Dealing With Water Shortage

While the immediate cause of our water shortage undoubtedly is the prolonged drought, the underlying cause appears to be the doubling of the California population over the last 30 years with the associated development, with no serious attention paid to development of water resources or a planning process which would make it possible to use the existing water wisely.

While rationing seems inevitable in the short term, a long-term water resource planning process should start immediately. This planning should consider agriculture, the continuing overdraft of ground water throughout the state, and a desirable and managed population growth policy.

Meanwhile, I feel that there should be a complete statewide freeze on building permits until a full water plan is implemented, which should induce sufficient political attention in the Legislature to this subject to enable a plan to be put into place within a year or two.

DAVID D. PORTER

Santa Monica