Letters: Advice on saving water

Re “Patt Morrison Asks: Jay Famiglietti,” Opinion, Feb. 19

Our water problem is real, certainly. What’s less so is the claim that people can make any significant difference in water usage by limiting showers and not making ice cubes, as Jay Famiglietti says.

Cities use less than 20% of California’s developed water supply. By far the biggest user is the agricultural sector. One of the biggest water-guzzling crops, alfalfa hay, is grown to feed beef and dairy cattle. If we cut our beef and dairy consumption, we would make a big impact on water usage.

A lot of people in the agricultural community like to point their fingers at urban sprawl for misusing water, but they do so for the wrong reasons. Changing our consumer choices would make a real difference.

Linda Igo

Hermosa Beach

Because of our drought conditions, all Californians should save water, and Famiglietti has offered many ways for us to take action. My family does its utmost to conserve.

We save the cold water used in the kitchen for dishwashing by taking it outside to water our few plants. The hot water used to rinse the dishes is re-used to flush the toilet. The water from our very short showers is saved by plugging the drain and scooping it into a pail to flush the toilets.

People should think of the measures they can take to save water.

Paul Carlton

San Clemente

Americans are spoiled, and nowhere is this more apparent than in the obscene use and waste of water in this country.

If we had to deposit a coin every time we turned on the tap, it would have an immediate impact on our usage. Although this proposal isn’t realistic, it highlights the fact that every time you turn the tap, it costs all of us.

Humankind, it seems, has entered its third act, and just like in the movies, the third act always goes by faster. Usually there’s a happy, Hollywood ending, but other times reality sets in and everything is lost.

It is up to each and every one of us to change our course. We have no other choice.

David Reid

Hollywood

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