It's official, according to the governor: California's in a drought. Gov. Schwarzenegger ordered government agencies to make things better, which should solve the crisis shortly.
In our editorial Wednesday, we remarked -- again -- on the need for a three-pronged approach: More surface storage capacity, more underground water banking and a whole lot more conservation.
The snag is in the Legislature, where Democrats, backed by environmentalists, won't support anything resembling new dams, and Republicans, backed by ag interests, won't support any measure that doesn't include dams. Rep. Jim Costa calls the current water crisis the "perfect storm," and California's response is the perfect standoff.
Gov. SChwarzenegger decreed it a drought. Next he will lift his rod to part the sea. More dams are not going to control the climate but they
would change the landscape
detrimentally for ever. Stop sending most of our water to LA and local agriculture would have enough water for growing the food we cannot do without, and don't want from abroad. I am a cityslicker but even I know concrete driveways and
pretty lawns are not edible.
The city leaders need rethink lawns, they are a waste of our city's precious well-water, the future residents will certainly have to deal with shortages of water, let's have some vision, it's high time for meters and drought-tolerant landscapes, and an end to those thirsty green squares that we've all taken for granted. I feel Agriculture should focus on growing food, but so much of our watershed ends up in huge cotton and sugarbeet fields, it's obscene.
Hey there "swift" what's wrong with sugarbeet fields. I like sugar in my coffee and tea, on my apricot dumplings, my crepes, my strawberries in whipped cream ad infinitum......
Aren't cotton and sugar beets both heavily subsidized, thirsty crops? Isn't it a bit insane to build more water infrasture to provide even more subsidized water to subsidized crops, mostly grown by giant agribusiness conglomerates, and surrounded by some of the worst rural poverty in the nation?
Maybe instead, as swift suggests, we can cut down on the amount of water we waste in our farms and cities. Lawns may be bad enough, but how much water do we waste creating temporary artificial streams in the city's gutters?
I'm certaainly not anti-sugar per se, (and not surprised Isabell has a sweet tooth, it comports with her sweet, cheerful disposition), and I only wear cotton clothing, but as Mike points out these crops are heavily subsidized by "we the people", and recieve largesse from every Farm bill that comes down the pike. In the former Soviet union and in China, they have/are creating desertification by growing water-intensive cotton in arid regions, (entire inland seas have been drained, and the surrounding aquifers, polluted and/or pumped dry.). I can't imagine local resistance to a fresh approach to water conservation. Those "green squares" at every address are no longer feasable when the city's wells are getting deeper and so many are already off-line from the taint of Ag. chemicides...bring back Tulare lake!
swift and my (former lil ole farmboy from Dinuba) hubby are on the same wavelength: "bring back Tulare lake!" Furthermore,
he would gladly give up mowing the front lawn every Tuesday. I can't see that any better than having to do laundry on Monday. It must somewhere
in the Bible.
Yes, it is high time that Fresno get meters. We here in Clovis have to pay extra when we use more water. Fresno doesn't. When my husband leaves the sprinkler on for too long he gets yelled out. Wouldn'thave to worry about it in Fresno
A social contract between the people and government should be respected, regardless of convenience.
Water meters don't really conserve water, but they comprise a chunk of a city's income. But it is always interesting to hear from the Clovis Chamber of Commerce. Usually they advocate that government should get their hands out of the people's wallets. Water conservation should be a community's physical efforts and not punitive fees. Living on a large lot in Clovis became a hardship. I've been there.
Data from comparable cities indicate that water meters do indeed save water. And rates for city services can't exceed the cost of supplying those services (the City of Fresno lost a court case on that very matter a few years ago). So the sooner we dispense of myths like that, the better so we can get serious about conserving water.
Re: Mike D. Dispense of what myths? That the people, in the final analysis, will do the right thing...water conservation, without cramming it down the people's throat? Or are we talking about other myths?
The myths that (1) water meters don't reduce water waste, and (2) the real purpose of water meters is to raise revenue for the city. Both are demonstrably false.
No one needs to get rid of their lawns and convert to xeriscape. Folks just have to be more responsible. Meters work and so do allocations, reclaimed water systems and water banking.I ran large landscaped projects in San Diego during droght years and we had to educate ourselves, employees, customers and the public.The only way you can get a handle on water use is through meters with a tier system and penalties for over usage.We also had meters specifically for landscape(no sewer charges)with a yearly allotment that allowed us to water bank if we saved a portion of our allotment. Go over and there were severe penalties.We were in the Otay Water District which is at the bottom of California and had to be extremely proactive and diligent to protect our customers investment and to avoid extreme surcharges.The farming end of it I'm not sure of but homeowners and businesses not having meters by now is irresponsible by both the public and elected government officials even if there was no drought.Isabelle...where water is concerned the people will not do the right thing. I've dealt with the public too much on this issue to buy that hogwash.
Cotton and sugar beets soaking up the water? Come on folks, get up to date on your facts. Acreage for both crops have tumbled and most of the cotton variety grown today is outside of the farm program. Sugar beets are on the way out because of plant disease. When will people get their facts straight?
According to the U.N., one child dies every eight seconds from a waterborne disease; 15 million children a year. Water is a worldide issue. The solutions that we can develop here, can have an incredible impact on humanity. Let's support innovation in water technology.
The contention that most people will do the right thing when called upon is "hogwash."
Such categorical judgment would be easier to accept coming from the scientist or academian, than it is from the commercial, profit making entity.
Scientist or Academiian?More of your Hogwash lady. Two days prior to the weather of Memorial Day weekend I shut off all the irrigation controllers on all my accounts(not that many because I'm now am a one man company)and left them off for 10 days saving approximately 15,000 gallons per night.Do the math smartass and then call up your pointy headed buddies and see if they even have a clue about their irrigation.
This "pointy headed" full of "hogwash...smart ass" lady can multiply by ten. Onehundred and ffty thousand gallons of water conserved is, indeed, very impressive gallonage.
Aside from that...when Mother (one of the last grandes dames) was 95 years old, I was 64. She would have handed me a bar of Fels-Naphta.....
Brian, I'm impressed with your frugality at turning off those systems, but you gotta admit, where you are, the sun comes up late and goes down early, and doesn't bake like the valley floor, generations of Fresnans have assumed water is magicly delivered, and infinite,the gutters run down here Brian. On the other hand, as I understand it, AG uses 80% of our water, it seems conservation should be a critical emphasis for them....and dude, lighten up on Isabell, she's somebody's Grandma.
I am assuming that Fels-Naphta is soap and I remember eating some as a youth so no big deal.I think I may have misinterpreted your assertion and if so I apologize.My point is that the 150,000 gallons t/- would have been wasted if not for intervention and I am just one soldier in the war on water waste.Most of my clients past and present can heat up a burrito in a microwave but cannot program their irrigation clock and pay no attention to adjusting or turning it off when not needed.The only way they wise up is through penalties.Trust me on this...All this hand wringing and proposed changes will go out the window if next year is wet and folks will go back to their bad water habits till the next drought. Conservation is a good thing no matter what the resource in my opinion so that we can avoid the next crisis du jour.
What's all this about a drought? I've had 5 years worth of rain in 4 years. Next to air, water is our most precious resource. It's shocking to see the way it is wasted. Anytime there's a fountain, there's wasted water, even with recycling.