Drought? What drought?:

By: North County Times Opinion staff | Wednesday, January 30, 2008 8:38 PM PST ∞

Our view: Recent rains shouldn't dampen conservation efforts

If you think recent rains mean the drought is over, think again.

As of Monday, this season's storms had dropped 5.53 inches of rain at Lindbergh Field, San Diego's official weather station. That's compared with droughtlike conditions that brought only 1.71 inches by that same date last year. Total rainfall for all of 2007 was only 3.85 inches. The rainy season in California is tracked from July until June.

That is certainly good news, but thus far, it is not enough to make up for years of drought. And it is nowhere near the 13-plus inches that had been measured at Lindbergh by January 2005, one of the wetter rainy seasons on record.

In fact, most weather forecasters are standing by predictions that this winter will be drier than normal.

Bill Patzert, a climatologist for CalTech's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, also is predicting that annual rainfall in Southern California could be 20 percent below average by the end of the rainy season.

At best, the recent rains have given us a little breathing room. We've still got a long way to go before reservoirs and lakes are replenished, and we still face the long-term challenges posed by environmental problems in the Sacramento-San Joaquin bay delta.

With our unexpected bounty of rainfall, officials are urging people to take advantage of nature's free irrigation. Specifically, residents and business owners should turn off sprinkler systems until they're needed.

Common-sense conservation tips like that are fine, as far as they go.

However, we've long argued that a real resolution to our projected water shortage won't involve public awareness campaigns but improved water infrastructure and the free market.

Water infrastructure issues, such as the need for new reservoirs, were supposed to be addressed by a special legislative session that the governor convened last year. We're still waiting for the results.

In terms of market reforms, policymakers seem equally incapable of admitting that water is a resource like any other and that its supply can be ensured by increasing its price when supplies are low, thereby decreasing use.

After two years with little rain, any big storm, let alone a series of them, feels like a deluge, but don't be fooled. Unless we see historic rain levels over the next several months, San Diego County will continue to be just one winter away from a drought.

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Okay wrote on Jan 30, 2008 9:08 PM:Good editorial but very short in the suggestion department. Not only should people not water their yards, they should convert them to natives and low water plants. Those can be quite beautiful and are healthier here. Also, stop the long showers and baths...quit running water when you brush your teeth. Do only full loads of dishes and clothes..the suggestions are endless to conserve.

Floyd wrote on Jan 30, 2008 10:32 PM:Now that Lake Hodges is actually a lake again, get ready for the next crisis: all those newly-submerged weeds and trees are going to rot and spoil the water and cause some sort of environmental calamity requiring government intervention and a tax increase.

Olaf wrote on Jan 31, 2008 8:12 AM:Being that we live in the desert shouldn't we have been doing these things before we ran out of water? Just my thought. Oh and maybe we should be looking at better ways of capturing these rain storms when they do come... it seems a lot of wasted water runs right out to the ocean. Just my two cents. Oh and one more: Two stage toilets. enough said.

Derek wrote on Jan 31, 2008 8:15 AM:I agree with the author. What better way to convince people to voluntarily conserve than by setting prices according to available supply? This might be just the push some people need to convert their lawns to xeriscape or switch to recycled water.

The money raised could go toward securing additional water supplies, or "toilet to tap" recycling, or "fish poop to tap" desalination, or the whole program could be made revenue neutral so it doesn't affect poor people too much.

This way to the egress wrote on Jan 31, 2008 6:53 PM:Developers need everyone to cut back on water, otherwise they won't be able to build and make a profit. The water agencies will continue to approve more water meters if they can say water is available.

Water districts need to make first step. wrote on Feb 2, 2008 8:41 AM:The biggest question we all have to ask ourselves, our elected and appointed representatives, and our water districts, is WHY should the average homeowner reduce his/her water use more than the 20 % requested ? Shouldn't we find a way to get the water districts to STOP giving "Letters of Availability" and water meters for new construction, except for the individual home ? We should insist that the water districts not give the developers preferential treatment, especially over and above their current customers. This is a wake up call to the water districts and they have to make conservation moves !

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