Water Problem: ‘The Dry Years’

Your editorial (“The Dry Years,� Feb. 2) with respect to the water problem makes good sense. We should have contingency plans in the event of a fourth drought year. With or without the drought, your championing of conservation measures is a good idea. However, conservation alone is not the answer!

According to L.A. 2000, by the turn of the century there will be 4 million more inhabitants in Southern California than there were in 1985. By 2010, there will be 6 million more people. Stated another way, we will add a city the size of Boston to Southern California by the year 2000.

Conservation alone will not provide the water needed for these new residents. This is particularly so because of threats we face to our other sources. Mono Basin supplies for the L.A. Aqueduct are jeopardized by lawsuits. Our rights to Colorado River water have also been cut back. About half the wells in the Los Angeles River basin been shut down on account of underground pollution. A draft State Water Resources Control Board report proposed that water deliveries through the California Aqueduct be cut back to 1985 levels.

Our predecessors showed great prescience in constructing the Los Angeles, Colorado, and California aqueducts over the years so as to provide adequate water for the growth of Southern California. We owe our children and grandchildren no less.

The solution appears to be multifold. We must continue to insist that we receive the water from the north that we have contracted for. At great cost, we have already built the facilities that are necessary to transport that water.

Obviously, we should clean up the wells in the San Fernando Valley, and you have recently reported progress in that direction. At L.A.’s expense, we have been lining irrigation ditches in other parts of the state, so as to free up water for suburban use. We are doing our best to hold on to our Mono Basin and Colorado River water sources, and at considerable expense, we have built huge reservoirs to store water and tide us over dry spells. We are continually recycling more water, and yes, the MWD and other water agencies here have been active in promoting conservation. This makes good sense.

JOHN C. ARGUE

Los Angeles