Comment Number: 3942 . Left by Steve on December 15th, 2009 - 9:37 am :

Colorado had one of the worst droughts in US history back in the 1980’s (and unlike Atlanta, did something about it by building reservoirs to catch the snow melt in the spring when they couldn’t get rain in the summer and fall). They are conditioning themselves now so that it is not an issue when there are times of drought.

Texas has similar problems. The water won’t necessarily always be there, so if you learn to take shorter showers now, it will not be as hard to learn to do that in times of water crisis. This has nothing to do with Niagara Falls or Africa, and nobody is pretending it is. This has to do with YOUR limited natural resources. Don’t forget, God sometimes teaches us those little lessons of humility so that we learn just how small we are, likely in the hopes that we learn from the experience and become better for it.

Comment Number: 3943 . Left by thecerebralgarage on December 15th, 2009 - 10:20 am :

YOu can’t save Niagra Falls according to Al Gore. Only HE can save Niagra Falls…..And Steve,last time I checked,Texas really doesn’t have a whole lot of places to save our annual snow melt,EXCEPT THE GULF OF MEXICO.

Comment Number: 3944 . Left by Larry Lea Odom-Groh on December 15th, 2009 - 10:43 am :

I grew up in West Texas [Lamesa] where water shortages were always a problem. The wells are draying up and the rivers there are inch wide creeks… We always let God water the brown lawn.

Comment Number: 3945 . Left by Lowandslow on December 15th, 2009 - 11:00 am :

Your conservation plan has merit, Steve. But let me instead suggest this: Have you ever noticed how people drive LESS when the price of gas goes UP? Why not price water based on availability? In normal times people pay $ for all the water they want. If supplies get tight eveyone gets a basic quantity of water for $, but after that basic amount the price goes to $$. In extreme water shortage situations the base price for a modest amount of water is $, then the next quantity increment costs $$$, then the next quantity increment costs $$$$$$, etc. I GUARANTEE people will voluntarily conserve under this plan. But why penalize people 24/7/365 if there is no need to?

Pastor Larry…I spent many years as a freshman at Texas Tech in Lubbock *wink*, so I understand what you mean. The aquifer there is in real trouble, but at the same time agricultural irrigation, a huge user of water there, is VERY inefficient. That needs to be looked at. Beyond that, I’m not well versed enough to talk about it.

Comment Number: 3946 . Left by lunamor on December 15th, 2009 - 11:25 am :

They do that money thing in Albuquerque There is something called “average residential usage.” If you go over, your water bill automatically doubles. It works pretty well here - our water conservation program has done really well, which is good because our water sitch is always bad though, given where we’re located. To be honest, I wouldn’t give it a second thought if I lived in Illinois again, where water is not a problem.

Comment Number: 3947 . Left by Steve on December 15th, 2009 - 12:07 pm :

Ben, not sure I follow you. You mean, Texans don’t know how to dig big holes in the ground where water can be diverted? It’s the 2nd biggest state in the country, surely you have SOME land that can be used as reservoirs.

And while many of the rivers do source in Texas and see little snow, surely some come from New Mexico (Rio Grande, for example) or other states (the Red River) that see snow, and higher levels in the Spring. In fact, Lake Texoma was created for the purpose of flood control, water and electricity. That’s what I’m talking about. The Atlanta area has a few reservoirs built simply to capture water runoff during rain and provide supplemental water sources.

L&S, the pricing system works, but education is needed too. Atlanta was able to conserve water 2 years ago during our historic drought without changes in price. People bought rain barrels, they installed regulators, etc. But, if you would rather have the pricing structure, go right ahead. We never changed the price, we simply fined the morons a couple thousand dollars if they were seen pressure-washing their driveway during the drought.

Comment Number: 3948 . Left by Puma on December 15th, 2009 - 12:30 pm :

I live in the desert and it seems like it would make the most sense to save water here. About a year ago I started pursuing the idea of putting gutters on my house and diverting the runoff into storage tanks. In the process I discovered that the average cost to me of water was one quarter of one penny per gallon. $.0025/gallon. I was surprised. The tanks and gutters were not cheap. Not the ones big enough to hold the runoff from a single monsoon storm here anyway. I calculated that the whole project would never pay for itself. Not even over my whole remaining life. Not as long as the water is that cheap. Trust me, I’m a “green” type of guy, but I’m also a bean counter. The numbers just didn’t work in favor of the project. But why is it so cheap here in the desert? I guess we have a pretty large aquifer, but I think the gummint is subsidizing it to promote growth. And the developers want growth. And the hotels need their golf courses here to attract customers. Business as usual i guess. I agree with you - Let the price reflect the economic reality.

Comment Number: 3949 . Left by Fin on December 15th, 2009 - 1:09 pm :

Ref long hot showers, water is only one half of the issue. In this part of the world (not going to Dixie for a few more days) it is a whole lot more expensive to make the water hot. Taking shorter showers saves money from pocket as well as saving planet.

Comment Number: 3950 . Left by lowandslow on December 15th, 2009 - 5:22 pm :

But Fin….here we heat water with natural gas, and to put it in terms you can identify with, Texas has more natural gas than New York has sleazy bankers.

Comment Number: 3951 . Left by Ros on December 15th, 2009 - 9:04 pm :

By the time all of the water is used up in Missouri. I will not be here anyway. So I think it is safe to go ahead and take my nice hot bath. I will let you younger ones worry about it.