1/29

The weather forecast gave some cause for hope yesterday, with a 40 percent chance of rain predicted for this Sunday.

But later in the day, weather forecasters from the Weather Channel changed their minds and that forecast vanished completely with no rain on the horizon until 10 days out, maybe.

So, it's OK to still follow our advice of yesterday: Wash your car; do a rain dance; put away your umbrella and plan an outdoor party to encourage some rain.

But February most-likely won't start with precipitation after a completely dry January. "Weather forecasting is a cruel profession," said one of the wags in the Employee Website Resource newsroom in the basement of District Center. "Next thing you know, they'll tell us there's no Santa Claus."

Unlikely that the Weather Channel would share that upsetting story. There's bad news everywhere, it would seem.

Of course, it's a long-term forecast and anything can happen.

Take a look, maybe things will change.

1/27

For the second time in about a month, the trout fishing record was smashed at Los Vaqueros, this time by 2.7 pounds.

Fernando Gonzalez of San Lorenzo caught his 16.42 pound trout with a gold Kastmaster, in South Cove on Jan. 24.

It was on Dec. 20 that David Bixler of San Jose brought home his record 13.72 pound trout to break the old record by more than a half-pound on Dec. 20, 2014, also with a Kastmaster. It was the first fishing record set at the expanded reservoir.

Prior to the latest monster fish activity, the trout record at Los Vaqueros lay dormant for five years.

Kastmasters seem to have a lock on LV fishing, a Kastmaster was used to catch the first fish ever landed at Los Vaqueros back in 2001.

1/20

2015's First Safety Newsletter emphasizes back safety and recaps 2014's safety record, which slipped a bit.

The important thing to remember is that your back is at risk any time you lift something,so make sure you're doing it correctly. There are more than one-million back injuries a year in the United States, and one in every five workplace injuries are related to backs.

There were seven lost-time injuries resulting in 324 lost workdays and seven avoidable accidents for the calendar year of 2014.

By comparison, during the same period of 2013, there were five lost-time injuries with 288 lost workdays and eight avoidable vehicle accidents.

Make sure you take a look at the December Safety Concerns Report to see what's happening out there, and what's being done to correct the problems. Employees suggested a specific type of helmet that offered more protection than a typical hard hat, and that idea was approved.

1/13

District ordinances are now available to the public and employees on the web.

Ordinances are voted on by the Board of Directors, and include drought regulations, rules at Los Vaqueros, set District boundaries, meeting dates and other procedural items (when the District was first formed, the board met on the first and third Tuesdays of each month, at 8 p.m. in Antioch at a high school. Now it meets on the first and third Wednesday of each month at 6:30 p.m.).

The Board rarely votes on ordinances, but 2014 was a rarity with two ordinances passed, one that updated the drought program and the other increased fines for trespassing on the canals.

You can see the complete set here, dating back to the District's earliest days in 1936.

Links to the ordinances can be found in the "Publications" section of ccwater.com, and below in the light blue "Resources" section below.