08-22-2012, 04:06 AM
Well, I worked a very busy day at work today and only had a few minutes to talk to the DWR during a short lunch break. I haven't decided whether or not to try calling again another time. I don't know how much good it will really do.
I really don't blame the farmers so much in this. They have to do what they have to do. My main concern is that the canal company is pushing their weight around trying to prove that they need that stupid dam on The Narrows. They drained Foster several years back so that they could prove how much they needed the dam. They didn't inform F&G that they were planning to drain it dry until it was too late to do much good. A day or two after draining it, they sent more water back into it. It was completely a political move, and it was BS. They wasted Winder in much the same way. If they would take the money that they would spend on the proposed dam and put it into updating their current system, I would be much happier.
I have no idea what the other towns require, but I do know that Clarkston mandates no watering between 10am and 6pm. However I see a lot of people, often the ones in the fancy new houses, with their sprinklers running midday. Also my neighbors across the street water pretty much all day everyday, and I know they have a system rigged up to where they turn one faucet on and it waters the whole lawn. They are home every evening, they could do it then, but they choose to do it in the afternoons. Pretty much everybody out here has a basement that floods every spring anyway, so they tend not to keep things of value down there. Besides, I highly doubt that the half dozen people I see watering midday consistently have had broken pipes in the past. I also have crap water pressure when I run my sprinklers, but that's just something I deal with. It seems like a small price to pay to do my part in conserving water in this desert.
As for watering the roads, I don't really see how tweaking the setting on the end sprayer so it doesn't shoot directly into the highway would cost millions of dollars. In any case, I would certainly be willing to pay more taxes if it meant more efficient use of the water here.
I really think that better education is key too. Simple things like turning the water off while you brush your teeth can save a great deal of water cumulatively. Also, doesn't it make a healthier lawn if you water less frequently, but for longer durations? Teaching people things like that would help as well.
By the way, did you head up there tonight as planned?
[signature]
I really don't blame the farmers so much in this. They have to do what they have to do. My main concern is that the canal company is pushing their weight around trying to prove that they need that stupid dam on The Narrows. They drained Foster several years back so that they could prove how much they needed the dam. They didn't inform F&G that they were planning to drain it dry until it was too late to do much good. A day or two after draining it, they sent more water back into it. It was completely a political move, and it was BS. They wasted Winder in much the same way. If they would take the money that they would spend on the proposed dam and put it into updating their current system, I would be much happier.
I have no idea what the other towns require, but I do know that Clarkston mandates no watering between 10am and 6pm. However I see a lot of people, often the ones in the fancy new houses, with their sprinklers running midday. Also my neighbors across the street water pretty much all day everyday, and I know they have a system rigged up to where they turn one faucet on and it waters the whole lawn. They are home every evening, they could do it then, but they choose to do it in the afternoons. Pretty much everybody out here has a basement that floods every spring anyway, so they tend not to keep things of value down there. Besides, I highly doubt that the half dozen people I see watering midday consistently have had broken pipes in the past. I also have crap water pressure when I run my sprinklers, but that's just something I deal with. It seems like a small price to pay to do my part in conserving water in this desert.
As for watering the roads, I don't really see how tweaking the setting on the end sprayer so it doesn't shoot directly into the highway would cost millions of dollars. In any case, I would certainly be willing to pay more taxes if it meant more efficient use of the water here.
I really think that better education is key too. Simple things like turning the water off while you brush your teeth can save a great deal of water cumulatively. Also, doesn't it make a healthier lawn if you water less frequently, but for longer durations? Teaching people things like that would help as well.
By the way, did you head up there tonight as planned?
[signature]