Anna wrote on Sep 18, 2007 3:02 AM:Apparently the politicians that are paid, don't even know. They keep on approving more housing and golf courses making the water needs and crisis worse. Why are they selling us out? I will start conserving when Cities start requiring no homes and golf courses to needed zero net water increases.

conserve wrote on Sep 18, 2007 5:21 AM:yeah. I have 6 people in a condo next to me that run their water like crazy. 20 minute showers or full baths for *6* people A DAY. They don't care, they don't PAY for it. It's in the HOA fee. Every condo pays the same fee, no matter how much they use. How do you make someone conserve if they DON'T CARE?

been burned wrote on Sep 18, 2007 6:09 AM:During our last water crisis, the public was asked to conserve. Our family did. We cut back significantly. We really wanted to help. Our personal cutbacks made a daily impact on our family. We were happy to help. We felt proud about our lower water use reflected on our water bill. For several months before mandatory water cutbacks,we did what we could. When mandatory cutbacks and severe financial penalties were set by our water district we got BURNED twice. The water district set the MANDATORY cutbacks based on a percentage decrease in our previous months bill. That's right after our family was stupid enough to actually try to do our part voluntarily, we got doublely penalized. We were forced to cut back again based on our already minimal water use, not based on what we had used in previous years for that month. No the water district officials based our cutbacks on the time we were already trying to help. So for our home we had to pay extra money PENALTIES because we were already as cut back as we could go. Now I am smarter. During this crisis, I have been using as much water as possible so when the mandatory cutbacks happen, my baseline usage will be as high as possible. The water district mandatory cuts will be capricious and unfair to anyone who conserves now. My adult son and I our disabled (autoimmune disorder) Neither of us can work. Only my wife brings in an income. We no longer can afford capriciously set water usage standards that force us to pay more if we help out and try to conserve now. My yard is now the best watered yard in Vista.

jayone wrote on Sep 18, 2007 6:33 AM:That our system for you just keep on building and building in the upper desert until we run out of water. Carlsbad is the worst in the area for overbuilding. The mayor just wants to build on every vacant lot. the more home the more income for him to spend.Carlsbad now has 2 golf courses. Why? It takes lots ofwater to maintain these courses.

Get Serious wrote on Sep 18, 2007 6:48 AM:When will there be a moritorium on building permits?

LKF wrote on Sep 18, 2007 6:52 AM:Why should us humans be apologetic for our success? The real problem is the enviro-pagans, the EPA and the Endangered Species Act. Think about it, a stupid little bottom feeding fish whose sole purpose is life is to become food to the next bigger fish. Humans are more important, and their wants and needs are more important. Without humans getting first priority, all this silly protection of other species becomes a moot point.-

no way wrote on Sep 18, 2007 7:11 AM:I am sick of conserving for more golf courses and condos, and apartments and so on and so on. I us what I want to., I save what I want.-

Sonny wrote on Sep 18, 2007 7:12 AM:Our daily routines need to change. Is it necessary to have a 30 gallon shower every morning just to wake up or to smell good for each other? Is it necessary to have our cars washed everyother week so we can look good driving them? Look around and realize how over consuming we have become! Its time to stop placing our individual wants before our communities needs! The way we conduct ourselves reflects upon the world as a whole!!!-

to Anna wrote on Sep 18, 2007 7:40 AM:My sentiments exactly. However, I do believe golf courses use reclamed water that isn't safe for drinking.

NOt Me wrote on Sep 18, 2007 7:42 AM:I am not conserving until the government does something about the illegal aliens. If the millions of illegals leave, there will be more water for the rest of us, or at least they will legally contribute to the costs to bring more water to the area.

DW wrote on Sep 18, 2007 8:28 AM:I agree with Anna; there is no water or power shortage because they keep on building. Our politicians know what's best, don't they?

to conserve wrote on Sep 18, 2007 8:29 AM:you cant make anyone conserve in your building. You cant make them pick up the trash they leave when they go to the dumpster either. All you can do is take personal responsibility and walk the higher road...the mentality they possess keeps them down anyways, that why they live 6 in a condo...keep your place clean, take normal showers and ASAP sell your condo and buy a home in a nice neighborhood...then you can leave the ... behind. Make the choice to be responsible despite the ... who maintain irresponsibility.

sal wrote on Sep 18, 2007 8:49 AM:We have an ocean of water, we have de-salinization technology, We can make drinking water from salt water at a 50% premimum. My water bill is only $30- $50 a month, my sewer and sewer bonds are what is expensive. Paint my Lawn GREEN wirh water

Right on, Anna wrote on Sep 18, 2007 9:04 AM:I could not agree more. The local cities and countires continue on auto pilot to approve residential and commerial development projects in the name of increased sales and real estate tax revenues. So they're hypocrites telling us to conserve water. People will "do as they see", not as they're told.

Steven wrote on Sep 18, 2007 10:19 AM:So now it's our problem that the water agencies haven't been able to plan for sufficience supplies? Time for a change of staff and leadership!

When wrote on Sep 18, 2007 10:29 AM:Will they put a moritorium on building permits so we can take them seriously?

To all you I got mine wrote on Sep 18, 2007 10:42 AM:wake up. Growth will continue and needs to continue in order for us to remain a prosperous nation. We are not a 3rd world country and our bureaucrats that we pay to provide for us should do just that. How long has the desalination proposal in Carlsbad been waiting for a permit? How long have we known we need other sources for water? How long have we known we need another canal to protect the Delta Smelt? The politicians and water management need to get with it and do their jobs NOW! On the Smelt issue the enviromentalists are insane. People come first. Part of evolution is Species evolving to extinction.

a concerned citizen wrote on Sep 18, 2007 12:57 PM:Do you think that this will stop the proposed 2700 units Stonegate/Merriam Mountains project in San Marcos from being developed? I doubt it. Build now and worry about it later when the tap runs dry!-

To I got mine, Needs Water wrote on Sep 18, 2007 1:09 PM:Maybe we can manufacture more electricity from the sun, but we can not "manufacture" any more H2O than already exists, in some form, on earth. Unbelievable new development has, and is still, being approved in California without an adequate water supply because of developer’s greed and a coveted new tax base for the approving entities. Getting water to a desert region from water-rich areas of our country is not financially nor politically feasible. Remember Mulholland and the water wars at the turn of last century, allowing the LA urban sprawl. The LA aqueduct drained the 100-square-mile Owens Lake absolutely dry by 1928. We all have been asked to cut back our water use, stop watering our lawns, tear out green plants and replace them with native vegetation. Oh, but that vegetation is highly flammable in our Mediterranean-desert climate presenting another potential problem, wildfires. I have a family and kids, and getting them to take shorter showers seems impossible, so it’s a no-win situation. Maybe Southern California’s biosphere has already reached its capacity to sustain our current population.

anotherview wrote on Sep 18, 2007 2:21 PM:Please know, dear readers, that farming activity now consumes most of the available state water supply, about 90 percent of it. Households consume about 5 percent. The rest goes to other users, like industrial and commercial. A simple analysis with elementary math reveals that 5 percent of 90 percent equals 4.5 percent of the whole 100 percent. Hence, forcing farmers to introduce efficient crop irrigation to reduce their water consumption by only 5 percent would nearly match the existing household water use. Via political pressure, however, farmers resist improving their farm irrigation practices. In short, the Golden State has plenty of water available, but the distribution of this water does not happen rationally. Farmers grab most of the water. So any fair and sound solution to the water supply problem must require farmers to stop using so much water. Then others will have enough water.

Concerned-1 wrote on Sep 18, 2007 2:24 PM:Nothing brings the NIMBYS out like a shortage issue. Sorry folks but you can't just pull up the draw bridge. Growth in So Cal is inevitable. You came here didn't you? I'm third generation and my kids are fourth and you can bet I've had conservation drilled into me since I was a tike. We live in a desert; water conservation should be part of your life. New homes will be "greener." And we will find ways to catch run-off and use recycled water in much greater proportions. We do need infrastructure in the form of a new canal around the Delta. BTW it's not just the smelt, but the whole delta that needs saving. If we would have built the peripheral canal back in the 1980s, we wouldn't have to worry about the smelt or the levees. We need to be smarter and greener, not stick in the mud foggies.

Sam wrote on Sep 18, 2007 4:43 PM:We will have water crises because of the delta smelt, a small, slender-bodied fish, with a typical adult size of 2-3 inches that is worthless to most. I say send them to an aquarium and use the water for human needs. We need water but the environmentalists also fight not to build a desalination plant. We need to lock up all of those environmentalists that are for useless fish and against humans. The people put government in place to make sure that the needs (Water, Power, Sanitation, etc.) of the people are met. But they don’t want to take chances now and want the people to vote on things so that they can blame the voters for everything instead of themselves.

to Another View wrote on Sep 18, 2007 5:13 PM:Most of the small farms in the country are in our county. Sure the big farms could cut back or improve efficiency but why should they? They get their water for pennies on the dollar and often don't even have meters. But our guys down here could use some financial incentives to help them improve their use of water that cost about $500 an acre foot or more now. I like to eat what they produce so I'd like to help them with their watering efficiency. How about you?

To Concerned-1, Needs Water wrote on Sep 18, 2007 5:44 PM:BTW, no I didn't move here. I was born in CA, so it's not a NIMBY issue with me. It's simply an issue of too many humans, living in the wrong locations, and not enough natural resources to meet the needs of even more people that still want to live here.

Lets add more and more houses wrote on Sep 18, 2007 5:48 PM:As if we didn't have enough problems already, projects are in process that will devistate the remainder of our water supply. There should be no new housing projects approved until they each provide their own supply of reclaimed water and until the government agencies approve a dual system for new housing, conserving our grey water for landscaping. Get it - no new housing unless these things are provided. We do not need to add to our problems, but rather set about correcting them.

Neighbor wrote on Sep 18, 2007 6:13 PM:When Santa Barbara had its 8 year drought, they rationed water based upon need. If you had a large family, you could petition for a larger allotment. Whatever your prior use was, did not matter - you got an allotment that was based on the needs of the people - there was no allotment for plants. People in Montecito paid water trucks to drive up from Ventura so they could water their plants. Regular residents, saved their inside the house water to take outside for their plants.

Waterwatcher wrote on Sep 18, 2007 7:51 PM:The big water agencies have known this was coming for years, ever since California was forced to cut back to its legal water rights limit in 2003. They knew they couldn't just keep taking more water from the north indefinately, because sooner or later the northerners and the courts would step in and stop it. Now they're trying to rush southern California voters into voting for huge new water system subsidy bonds for new dams. The new projects will make construction companies richer, but where will the water come from? That question isn't being answered.

Houses aint the problem... wrote on Sep 18, 2007 8:19 PM:population growth is the problem. But of course the NIMBY's latch on to this and any issue they can to claim that it's development. New homes and condos are the most water efficient homes around. New condo complexes use minimal water on landscaping and have all the latest water efficient fixtures and toilets. But the NIMBY's will go on (reproducing) and complaining about development, claiming that the new homes down the street are destroying their lives and creating pandemonium. But they are so happy for their grandkids and nephews when they buy their first home. Get a life, get a real issue.

Face Realty wrote on Sep 18, 2007 8:33 PM:To those die-hard name callers who screech "NIBMY" at anyone who suggests that building permits not be granted where water is too scarce, you may be surprised to learn that California State law requires the withholding of building permits from residential developments over a certain size, 500 units I think, unless the water district is willing to certify that they have the capacity to meet the needs of that development. The NIMBY screechers also make the bogus claim that population growth in southern California is inevitable, that's also untrue. Not everyone can live in Beverly Hills or Rancho Santa Fe though they might like to, it's a queston of supply and demand. Hospitable climates are always desirable and in demand, and the entire nation plus everyone in Mexico can't move to SoCal. It's unreasonable to continue to allow housing and especially increased density in housing when we don't have the water or road capacity to accomodate it.

Sal wrote on Sep 22, 2007 5:12 PM:Thanks to Horn!! You can thank our Supervisor Bill Horn for the condition North County is in. He let everyone and anyone build whatever they wanted. It's sad but San Marcos and other cities have had him wrapped around their fingers for years.