LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

You might recall the What If It Doesn’t Rain in November? task force that was formed last year by the city of Ventura.

It was a title that proved to be all too prescient. There was no significant rain in November. Or December. Or January.

And the question of “What if. . .?” has become the hard reality of a fifth year of drought, not just in Ventura but throughout Southern California.

As a result--from Oxnard to Simi Valley, from Camarillo to Thousand Oaks--other cities in recent weeks have followed Ventura’s early lead in imposing water rationing on residents and businesses.

How is water rationing going to affect us? Have our city councils done enough? Or have they been too timid in restricting the flow of water? Where do we go from here?

A team of Times reporters will address those questions in a special Ventura County report on the drought in Sunday’s edition. We will give you a good base of information to understand what is happening, city by city, as well as throughout the region.

I think you will find this special report to be enlightening.

Julia C. Wilson

Ventura County Editor