EDITORIAL CARROTS AND STICKS WHY NOT MAKE SAVING WATER ABOUT SAVING MONEY?AS Southern California's water officials prepare for dry years ahead, they should think "incentives" -- not just "penalties" -- to promote conservation. The Metropolitan Water District has announced water cuts of 30 percent to farmers, with everyone else likely to face rationing rationing, allotment of scarce supplies, usually by governmental decree, to provide equitable distribution. It may be employed also to conserve economic resources and to reinforce price and production controls. and rate increases of up to 10 percent. The MWD MWD Metropolitan Water District of Southern California MWD Measurement While Drilling (oil drilling) MWD Morgan Stanley Dean Witter (stock symbol) MWD Molecular Weight Distribution MWD Military Working Dog supplies water to most Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, cities, including Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. . And when the MWD puts the pinch on local water providers, the immediate reaction would be to pass those costs on to the users. That might be an effective way to recoup costs, but alone not the best way to do what needs to be done for long-term conservation. Changing public behavior should be the real goal. Water is a limited resource, and the recent court ruling about the delta smelt Delta smelt, Hypomesus transpacificus, are slender-bodied smelts, about 5 to 7 cm long, of the Osmeridae family. They have a steely blue sheen on the sides and seem almost translucent. Smelts live together in schools and feed on zooplankton (small fishes and invertebrates). that prompted these water cuts illustrates what our collectively cavalier attitude about water has wrought. Learning to live with less should be the goal. Technology has made this easier, with low-water clothes washers, low-flow toilets and timers for sprinklers. But sometimes it takes a strategic shove in the right direction. That means more than just water rationing. That means more than an across-the-board rate increase that punishes all users -- water hogs water hog: see capybara. and longtime water savers -- alike. And it means more than just offering water-saving tips. It means using both carrots and sticks. It means higher rates for unrepentant water hogs; cold, hard cash for longtime savers; and a challenge to everyone to cut back. Americans hate paying more, but they love a good deal -- even if the net result is the same. How about a rebate for replacing a water-sucking landscaping with a drought-tolerating one, similar to the deal the Las Vegas Valley Water District The Las Vegas Valley Water District (LVVWD) is a not-for-profit water supply agency that has been providing water to the Las Vegas Valley since 1954. The district helped build the area's water delivery system and now provides water to more than one million people in Southern Nevada. offers its users? How about rate cuts for people who consistently use 10 percent less water, similar to the DWP's highly successful electricity-saving program in 2001? If projections are correct, then the future for Southern California is hot and dry. That means that water saving must become a way of life and not just a temporary solution. |
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