Building a High Dam in Auburn

The editorial is wrong. The multipurpose proposal for a high dam on the North Fork of the American River will help all Californians to conserve our water. Once a high dam is built at Auburn over a million acre feet of flood water per year could be conserved. Since most of this state is desert we constantly experience droughts. As a result in the past voters have supported many bond issues to conserve water.

Currently over 90% of the flows of the streams in Los Angeles County are conserved. Similarly, little of the flow of the mighty Colorado River is lost to the ocean. Local property tax bills include money to pay for many of these facilities. However, in Northern California most of the river flows are lost to the ocean. Locally we may need that lost water in the future.

The ground-water basin where I reside in the San Gabriel River watershed is the most polluted of any in California, according to water quality experts. We who live in San Gabriel Valley depend upon local well water for 95% of our drinking water. If the pollution cannot be controlled the basin may have to be abandoned for domestic use. The only significant replenishment sources are the proposed projects in Northern California such as Auburn Dam.

Therefore, I call for the enactment of the Environment Development Bond Act as many Californians continue to want to use our taxes to increase the conservation of water in this state.

With the continued growth of this state, not only will the high Auburn Dam be needed but also many off-stream storage projects. We believe bond-financed projects, which have been used in the past, still are the way to finance water conservation projects. The facilities built many years ago provide the low-cost water we pay for today. Part of our taxes we pay the state and county pay off the old bonds used to finance the current water facilities.

Waiting to build the multipurpose high dam at Auburn will only increase the cost. That increase will only increase our taxes and water bills in the future. History shows the foresight of the past leadership in building big dams to conserve water.

ROYALL BROWN

Director, Division 3, Upper San Gabriel

Valley Municipal Water District

West Covina