureka for the night. All were reported safe.

The Coast Guard called Al Camilli at the Humboldt County Airport to ask if airport personnel could track the blimp. A plane flown by Paul Fleming, with Pete Sacchi as observer, tracked the blimp to the location where it crashed; on Fickle Hill near the Minor Rock Quarry at 5:30 p.m. Les Brown and Duane Geddon raced to the scene in an ambulance. Brown, first at the scene, said it was being looted by souvenir hunters who had broken a trail through the heavy brush and were taking instruments, food rations and clothing.

A U.S. Coast Guard armed guard was soon posted. The Navy thought of saving the blimp but the skin was badly torn and all of the helium gas had escaped; those plans were abandoned. The Navy did retrieve most of the papers and instruments, including the machine gun and ammo. This particular blimp had been used on submarine patrol along the Pacific Coast during World War II. An official U.S. Navy report of the accident is as follows:

This ZPK-99 was assigned from Moffett Field. It carried three civilians on a sea lion photographic flight, July 13, 1947, at the request of the California Division of Fish and Game. The ZPK-99 was inadvertently flown into the water, washing the pilot out through a smashed window. The crew abandoned ship and were rescued in about 30 minutes. The airship “free ballooned” some three hours and came to rest some 16 miles north of Arcata, Calif.

The 11 men listed as being on board the ill fated blimp were; Lt. Duane DeVaney, pilot, San Jose, Calif; Lt. Britton Goetze, co-pilot, Minneapolis, Minn.; Lt. John Butler, Lincoln, N.D.; Schuyler Borum, Idaho; J. Losita, seaman first class; Milton Alley, aviation mechanic first class; Wallace Kundra, radio 2/c second class; and Tom Theotopatos, photographer second class.

These 11 men took part in just one of the many adventures surrounding the blimps and their relatively brief stay on the North Coast.

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The story above was originally printed in the Autumn 1994 issue of The Humboldt Historian, a journal of the Humboldt County Historical Society, and is reprinted here with permission. The Humboldt County Historical Society is a nonprofit organization devoted to archiving, preserving and sharing Humboldt County’s rich history. You can become a member and receive a year’s worth of new issues of The Humboldt Historian at this link.

Darcy Ellen Baker, age 60, passed away in Eureka in February 2023. She was born in Reno, Nevada and grew up in Downieville, California. She moved around until she found home in Eureka with her son Kristopher Wharff.

Darcy was a loving, caring and friendly mother, sister, auntie, grandmother and friend. She enjoyed watching her grandchildren (Kaden, Bella and Tyson) do practically anything. She loved their company and the stories they would tell her. Her world revolved around them.

Darcy enjoyed spending time with family and her grandpets (Molly, Freya and Sassy). She loved traveling to attend country concerts. Her favorite time of year was summertime so she could spend time in the sun with her grandkids.

Darcy spent most of her life working as a housekeeper for different hotels until she found her job at Granada Rehabilitation Center. She absolutely loved her job at Granada. She loved her residents — she enjoyed helping them as much as she could — and met her great friend, Miki, who worked with her.

Darcy is survived by her son Kristopher Wharff (Brittany); sister Lori Walsh, nieces Emily Dorigoni (Berto) and Amanda Dorigoni (Jon); nephew Michael Dorigoni (Sandra); and grandchildren Kaden, Bella and Tyson.

She was preceded in death by her father, Eugene Foster, and her mother, Mildred Potter.

Darcy loved to tell stories about her childhood and where she grew up. She loved to laugh and play/tell jokes. Darcy is loved and will be dearly missed by family, extended family and friends.

Forever in our hearts.

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HUMBOLDT TODAY: About UNdam time, that is. We have the details as historic work on the Klamath River is set to get underway. Plus, the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office make an arrest in a 2018 murder case. And California is simultaneously posting good employment numbers and lifting water restrictions. Dare we say it’s a good news day on today’s newscast with John Kennedy O’Connor? Maybe! 

FURTHER READING:

• State Lifts Target for 15% Water Conservation
• Sheriff’s Office Makes Arrest in 2018 Dinsmore Homicide
• Ground Has Been Broken on Klamath River Restoration, the World’s Largest-Ever Dam-Removal Project
• Redwood Curtain Theatre Will Soon Close Its Doors, After 15 Years On Eureka Waterfront

HUMBOLDT TODAY can be viewed on LoCO’s homepage each night starting at 6 p.m.

Want to LISTEN to HUMBOLDT TODAY? Subscribe to the podcast version here.

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With the Sierra Nevada smothered in snow, large swaths of the Central Valley underwater and many Californians weary of water, state officials announced today that they are lifting some drought-related provisions on water use.

“Our water supply conditions have improved markedly,” said Secretary of Natural Resources Wade Crowfoot.

The state is rescinding its request for voluntary 15% water conservation statewide, which was issued in July 2021, and instead, Crowfoot said, shifting to an approach of making conservation a “way of life.”

“We need to maintain our vigilance,” he said. “It’s not about going back to normal anymore. It’s really adjusting to a new normal.”

Some of the state’s emergency provisions were ended and some were left in place. Wasteful uses of water, such as hosing down sidewalks and watering ornamental grass on commercial property, remain banned, according to state officials.

The state, however, is ending its requirement that local water agencies implement Level 2 drought contingency plans, which are locally written water use regulations — such as limits on watering lawns — that are invoked during water shortages.

In total, 81 drought-related provisions were enacted since April 2021. Just 33 remain in place, said Gov. Gavin Newsom at a press briefing today.

State officials also announced today a large increase in the amounts of water that local suppliers will get from the State Water Project, increasing from 35% announced last month to 75% of requested supplies. The water is provided to 750,000 acres of farmland and 27 million people, mostly in Southern California.

The announcements come as some of the state’s reservoirs near capacity, with some of the state’s largest expected to fill by late spring. And the snowpack of the Sierra Nevada, nearing record levels in the southern portion of the range, continues to grow.

When Newsom issued his voluntary conservation target almost two years ago, many water experts said Newsom should have made it mandatory, as former Gov. Jerry Brown did during the previous drought. They also criticized him for failing to reduce use by farmers, who consume 80% of the state’s delivered water supply.

State officials say even though the 15% target was voluntary, it worked. However, the data does not back that up: Californians used 6% less water from July 2021 through December 2022 compared to 2020 — falling far short of Newsom’s 15% goal.

Heather Cooley, director of research at the Pacific Institute, an Oakland water supply thinktank, said California must not relax its ethos of water conservation.

In spite of wet weather, the state’s largest water supply — its groundwater basins — remain depleted.

“Even though reservoirs are recovering, groundwater aquifers remain depleted. The Colorado River — a major water source for Southern California — is also facing a massive deficit,” Cooley said. “The reality is we don’t have water to waste in California. We need to continue investing in water efficiency to prepare for a hotter, drier future and more intense droughts.”

Mike McNutt, spokesperson for the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District in Los Angeles County, said the retraction of the conservation target “sends the wrong message” to the public.

“Why put out messaging that says something different, that says, ‘You can conserve if you want to, but you don’t need to’?” said McNutt, whose district serving 75,000 people is totally reliant on water from the state aqueduct.

“The next drought is certainly just around the corner,” he added.

Californians did cut their average water use by 600,000 acre-feet in almost two years. That’s almost two-thirds the volume of Folsom Reservoir and enough water to serve 1.2 million households in a year.

Crowfoot stressed that the drought is not over, noting that drought status “is not a completely binary situation.” In some parts of the state, drought conditions have dramatically eased, but not in others. Crowfoot said the Klamath River basin and the region of Southern California that relies on Colorado River water continue to face “acute water shortages.”

Thousands of households lack drinking water due to depleted groundwater basins , which have been overdrafted for decades and experts agree they will not rebound in a single rainy winter.

Joaquin Esquivel, chair of the State Water Resources Control Board, said the hope is that cities “are not just rebounding” to old ways of water use.

“Conservation remains a priority,” Crowfoot added.

Michael Anderson, a climatologist with the California Department of Water Resources, said snowpack is at 278% of normal, with another storm system expected to hit the North Coast and move inland and south from there, starting Monday. The system, he said, will relatively cold storm originating in the Gulf of Alaska, unlike some recent blasts of tropical moisture. This means it will drop more snow in the mountains.

“Not massive accumulations, but could be locally heavy,” he said.

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CalMatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.