Lawless Agri-business v. Women for Water

“When the San Diego Women’s Foundation took a hard look at the most pressing issues of the year, water conservation and quality floated to the top”, was the lead paragraph in a piece by Deborah Sullivan Brennan in today’s UT San Diego (6/1/2014) “Foundation funds water programs”.

“Water conservation?” “Quality?” Never mind the $166,000 that was spread around by the foundation for various feel-good projects. No one argues about the need to conserve water, however if there is none to conserve what then? And quality? Is anyone concerned about the quality of our water? I don’t think so. Use of the phrase “feel-good” is not intended to diminish the honorable foundation awards, but to place them in context with another UT article discussed below. That there may not be enough water to flush our toilets is not a quality issue.

It is symptomatic of the culture where water is a given. It’s here, and always will be. That’s the message from the SD Women’s Foundation. All we need to do is save a little, and what better way to save it than to convince kids about water conservation. If any group wants to throw money at feel-good projects, that is certainly their right, but in doing that they have helped little to secure a reliable water supply for San Diego.

The question is, do the women really want to accomplish something, or would they be willing to do some of the heavy lifting to gain water independence for San Diego by spending their hard-earned $2000’s and $1000”s to lobby the San Diego City Council against the EPA waiver coming up in 2015? Do the foundation members  know about the existence of the waiver and the fact the current waiver on the Pt Loma Plant is expiring next year?

Directly below the foundation article in the UT is a piece by Katharine Mieszkowski titled “Water Reporting Mandate Ignored”. [this article is not in the e-edition, but the same story was on 5/26] The difference between the two articles is stark. Literally trillions of gallons of water are being poured on thirsty rice and other crops in Northern California, and the under five thousand agri-business individuals and corporations could not care less about whether some children are taught water conservation in San Diego through a foundation grant. These agri-business people will continue to flaunt the 2009 law that only requires them to monitor their water flow. Not reduce it, or save it, but just to monitor it. Nothing is likely to change during this drought. There isn’t enough political will to make any changes. It is incumbent upon those who have the responsibility to make changes to assure San Diego a reliable water supply despite agri-business and their lawless ways.

The San Diego Women’s Foundation intentions are honorable, but in my opinion misdirected. They should spend their precious collective funds lobbying the San Diego City Council for Indirect Potable Recycling. That will not only make the foundation members feel good, then they can be counted among those who are moving the ball forward to gain water independence for San Diego. Is the San Diego Women’s Foundation up for the challenge? Next year is not too late. I can think of a no more intimidating force than a group of women with a single purpose.

Milt Burgess