There is no water conservation conundrum, says commentary; it’s just common sense

A recent commentary in the Santa Clarita Signal posed the question, why are we conserving water if only to support new development?

The issue of conserving water so that it will be available to support more growth is coming to the forefront in every community. But our community is handling it much differently than the creative solutions developed elsewhere.

When the question of adequate water for a project came up at a recent planning commission hearing, supervisor Antonovich’s appointee stated that we will all just have to use less water so that the new project could be accommodated.

If this is the solution, then the question is: How are we going to get anyone to conserve? In a valley already overwhelmed by out-of-control growth, terrible traffic and some of the worst air pollution in the nation, how are we going to persuade people that they should get rid of their lawns so that we can build more houses?

R. J. Kelly, vice-president of the Castaic Lake Water Agency answers that question in this commentary from the Santa Clarita Signal:

Why conserve?

Here at Castaic Lake Water Agency, we believe the answer to that question is simple: We should conserve because it’s good stewardship. It’s the responsible way to manage a vital resource, and it’s in the best interests of our community, our state and the environment.

Yet, proving the adage that no good deed goes unpunished, “rumblings of discontent” have been voiced about water conservation efforts, based on the argument that some people — including, ironically, so-called environmentalists — don’t feel they should have to conserve water if some of that water may be used by future residents who will occupy new homes.

They’re calling it a “water conservation conundrum,” and their argument can be boiled down to something like this: “We shouldn’t conserve water because then someone else might use it.”
Huh? Water conservation isn’t a conundrum. It’s common sense.

Taking the “conundrum” argument to the extreme, should we water our lawns 24-7, take hour-long showers and run dishwashers with only three plates in them so that other folks would not have a reliable water supply? Of course not.

Read more of R. J. Kelly’s commentary in the Santa Clarita Signal by clicking here.

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