The Frontier Club

Downtown circle is closed in preparation for Farm to Fork this evening.

Del Puerto Canyon Reservoir project takes another small step forward
Timothy Benefield
Patterson Irrigator

There has been an ongoing battle between the proponents and opponents of the Del Puerto Canyon Reservoir project. The project is commonly referred to as the Del Puerto Canyon dam. According to a recent resolution put forth by the Del Puerto Water District, the project “involves the construction and operation of a reservoir on Del Puerto Creek to provide approximately 82,000 acre-feet of new off-stream storage for use by the Del Puerto Water District and the San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors Water Authority.”

Advocates for the project list its benefits as water storage, water supply reliability for wildlife, enhanced local management of groundwater and surface water, and the capture of Del Puerto Creek runoff for increased flood protection. Opponents cite concerns about potential flooding in Patterson in a hypothetical dam failure, the loss of sacred grounds, the loss of recreational activities, and the loss of wildlife habitat.

The project has confronted several hurdles over the past several years. The most recent was the certification of the second final environmental impact report (EIR). This was a report designed to “study terrestrial biological impact” on Lower Del Puerto Creek, a region of the creek east of I-5 and toward the San Joaquin River.
Anthea Hansen is the General Manager of the Del Puerto Water District. She told the Irrigator that there was a group of people at the August 19 hearing when the recent EIR was considered. She said that a couple of people spoke in favor of the project and improved water storage capabilities. She also said that perhaps as many as 15 attendees voiced opposition to the project. There was an unknown number of observers online.

Ultimately, the board approved a resolution which certified the second final EIR, adopted the environmental findings and a statement of overriding considerations, and adopted a mitigation monitoring and reporting program under CEQA for the Del Puerto Canyon Reservoir Project. This resolution also re-approved the Del Puerto Canyon Reservoir Project. The Irrigator reached out to one of the main opponents of the project for a comment, but no comment has yet been received.

A Patterson driver lost steering in his car early Friday morning at the intersection of Las Palmas and 1st Street.

Charles Bukowski was born in 1920 in Germany and grew up in Los Angeles. His childhood was difficult, and his relationship with his father was often violent. As a young man, he struggled with poverty, alcoholism, loneliness, and rejection. He spent years working ordinary jobs while writing stories and poems that very few people wanted to publish.

The moment that changed his life came when he finally decided to stop trying to become the writer other people wanted him to be. After years of rejection, he abandoned writing for a period and worked at the post office. But writing never really left him. Eventually, at the age of 49, he accepted a small publishing offer and left his job to write full-time. He had spent decades waiting for his chance, and when it finally came, he was already middle-aged.

One of the hardest lessons Bukowski learned was that your work may remain unnoticed for a very long time. He knew what it meant to write without applause, money, or certainty. Yet he kept returning to the page. His life was messy and far from inspirational in the traditional sense, but beneath it was an unusual stubbornness: he refused to completely abandon the thing he felt compelled to do.

One of his most famous lines captures that spirit: “If you’re going to try, go all the way. Otherwise, don’t even start.”

Bukowski's life reminds us that talent means very little without endurance. Sometimes the world ignores your work for years. Sometimes you have to keep creating without knowing whether anyone will ever care. The question is whether you can continue anyway.

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