Dry soil brings sorrow
Cassandra Harwood
Issue date: 5/22/08 Last update: 5/22/08 at 6:29 PM PST
Section: OpEd
Here it is-mid-May, and the sun's rays have already begun their blazing descent onto our black-paved parking lots and reddening shoulders. All that rain-and the subsequent inconveniences of wet hair and indoor activities-which we hardly experienced this year, has dehydrated California into a near drought.
To label any of earth's elements a "bountiful resource" would be oxymoronic, and our current crisis will soon expose the direct correlation between human consumption and the natural reserve. We are now challenged with the necessary and collective effort to cut back on our water usage.
A May 15 article in the SF Chronicle by Carolyn Jones (who recently visited Laney's Mass Media class) addressed our dwindling water supply along with the East Bay Municipal Utility District's (EBMUD) efforts to curtail frivolous water use.
According to the article, EBMUD is asking residents of Alameda and Contra Costa counties "to cut back 19 percent or possibly face fines, surcharges and water service shut-offs."
Jones wrote that the district will enlist "water police" to regulate drought offenders who are "washing cars without a shut-off nozzle on the hose, watering a lawn more than three days a week, washing sidewalks and filling ponds and fountains with non-recycled water."
Jones spoke with some Bay Area residents who said they were reluctant to sacrifice their lawns in the face of an impending drought.
While one could extol pages of prose on the virtues of a green lawn, it is difficult to equate the importance of recreational vegetation with a steady supply of drinking water.
Compared to recent natural disasters (the cyclone in Myanmar that has claimed over 43,000 lives (and growing) and left the country's people with a dwindling food and water supply (fiercely limited and regulated by the military junta), and also after an earthquake in China killed estimates of 50,000 people, leaving cities in ruins) the water shortage looks like a manageable crisis.
The drought was brought on by forces of nature, but can be circumvented to some degree by everyone's cooperative preservation efforts. Considering that in recent weeks entire cities have been leveled or submerged under water, a dried-up lawn doesn't look so devastating.
To label any of earth's elements a "bountiful resource" would be oxymoronic, and our current crisis will soon expose the direct correlation between human consumption and the natural reserve. We are now challenged with the necessary and collective effort to cut back on our water usage.
A May 15 article in the SF Chronicle by Carolyn Jones (who recently visited Laney's Mass Media class) addressed our dwindling water supply along with the East Bay Municipal Utility District's (EBMUD) efforts to curtail frivolous water use.
According to the article, EBMUD is asking residents of Alameda and Contra Costa counties "to cut back 19 percent or possibly face fines, surcharges and water service shut-offs."
Jones wrote that the district will enlist "water police" to regulate drought offenders who are "washing cars without a shut-off nozzle on the hose, watering a lawn more than three days a week, washing sidewalks and filling ponds and fountains with non-recycled water."
Jones spoke with some Bay Area residents who said they were reluctant to sacrifice their lawns in the face of an impending drought.
While one could extol pages of prose on the virtues of a green lawn, it is difficult to equate the importance of recreational vegetation with a steady supply of drinking water.
Compared to recent natural disasters (the cyclone in Myanmar that has claimed over 43,000 lives (and growing) and left the country's people with a dwindling food and water supply (fiercely limited and regulated by the military junta), and also after an earthquake in China killed estimates of 50,000 people, leaving cities in ruins) the water shortage looks like a manageable crisis.
The drought was brought on by forces of nature, but can be circumvented to some degree by everyone's cooperative preservation efforts. Considering that in recent weeks entire cities have been leveled or submerged under water, a dried-up lawn doesn't look so devastating.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Jean Womack
posted 5/27/08 @ 1:48 PM PST
Hi Cassie,
One good thing about having a small newspaper is that the stories have to be short in order to fit them all in. That would be great if you worked for a newspaper that needed to be 50 to 75 percent advertising to survive. (Continued…)
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