Readers React: California’s wimpy water restrictions aren’t enough

To the editor: The State Water Resources Control Board wimped out. Instead of the half-measures it approved Tuesday, directing local agencies to limit outdoor watering, we need immediate, draconian water rationing to preserve what little water is left in California. (“New watering restrictions imposed amid California drought,” March 17)

We also need immediate plans for what will be done if the snowpack does not return next season. Praying for rain is not planning. We need to begin building desalination plants up and down the entire coast and put a disaster plan in place in case the reservoirs run dry.

Eliminate all rice farming and other water-intensive crops. Eliminate fracking, which is a huge waste of water. Turn off the all the landscape sprinklers, especially for lawns and golf courses. Restrict water for pools and fountains this year.

Running out of water will bring disaster and dire consequences. The state should order large-scale mandatory cutbacks now.

Jill Reiss, Calabasas

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To the editor: Saving water is not difficult. The problem is making people aware that the drought is a real problem. The solution is simply to increase the charge rate — perhaps double it until usage is reduced.

It’s also time that we get rid of all green landscaping in public spaces. I’m constantly impressed when we visit our daughter in Phoenix, where public street banks and many yards are covered with gravel, not grass. They know how to save water.

Dick Ettington, Palos Verdes Peninsula

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To the editor: California’s new water restrictions are pretty wimpy.

Living in northern Australia, we haven’t watered our lawn in 20 years. Sure, we get a rainy season, but the grass grows brown in the dry weather.

I recommend that Californians mow their lawns no more than once a year. This means grass grows to its proper seed producing state, protecting lower areas from drying out by sacrificing the upper layer. This creates a dry canopy that shields the soil and lower grass from sunlight.

Watering of lawns should be reduced to twice a week between the hours of 8 p.m. and midnight, and it should be done by hand, not sprinkler. Farms should be required to have drip irrigation.

Sean Meaney, Darwin, Australia

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