We’re always in a drought. Seriously, people, I grew up here. There’s never been a time when it wasn’t important to conserve water. We watered our yards after 6 p.m., turned the faucet off when washing dishes or brushing our teeth and took brief showers. Some of that was mandated; some was common sense. And that’s what we need today: common sense.
Recently, the Fresno Bee reported state water officials saying that 2014 may be a real challenge for water supply in our state. “January through May 2013 were California’s driest in about 90 years of recordkeeping. Dwindling reservoirs should be a wake-up call to Californians.”
At the same time, 10News reported last week that the San Diego County Water Authority says that no water restrictions are needed in 2014 because San Diego should have sufficient water supply in 2014. Read CWA’s press release.
Despite the headline, the 10News story quotes the County Water Authority Board Chair saying, “We are in better shape than we were two years into the last drought, but we still need to practice smart water use no matter the weather.”
Now, this is common sense. THIS is what should have been the headline. Or how about the new rebates offered to residents and HOAs through the County’s WaterSmart program. In 2009, we had water use restrictions, and residents responded by conserving. Not a little, but 20 percent. And in 2009-2011, we reduced our use by 14 percent. There’s no reason to turn back from that. Here in San Diego, we use about 140 gallons of water per day per person. That compares to less than 50 gallons/day/person in Australia, where they have similar weather patterns and living standards. How can we say that almost triple their use is acceptable when we are draining the Colorado River, named 2013’s #1 Most Endangered River.
Maybe San Diego reservoirs can handle the demand of 2014, but if we already know that 2015-2016 could be problematic, then how can we take the short-sighted view that we have enough water? Today, when we have enough water, when our residents have embraced water conservation, is the time for consistent messaging. We take almost half our water from the Colorado River and 20 percent from the San Joaquin Bay-Delta in Northern California. The Water Authority has taken a long-term view, committing to 30 years of water supply from the Carlsbad Desalination Plant and the City of San Diego is moving ahead with a decades-long commitment to build our water purification capacity (a.k.a., potable reuse or wastewater recycling). We must continue on the path of long-term security and diversification.
Groups like San Diego Coastkeeper that watchdog our water issues, agencies charged with providing our residents with sustainable, reliable water supplies and the news professionals who so often interpret information and shape residents’ thinking about complex issues, must give facts and offer commentary. That commentary must discuss and reinforce practices that will see us not just one year into the future, but five, ten and twenty years from now. So, when the County Water Authority says that we’re okay for a year, let’s look beyond the next 365 days and talk about the true value and cost of our water supply, and how we can conserve this year, and the next, to keep those balanced.
Photo credit Peter McBride
