Water Crisis

In response to the Michael Shames commentary entitled “Coping With Crisis,” (March 1), I have to say I agree with many of his proposals to help us through the water cutback. However, I am also very upset with the idea of a forced cutback.

San Diego expects its district to cut water usage by up to 50%, and although Shames makes a very valid point that a unified effort is necessary to overcome the water shortage problem, I believe many people are overlooking the real issue at hand. Obviously, the government has been aware of the problem, and did nothing to attempt to alleviate it until now, with an overwhelmingly drastic cutback.

The question that haunts me is, why did they not issue a 5% or 10% cutback when the problem first became noticeable?

Or even better, if the problem is as devastating as they make it seem, why haven’t other water production methods been researched? We have enough technology to blow up three earths, but we cannot come up with enough technology to purify ocean water and make use of it. I find that hard to believe.

I sincerely believe the water shortage problem could have been solved in some other way. Instead, we are now being forced to completely change our lifestyles so our government can continue using its technology to destroy the world. Maybe someday, people will realize that technology does us no good if we can’t live to enjoy it.

LARA BRIDI, La Jolla