Editorial: The feds can curb a foolish California water giveaway
CALIFORNIA is a mess, and the feds are no doubt involved. Their involvement may be limited or temporary, but with it comes some responsibility.
And to some, it may be just one aspect of the problem, but the state is doing something that is so wrong and the feds are not doing anything to stop it. We have all become so preoccupied by the financial challenges of California that we forget that this state needs to stop playing politics with water and focus on what is good for its citizens.
Since the Central Valley Project (CVP) will soon have the ability to capture more than 60 percent of the state’s water supply, and in doing so bypass the local agencies that are responsible for providing the rest, it’s time to start calling this a “statewide” issue, not a Central Valley “problem.”
California’s drought has been going on for over a year now, and the CVP has yet to capture its share of the water, which is why we’re seeing the state’s reservoirs and water users across the state going without potable water for about a month right now. It’s just one symptom of the state’s chronic problems with water – in all areas. When we have this many problems with the same water supply, it’s a sign of a system out of balance and in danger.
The irony is that the water woes in California are a statewide problem.
The state’s water woes are not the problem – they are symptoms of the problem.
There are those who say that a lack of attention to the needs of the many – the lack of understanding about water – is the problem and that it will be solved by more funding and more control. But is control really the answer?
There’s already a good solution – the way to balance – by giving people who want to sell their water right to the state of California, and use that water to provide a water solution to the water problem.