Family Water: The Fate of Callifornia

It is very evident that we may have a dry winter even though weather forecasters have predicted otherwise. Most of our reservoirs are only a quarter full and the looming water crisis in our state might be inevitable.

While the Governors and legislators talk about investing in addition water storage, no agreements have been made. Neither side is willing to compromise, and the sticking point is additional reservoirs and dams for our state.

Environmental groups are scurrying to fight any more additional water storage in an attempt to control growth. Many environmentalists feel that if you build it they will come and consequently if you don’t build they will not come, but this is not the case. California has not invested in water infrastructure in decades and we will be paying the price. Conservation is touted to be the answer, but when there is no water you can’t conserve it.

We need real water storage, real money to build it and real policies that protect our water rights. One or even two of those pieces are an acceptable compromise for Northern California, we must be kept whole and protect the interests of the north state and our communities.

If the legislature does not come to an agreement the water needed to water lawns in Southern California will come from the farmers. A crisis will force people to conserve and perhaps even landscape their yards with plants that do not require much water, but the “kink your hose” mentality will not fix the problem.

Our Governor is on the right tract advocating for water storage, and frankly if we can’t get Sites Reservoir with the Governor behind it perhaps there is no hope of ever getting it. Schwarzenegger is determined to solve California’s water crisis, but time is

ticking away and we still don’t have a water bond for the 2008 ballot.