I was both astounded and disappointed by your
simplistic analysis of water issues in the article, “Taking the
West Forward” (HCN, 12/6/04: Taking the West Forward).
HCN states matter-of-factly that additional
freshwater needs to be moved to meet the evolving needs of the
West’s urban areas, and offers an unqualified endorsement of
lining rural earthen canals with concrete to prevent seepage. The
primary evolving water needs of urban areas in the West are caused
by sprawl that destroys wildlands and that paves over (or lawns
over) fertile farmland. That seepage from earthen canals percolates
through the soil to replenish groundwater aquifers, and those
concrete lining projects you praised are often undertaken over the
objections of — rather than with the cooperation of —
the farmers whose farms overlie this groundwater.
The
issues and solutions are far more complex than
HCN indicates.
Paul Stanton
Kibel, Policy West
Alameda, California
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Water made simple — much too simple.
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