Water Shortage Threatens California

Re “Farmers Oppose Call to Idle Land,” June 17: When Imperial Irrigation District board member Bruce Kuhn described U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) as a “bureaucratic gasbag, pig-eyed sack of crap,” I discounted his comments as an unnecessary and crude diatribe. Then I saw Kuhn’s picture--standing in one of his alfalfa fields--on an inside page. Taking in his arms-folded-over-his-chest posture and his ample belly protruding over his belt, I concluded that his ill-advised comments about Feinstein might have more fittingly been directed at himself.

But the incident might help us focus on the problem that Feinstein alluded to: a water shortage in California that will make today’s energy shortages seem insignificant. The senator’s recommendation that a part of the Imperial County farmers’ water be sold to San Diego County’s residents addresses only a tiny part of the problem. We need to tackle this monumental problem--the absolute necessity for life-giving water in California. Tempus fugit.

Charles R. Barr

Upland