Water Shortage and Growth

It was interesting to read the front-page article “Water Shortages May Close Tap on Growth” (April 14). I would like to share some issues not covered in the article.

The building industry does not cause growth, we build because of it. Case in point: of the 5.5 million new people expected to be added to Southern California’s population by the year 2010, 68% will be born here in the Southland. You can rightly assume that they will need water, jobs and housing. People cause growth, not carpenters (unless they have large families).

Our industry has a responsibility to the social and economic fabric of Southern California to try to keep pace with the demand for shelter, new factories and commercial centers needed to accommodate the expected arrival of the next generation.

Water is not a commodity that should, or can, be utilized to stop growth. Who do developers and builders help?

Currently, in the counties of Riverside, San Bernardino, Orange, Los Angeles and Ventura, more than 238,000 men and women are directly employed in the building and construction industry. The permit valuation of the work they perform is currently worth a conservative $18 billion to our economy. The payroll for these workers and the purchase of materials and supplies generates jobs for another 364,000 households in these five counties.

As a former member of the State Water Resources Control Board, I call tell you with authority that we have water, but we lack the storage capacity we need to keep as much of it as we should.

The Building Industry Assn. of Southern California (BIA/SC) is calling for the following in order to ensure that enough water is available for the people of Southern California:

1. Conservation, yes! Newly constructed homes are more water efficient than older homes, and as of January, 1992, all new construction will be required to install very low-flow 1.6 gallon per flush water closets. The same requirement should be made for the resale of existing housing.

2. Water reclamation and recycling must become a priority goal for California. We need to reuse our water whenever possible and practical.

3. Let us price our water for what it actually costs. Water subsidies do not promote conservation.

4. We must finish the State Water Project. Twelve years of idleness on this issue worked against state residents in this drought. Protection of the Sacramento Delta need not be forgotten; it can be accommodated in finishing the program.

Construction is not an issue, it is a symptom. Population expansion will not disappear due to a lack of shelter or a lack of water. If we plan on how we are to accommodate the next generation, we will have less to fear than if we do not.

KENNETH W. WILLIS

Executive Vice President, BIA/SC

Diamond Bar