Thursday, June 23, 2016

California Drought Impacts Property Owners

Drought Impacts Homeowners
It's very hot in California and the California Drought continues.  See below for up-to-date information on the many changes to water rights and private water well usage.

Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) is now law.  Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSP's) may take effect with property owners who rely on private water wells, including pumping limitations, installation of meters, and state-wide investigation into water rights.


Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) Was Signed Into Law


The California Drought Continues

The U.S. Drought Monitor has forecasted warmer weather and suggests that the multi-year drought will continue or even worsen. While a strong El NiƱo could be helpful, it would not end the long-term California drought. Therefore, a new water conservation law is currently being implemented, which may dramatically affect many California property owners; and those property owners who do not comply may be subject to fines and assessments.

Sustainable Groundwater Management Act Was Signed Into Law The California Drought Continues

To combat the drought and better manage groundwater, SGMA was signed into law on September 16, 2014 (read more: http://www.water.ca.gov/cagroundwater/legislation.cfm). SGMA requires Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs) in high and medium priority basins to develop and implement Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSPs). (read more: http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/gmp/sgma.shtml). GSAs also have the power to bring enforcement actions seeking civil penalties against property owners who do not comply with the Act. With the adoption of these GSPs, changes to local groundwater management practices will likely affect most drought-ridden California properties. An example of its immediate effect may be seen on property owners who rely on water wells. Implementation of a GSP may result in well pumping limitations, installation of meters, measured water extractions, and state-wide investigations into water rights.

Impact to Individual Property Owners

In addition to the potentially negative environmental impact of subsidence, property owners may face other negative impacts as well. It is important for agents to protect themselves from liability by disclosing the potential impact of SGMA on a property to a potential buyer. SGMA gives GSAs the following powers over water rights on private properties:
  1. To impose fees and assessments against property owners.
  2. To impose well spacing requirements on private properties.
  3. To conduct investigation of water rights suspected of not complying.
  4. To acquire property and water rights in spite of private property ownership.
  5. To reclaim water not keeping with the Act’s guidelines.
  6. To require well registration to monitor and track private ownership water usage.
  7. To regulate groundwater extractions of private property owners.
  8. To adopt rules, regulations, ordinances, and resolutions over private wells.
  9. To require well operators to measure and report extractions to government agencies.
  10. To create and implement enforcement actions for non-compliance by property owners.
  11. To require reporting of diversions to surface water storage to government agencies.

 

Property I.D. Is the Only Natural Hazard Disclosure (NHD) Company That Discloses the State Groundwater Monitoring Program in Its NHD Report

Property I.D. is the only NHD company that has been disclosing the site-specific State Groundwater Monitoring Program in its NHD reports since the latter part of 2015. Buyers who don’t receive a Property I.D. NHD report may be surprised to learn that their water rights are controlled by GSAs after they purchase their properties and hold their agents liable for non-disclosure. All NHD reports are different and no other NHD is as complete and accurate as Property I.D.

Further information on SGMA can be found on the following sites:


Groundwater Basin Prioritization Map:


U.S. Drought Monitor California:


Interested in living the Santa Barbara and Montecito Lifestyle? For more information on the Montecito Luxury Real Estate Market click here to contact Susan Pate or visit MontecitoLifestyle.com.

Monday, June 13, 2016

Inspiring Ivanka Trump models marriage, motherhood & carreer


Vogue interviewed Ivanka Trump to find out how she manages to run full-speed at work and hands-on at home whilst looking fabulous. Her secret lies in breaking down the compartmentalization of life and work...


Ivanka Trump is a leading voice in how technology has enabled today's top female professionals to place equal value on career and family. Every aspect of their lives are as important to women today as their careers, but how does technology enable them to achieve this balancing act?


   
    The modern women is empowered today with technology as she can login from home or the office to make her career succeed. This can be a huge advantage for her, especially for the single mother who needs to take her of her children and bring home the bacon. Not only that, but female executives demonstrate how they are not confined to one carreer path, but often venture into multiple arenas. For example Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner have succeeded in real estate, technology, media, art, fashion and finance yet make time for each other and their family.    

  

  The high speed juggling act of being a working mother and wife in this new technological age is like bouncing between multiple apps on your phone (exciting yet exhausting) and just when you think you're on top of things, a message pops up that your storage is full! When that happens it's time to take a break and take care of yourself because when you're overworked, you're no good to anyone. Step out, take a breath of fresh air, keep calm and carry on. As mothers its easy to want to focus on everyone else, but don't forget the advice that the flight attendant gives when the cabin pressure drops, "place the breathing mask on yourself before helping other".  



 
 Click here and enjoy this fascinating article from Vogue and be inspired by the glamorous, humble, modern yet traditional lifestyle of Ivanka Trump. If other's can manage this balancing act so can you! You're stronger than you think...

Interested in living the Santa Barbara and Montecito Lifestyle? For more information on the Montecito Luxury Real Estate Market click here to contact Susan Pate or visit MontecitoLifestyle.com.

Friday, June 3, 2016

A Woman's Place is on the Money

THE FUTURE OF MONEY

What impact does the new $20 bill have on Women?

WOMEN ON 20S RESPONDS TO TREASURY’S OFFICIAL PLAN FOR THE $10 AND $20

NEW YORK, April 20, 2016 – After more than a year of campaigning to convince the U.S. Treasury to replace the portrait of Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill with the face of a female American hero, Women On 20s is celebrating the Treasury Department’s decision to accelerate production of a new $20 bill, revealing its design in time for the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in 2020 and working with the Federal Reserve Board to fast-track its issuance into circulation.
Secretary Lew’s choice of the freed slave and freedom fighter Harriet Tubman to one day feature on the $20 note is an exciting one, especially given that she emerged as the choice of more than half a million voters in our online poll last Spring.  Not only did she devote her life to racial equality, she fought for women’s rights alongside the nation’s leading suffragists.



Suffragists marching in New York City in 1913. (Photo Credit: George Grantham Bain Collection at the Library of Congress)
We are gratified to have sparked a conversation about the symbols and historical figures that define us as a nation. And we are heartened that Secretary Lew, U.S. Treasurer Rosie Rios and Federal Reserve Board Chair Janet Yellen are committed to including women in the portrait gallery of paper currency in the near future. Our work ahead will be to make sure the next administration makes this happen in a timely way.
“We are delighted that the parties involved in the decision are united in their commitment to the goal of honoring women in this  most visible fashion,” said Women On 20s Founder Barbara Ortiz Howard. “It’s high time to get the party started.”
Women On 20s Executive Director Susan Ades Stone added, “We had been looking to this Treasury Secretary to put a woman front and center as soon as possible and powerfully inspire the quest for gender equality going forward. Today’s announcement is an important step in moving us closer to that goal.”
Ades Stone also noted, “This is just as much a victory for the millions of American people, young and old, who cared enough about women and their worth to rally for this historic change.”


Lew also announced design changes for the $5 and $10 USD bills. While Abraham Lincoln and Alexander Hamilton will continue to grace the front of the respective notes, the backs will feature women and civil rights leaders. The new $10 bill will have Lucretia Mott, Sojourner Truth, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Alice Paul, and Susan B. Anthony — All leaders of the 1903 suffrage movement that fought for the right of women to vote in public elections and to stand for electoral office.

The final designs of the new bills will be revealed to the public in 2020, the 100-year anniversary of the 19th Amendment that gave women the right to vote. The new currency, starting with the $10 bill, will enter into circulation later that decade.

Click here for more information on this press release.

Interested in living the Santa Barbara and Montecito Lifestyle? For more information on the Montecito Luxury Real Estate Market click here to contact Susan Pate or visit MontecitoLifestyle.com.











 Resources & Photo Credit: Washingtonpost.com and Women on 20s