Also serving the communities of De Luz, Rainbow, Camp Pendleton, Pala and Pauma

Is there really a water crisis?

Throughout 2008, San Diego County residents were asked to voluntarily reduce their water consumption by 20 percent. Additionally, many farmers, like myself, watched their crops languish and their income disappear because they were forced to reduce their water consumption by 30 percent or more.

The San Diego aqueduct is one of the primary water delivery systems for our region. It flows through my neighborhood. On January 25 and 28, my neighbors and I watched water being pumped out of the aqueduct directly into the street and storm drain for more than 12 hours as a San Diego Water Authority crew did routine maintenance on a short section of the aqueduct.

Using a crude, but effective, measuring technique, we were able to determine this crew intentionally wasted no less than one half million gallons of water. Ironically, this was done almost directly across the street from an empty Rainbow Municipal Water District reservoir. The aqueduct is many miles long and this kind of maintenance is done routinely. If we really are experiencing a water crisis the Water Authority needs to reexamine its daily operations and capture this water.

If there isn’t a crisis, why are we being forced to ration our usage?

Harry Clyde

 

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