Lester Snow, Director of Department of Water Resources, has once again penned an exclusive commentary for FlashReport readers…
We’re in our third consecutive year of drought due to below-average rain and snowfall in California. Despite the recent storms, we are still well behind average for the year and there’s virtually no chance that we will get enough rainfall this spring to pull California out of this drought. Three dry years combined with court-ordered restrictions on pumping from the Delta climate change impacts, and a state that has grown by 9 million since the 1991 drought has created a real crisis for our economy, our environment and our agriculture industry.
Today, the Governor has taken bold action to assist people, communities and businesses as they deal with the challenges of this drought. By proclaiming a state of emergency, the first ever in response to a drought, the Governor is using his authority to direct all state government agencies to utilize their resources and implement a state emergency plan.
**There is more – click the link**
February 28th, 2009 at 12:00 am
We’ve known that this “crisis” was coming and little was done. Increasing water storage has been, for the most part, shot down. Even with the restriction of northern California water to southern California due to the smelt, the growth we’ve had here meant that sooner or later we would be forced to either cut back on our thirst, or pay more for it (To pay for more sources of delivery.
But living in an arid climate, there are things that government could have done to better prepare for this day. The cities, the counties, the regions, should have better planned for this. What should have been done was to improve the infrastructure, for example, the City of Poway’s Business Park should have been plumbed for reclaimed water when it was being developed. Fire suppression and irrigation should have been hooked to that system. (Existing and new businesses would have receive tax breaks/credits for switching to treated water for irrigation.).Another example would have been to require golf courses to be hooked into the same system. Golf courses should not be using well water or water. Yes, it would have cost money, but would have resulted in major water saving.
And why does government impose rules on us, before they show us that they can conserve too. Government offers incentives for businesses and home owners to switch to lower flow toilets, but I ask, when was the last time you saw a government building being retrofitted with “No flow (And smell)” urinals and newer toilets that offer 2 settings for flushing-one for liquid and one for solid? I don’t see government buildings in these arid areas switching to a more arid type of landscaping, however they want us to remove our lawns.
What about rumors of cutting water deliveries to agriculture? As I recall, we need food to eat. We hurt this industry and it’ll cost even more to ship food. What we might look at is putting a surcharge on agriculture products that leave the state. The government already subsidizes agriculture, so that cost should be past to the out of state/county consumer.
Water and energy is like a drug. You get use to it and will keep paying for that kick, but sooner or later you come to the choice that you have to give it either up and go through withdrawals (but at the end live a better life), or just continue using it until you die (what a waste). You can either make changes now and get use to the change of life, or just live the life you are and when the time for mandatory restrictions, suffer the some real pain when you are forced to make drastic changes.
February 28th, 2009 at 12:00 am
I have extensive experience in water issues but that can wait. Was choosing a guy named Les Snow to head water resources taunting fate?