Karl wrote on Nov 3, 2008 9:04 PM:Rationing will help the water company keep prices artificially low, avoiding any competition from desalination plants. (Monopolies hate competition.) And since the water company doesn't have to pay for the water police, why not?

Enjoy your police state, Valley Center!

anotherview wrote on Nov 3, 2008 9:20 PM:Statewide, farmers overuse and waste water. Farming activity now consumes about 85 percent of the available state water supply. Households use about 5 percent. The rest goes to government, industrial, and commercial. Simple math shows that forcing farmers to lower their water use by only 5.88 percent would free up an amount equal to household water use. Further, about 30 percent of farm irrigation water runs off the land to waste. Via political pressure, however, farmers resist (1) improving their farm irrigation practices and (2) recycling farm water runoff. The Golden State has plenty of water available, but the distribution and use of this water does not happen rationally. Farmers grab most of the water, and then waste nearly a third of it. So any fair and sound solution to the water supply problem must require farmers to stop using and wasting so much water. Then others will have enough water.

Water saving tips wrote on Nov 4, 2008 7:54 AM:Go to the bathroom outside on the lawn. Waters and fertilizes. Redirect shower, dishwasher and clothes washer to drain on the lawn or plants. Catch rain water to flush toilets or use shower dishwasher etc drain water. Against code oh well it is an emergency right??

Paul wrote on Nov 4, 2008 8:21 AM:Local governments promote new developments (increased tax base) and water availability are diametrically opposed.

Roger wrote on Nov 4, 2008 10:13 AM:I live in Valley Center and try to grow a few small crops. I'm scratching my head on why we're expected to continue to reduce our water use while I have yet to hear similar warning and requests of nearby water agencies. Maybe VC is just too small to care about? When people pay 5 times more for their oranges or avos I'm betting people will care. Let the market decide the price of available water and there won't be _any_ waste.

to Water saving tips wrote on Nov 4, 2008 11:26 AM:Ha, ha! Looks like folks around here have been conserving water for a long time already if taking a leak outside is water conservation. On a personal note, we have been catching the rain water off of our roof for years, sometimes getting more than a large trashcan full. We water our outdoor plants with it. We do not use a sprinkler system but choose to use a hose and we have a beautiful garden filled with drought resistant plants.

Waterwise wrote on Nov 4, 2008 1:26 PM:I hope VCMWD will take into account the residents who have been conserving for several years. When you set your baseline allocation, please go back in your records at least a couple of years and at least use a higher use month so that people like me will not be penalized for already conserving for many years. Thank you!

Gary wrote on Nov 4, 2008 1:57 PM:To: Karl, "Another View," "Water Saving Tips," Paul, Roger and "Waterwise"-

These are all very interesting comments and noted, but unfortunatley have been directed to an incorrect title for the article(actually the content of the article was fine).

Valley Center Water was not warned by Mr. Kightlinger, MWD General Manager, that it was facing a "50% mandatory cutback in 2009." We were warned, however, that there was a "50/50" chance we could be facing mandatory cut-backs in 2009, along with the rest of southern California, in the range of 10% to 15%.

Same percentage, but with an entirely different outcome when applied to our water supply situation.

Headlines are nice (when corect) but when it comes to critical issues such as our water supply, it really pays to read the entire article.

Valley Center Water District

Mike wrote on Nov 4, 2008 2:01 PM:Actually rationing will cause water rates to go up. If your budget expects water sales of a certain amount of water at a certain cost, and you don't sell the amount, then the cost will go up. Minus, of course, the actual cost to make the water.

Water Auditor wrote on Nov 4, 2008 3:07 PM:Hey "Another View,"

Those statewide statistics you use to characterize our County are extremely misleading. Agriculture represents between only 10% and 20% of SD County's total water demand, depending on weather conditions. Residential demand represents nearly 60% of the total water demand, and the remainder can be attributed to Municipal and Industrial demands. These statistics come from the San Diego County Water Authority's Urban Water Mangement Plan. Where did you get your numbers?

Another thing: while certain methods of farming (i.e. flood and furrow irrigation) are used in other parts of the state, they are virtually non-existent in San Diego County or south of the central valley for that matter. Farmers in our County use technologically advanced irrigation systems and irrigation methods that result in little to no runoff at all--not 30% as you claimed.

Furthermore, the water that runs off the field in the central valley and in other places that are behind the times in terms of irrigation technologies is very often re-used in subsequent years by capturing that water in recovery systems or by pumping it out of the ground. While this is not the most energy efficient way to grow our food, it is certainly not completely wasteful as far as water-use goes.

Since most of the water in our county is being used at residences, and the water being used at these residences is being used outdoors on our landscapes (this is also something that is reported by our regional water managers), why not be proactive and join our regional water agencies to take advantage of the many incentives for implementing water saving strategies in our home landscapes? Install a high tech irrigaiton controller for about the same price as a normal one. Remove that useless lawn and replace it with California Friendly or California Native plants. Install high efficiency nozzles. Get some advice from an expert.

Most of all, instead of inventing conspiracy theories to place blame on the farmer, take a long hard look at the real numbers, and consider changing your own behaviors.

P.S. Kudos to the VCMWD for commenting on the misleading title for this article.

Allan wrote on Nov 4, 2008 3:43 PM:Amazing and depressing: This media misunderstanding/misinformation stood for 19 hours on a Google news headline and here, until Gary from the District itself pointed out that the article stated that there is a 50 percent CHANCE of a 5 to 10 percent CUT!! And today, Americans are voting based upon muddled understandings of vastly more complex and numerous issues, which have been twisted by so much lying and misrepresentation, but have been dealt with so ignorantly by the media. Hang on, we're going down.