California landowners Say the Ground Water is Theirs

CNBC Recent article on water in California Most landowners in California say they own the water underneath their land, while others argue groundwater is a common resource. Now with the drought in California, there's a topic many private landowners remain steadfast about: Water well metering. Without a drought the water from rivers lakes and reservoirs is ample enough to supply roughly two thirds of state water each year. Now farmers and drillers are digging deeper for ground water. According to a CNBC article groundwater can account for half of total state water consumed in drought years. This is usually not an issue, but now with a drought groundwater is everyone’s issue. In rural areas in outside Bakersfield, Tulare County ground water is the main water for residents. The Sustainable Ground water Act requires local districts to measure and report details on regional groundwater amounts. It was signed by Gov. Brown last year. The laws guidelines implies rural communities will have to monitor ground water removal which means metering. The argument is that driller may drill 1000 feet below their land but they are also tapping the neighbor’s water peripherally. It is further argued that the landowners say I own the water beneath my land and that is it, and it is not illegal to drill for water. The State and regulator want to regulate with water acquisition and they say that land is sinking because water is being pull out from other areas. The landowners say if it is my water why do I have to report what I take from my land? The State says they need to regulate how much water is being withdrawn. If there wasn’t a drought then likely there would not be an argument. CNBC’s article further reports that while the groundwater law is a place to start, the regulation includes a timeline for implementation, with a target date of 2040. End article. This will most likely affect the rural areas of Antelope Valley as Los Angeles County has been in a law suit with land owners in the Valley regarding the water basin below. This may increase the value of city land where water will be furnished by city services. It more affects farmers and rural residents in Antelope Valley, but as Lancaster and Palmdale are in the High Desert water rationing will likely be a way of life.

Land Investment is an Ideal hedge Increased Federal Rising Interest Rates and Coming Inflation

The global central banks have been printing money as a means to stop the most recent financial crisis. The biggest three money printing central banks have been the Federal Reserve, Japan and the European Central Bank. Gold has diminished in value instead of increasing the last five years during the QE (Quantitative Easing) era. The US Federal Reserve has ended qualitative easing and will increase rates soon likely in months according to experts. Higher interest and all this money printing to avoid deflation will likely soon cause inflation. The US debt is so large that other countries may also move away from the dollar as the sole reserve currency. There are recent news reports that outline this. These factors will all lead to inflation, and likely very high inflation. Gold is usually a very popular investment to combat inflation as it appreciates in value against a currency during inflationary times. Real estate is also a great investment at any time, and it is even better during times of rising inflation. Real Estate housing prices will likely drop with higher interest rates as the cost to buy a home will be more. The limited availability of land and rising population growth will increase housing demand and hence real estate in general has the potential to beat inflation in the long term. A reason why land is a good inflation investment hedge is because it will not lose value to zero like a stock can. Land doesn’t go bankrupt If you buy land in cash then the value may go lower, but overall will have value if it was a decent purchase price in an area that will see growth with future development. It doesn’t mean all land has value. If a person overpaid for land then the value may take decades to generations to produce a return on investment. Precious metals like Gold and Silver can increase dramatically in inflationary periods so your investment can profit much more than land. But buy land at a good price and the investment can hold its value in inflation. You can also sell it as other may want it as their inflation hold in such an environment.

Rail Versus Kit Fox

Environmentalists say the $68 Billion rail maybe unended by the Kit Fox? There are lots of animals in this trains path. Kit Fox today burrowing Owl tomorrow. The Fresno Bee reported that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service say the California Higher-Speed Rail Authority and Federal Railroad Administration are out of compliance with environmental commitments for creating the bullet-train line in the Fresno-Madera area. The contractor Tutor Perini Zachry Parsons which sounds more like a law firm infringed on the Kit Fox’s habitat. The Kit Fox is an endangered species since 67. Biologist say the Kit Fox den was not active last summer, so the Fox didn’t product kits. The Kits Fox is a very small animal about the size of a cat. What do Californians love more than Global Warming, no I mean Climate Change is an Endangered species. We are will the fox on this one as the project has been a bad idea since the beginning. Way too expensive and way too unnecessary. The Hyper Loop looks to be the way to go if you need long haul transports. Stay tuned for more on this issue in coming months.

Kinkisharyo agrees to Continue Work on new Metro Light Rail Vehicles

Back in 2012, Kinkisharyo was awarded a contract for a base order of 78 new light rail vehicles plus contract options for additional vehicles for Los Angeles Metro., Kinkisharyo agreed to assemble light rail cars at a new facility in Palmdale, but late last year unions fought the agreement and Kinkisharyo decided to move on and back to Arizona. Since then the LA Mayor Eric Garcetti and the Metro Chair announced an agreement between Kinkisharyo and the unions The mayor was quoted in Nov. 2014 “Last month, the lines were drawn in the sand and we were going to see jobs that could be in L.A. County go somewhere else. But because we brought both sides back to the table to grind out night and day negotiations with my office, L.A. County is going to see new middle class jobs and an expansion of our manufacturing base,” Mayor and Metro Chair Garcetti said. “As I oversee the nation’s largest public works project as Mayor and Metro Chair, it’s critical to me that our economy benefits from our $36 billion transportation build out, and this agreement makes that happen. Creating good, local jobs as we strengthen our local infrastructure is key to my back to basics agenda for L.A.” Now according to news reports Kinkisharyo will expand the current light rail car assembly and testing operations at its existing site in Palmdale to include manufacturing tasks, which will create up to a total of 250 jobs. The 175 cars being worked on at the facility will be put into service on the Crenshaw, Exposition and extended Gold lines. The agreement includes a neutrality agreement, as well as a commitment to explore additional skills training and assistance for disadvantaged L.A. County workers. This is an opportunity for more jobs in the valley to go along with further progress at Plant 42, and BYD’s Electric Bus in Lancaster.

HyperLoop Test Track in California

Elon Musk has has pushed the Hyperloop forward from a dream to a test track. The Hyperloop train is a proposal to move people and cars at super speeds (760 mph) via a tube system. You could move from San Francisco to Los Angeles in under 45 minutes and drive your car right away. It appears that Elon Musk’s “hyperloop” system will build a test track in Texas. Another developer is proposing to build a test track in Quay Valley in Kings County. Quay Valley has been a proposed sustainable community, or a modern 21st century town from the ground up. It runs along Hwy 5 in central California. Quay Valley is not unlike Centennial in Antelope Valley has proposed. This proposed hyperloop track will be slower and shorter than Musk’s Loop in Texas. This slower system will allow engineers to study the system to load and unloading people and movement of the system. They have the land and they indicate they have the money also. We continue to bring this up as a Hyperloop would be a less expensive alternative to the CalHighSpeed Rail.

New Stealth Bomber Could Jump the Palmdale and Lancaster Economy Spring 2015

News reports indicate a big Pentagon Project which could be awarded to Palmdale, Ca. Northrop Grumman. They are bidding to make the New Stealth Bomber. Each plane could cost $550 million or more to make. Grumman already has a facility building the earlier bomber at Plant 42. Grumman and Palmdale, Ca. are in competition with Boeing on the project. This means more jobs for Antelope Valley. News reports also indicate that Sacramento legislators have passed bills to provide tax breaks for Lockheed and Grumman last summer in hopes on getting the deal. LA Times quotes Palmdale Ca. Mayor "They've indicated that they can’t talk about it but he can," Mayor James Ledford said the prospects look good. Northrop executives have said they would build substantial parts of the company's proposed bomber in Palmdale, he said, creating an estimated 1,500 jobs. Rival Lockheed Martin Corp. who is a subcontractor to Boeing Co. indicated it also plans to work on a new warplane in Palmdale, Mayor Ledford said. That means more jobs. Military officials say they want the plant to be built for $550 million each, and not the $1 Billion a plane as in the past. Sources indicate their budget is $1.2 Billion per plane, and they want to build 100 new planes starting this spring. Both Grumman and Lockheed have a track record of going over budget. Antelope Valley has a long history with high tech planes. The B-2 was built here, as well as the first Stealth Bomber, U-2 spy plane, and the F-117 stealth fighter. There has been a lot of jobs in Palmdale and LA County from aerospace through the decades of the Cold War. Even today Virgin Galactic tests their space rocket just north in Kern County at Edwards Air force Base. Winning this project will certainly help the local economy and these engineers will have to buy a home and later invest in their community.

Tesla and Space X CEO Elon Musk Plans to Build a 5 Mile Test Track for his Hyperloop Transportation System

Elon Musk is bringing the Hyperloop project closer to reality. He said recently that he is making plans to bring a testing facility for the ultra-fast Hyperloop system. It will likely be made in Texas and it will be approximately 5 miles long. The plan according to his tweet is to create pods connected to a train system and these pods will transport passengers and likely cars at hyper speeds between destinations. The system is based on creating a vacuum and theoretically transporting passengers from San Francisco to Los Angeles in under an hour. He said in his tweets that his Hyperloop track would be open to other companies and students “to test out their pods.” This is in direct competition to the CalHighSpeed Rail which has recently broken ground in Fresno with media hype and political backing from Democrats and Gov. Jerry Brown. The Hyperloop system is projected to cost billions less than the CalHighSpeed Rail, and the Hyperloop can transport your car and you.