Letters: Look beyond desalination

Re “Get the salt out,” Opinion, Feb. 7

As David Helvarg’s thoughtful, nuanced and balanced article suggests, desalination is no panacea for California’s drought.

Helvarg is right to insist on remedies that don’t increase carbon emissions, which is one of several problems that make desalination problematic. I see no quick technical fix.

At the same time, I’m not seeing local governments and businesses in Southern California taking decisive actions to curb water use on the part of residents and customers. Such actions, when coupled with the use of reclaimed runoff water that can be brought to potable standards, would be serious and effective first steps in addressing this drought.

Thomas Osborne

Laguna Beach

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