Thursday, April 26, 2007

Talk of the Town: "More than talk, water worries are in the numbers"

In a piece that for some reason didn't make it onto the free site, zoology prof Richard Clark drones on wonkishly about the basics of water budgeting, warning that because we're taking out more than is going in, we're gonna run out.

Pretty basic, I think.

Why is it that our various legislators, supervisors and Councilcritters don't get it? Maybe this piece, a difficult and stodgy read unhelped by a cloudy headline, is an example to answer that.

7 comments:

leftturnclyde said...

Why is it that our various legislators, supervisors and Councilcritters don't get it?

Its not that they dont get it ..if they admit theres no water then all this development stops BEFORE
they can get the maximum personal benefit from it.

mason lewis said...

They must believe every thing is a-okay. The city has water right now and is working to get more. They don't see it's a finite resource, especially in this 20-year drought.

Steven Ayres said...

It's not unreasonable to imagine some "maximum personal benefit" thinking, but I think it's unfair to tar them all with that brush. Most of them, I'm convinced, truly believe that the water is there and will be there, even many who've studied the issue closely for years.

leftturnclyde said...

Does anybody actually believe that ,given the evidence, that there is enough water for the type of growth that is planned for this area? or the state?
we are either seeing incompetence or a willfull ignorance based on self interest . either one is inexcusable from our elected officals.

Steven Ayres said...

Sure some believe it, based on evidence. But since no one can put a dipper in the ground and measure the water, all evidence is subject to interpretation, and I certainly can't say that I've seen all that's available to an official decision-maker, so I'm not really in position to second-guess that.

What's clear to me is that our ways are profligate and our resources meager. That's enough for me to say we should be far more cautious about what we use and promise. From my personal standpoint the worst that can happen from halting growth is a higher price for my house when I sell. So there may be some self-interest working there as well.

leftturnclyde said...

Hey if there is more evidence to be seen would love to have it published and sent to us all. or are we as citizens too dumb to understand all the charts and figures and wiggly lines that our tax dollars paid for ?

Anonymous said...

Some of the response must be total denial. I think it's hard for many people to grasp that the water situation could take a hard turn for the worst. Life just goes on, doesn't it?