Water Education Foundation
This is just one post in the Recycled Water Category
Click here to view all posts

Reclaiming our water: Editorial praises Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District’s plan to use recycled water for irrigation

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on July 8, 2008 at 8:10 am

From the Pasadena Star News, this editorial:

It’s going to come as a shock to many San Gabriel Valley and Whittier-area folks the day water rationing is instituted. But the prolonged drought, higher temperatures due to global warming and a judge’s decision to divert less water from Northern California are making that day - though still in the future - inevitable.

While conservation is the best option, it only goes so far. Yes, residents should use less water inside the home, but irrigation outside the home (if farming is removed from the equation) is where most of the urban water goes and most of the waste occurs.

That’s why businesses, government, schools as well as private residents must cut back on irrigation of all those roadway medians, freeway off- and on-ramps, school ball fields, parklands, grounds, cemeteries and private lawns if we are going to reduce water use - big picture.

Institutional uses are a great place to point the divining rod of water conservation. And most importantly, using less water in irrigation should become a permanent best practice, not a one-time cutback that results in a gold star one year and a return to water-wasting practices the next.

The editorial cites the recent announcement on the breaking ground on the third phase of the Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District’s project to use recycled water for landscape irrigation at parks and schools. When the four-phase project is completed, it will save 5 billion gallons of drinking water per year. The editorial refers to the water as ‘new water’, saying:

We can foresee using “new water” to battle forest fires and to manufacture products.

Institutionalizing the use of “new water” takes time, money and investment. We’re glad to see our region is doing just that. This will ease the sting of prolonged droughts that result in a reduction of potable water deliveries. It also costs less to use recycled water that essentially gets piped to the ocean otherwise.

While residents can do more to use less, they can’t be expected to do it alone. Industry and government can help by investing in recycled water systems for irrigation.

Read the full text of this editorial from the Pasadena Star News by clicking here.

July 8, 2008 · Filed Under Recycled Water

Comments

Leave a Reply