Water Conservation? Please? Just a little bit? Maybe?

The sprinklers showering the grass, the children running under the water with squirt-guns and water balloons waging war on each other, the car being washed in the driveway, it was the ideal summer dream for me. As a child, summer was the best time of year. I grew up in a small rural town, Placerville, about one hour outside of Sacramento, California, where the summer temperatures reached 110 for several days, sometimes for even weeks in a row. We would commonly go to the near by reservoir to swim and occasionally boat with friends. The foothills were a great place to live and grow-up. Hot and rural enough to swim in the streams and reservoirs but close enough to go into town and occasionally to Sacramento. Life could not have been any better. However, one day, we discovered that this paradise we lived in was about to be washed down the street drain with the sprinkler water, due to some people not abiding by a few simple water conserving policies.

California is in a water crisis. The state has been is water crises for decades. We have never been at good water levels. Southern C

Most of the problem is misuse and overuse of water. If everyone did their part in saving water each day we could and would, overcome this water battle. It would not take much if everyone became involved. A few gallons a day from 34 million people would add up exponentially over a year. This might not completely fix the problem, but it could make life much easier for the Northern Californians, the people who supply all of the water but gain none of the benefits. Which brings us to our next question: Is this fair? Northern Californians give up more than fifty-percent of their most valuable resource to individuals who waste and do not appreciate it. Water should be distributed in a more fair matter. Water should be more expensive the further it is from the source and should be limited the same way throughout the state. If each person saw first-hand the result of their actions, I believe the water problem would be drastically reduced leading to a drastic, and positive, reduction of water-based problem.

alifornia is a desert. It has always been and will always be a desert. Deserts do not have water. If a large number of people live in this area water will obviously turn out to be a problem. Since people require water it is necessary for Southern Californian's to find means of transporting water into their homes and communities from other areas. The closest most convenient resource is Northern California. The geography of Northern California is a water haven for the southern part of the state. With the lakes, rivers and reservoirs, there are abundant water sources. Unfortunately these resources are not sufficient for the entire state. They are perfect for the surrounding area but not for the southern, dry part of the state. Although one state, the North and the South have set up trade agreements over water. The South is given a set amount each year and the remaining water is kept by the North. This is not a problem if the water resources are at a secure level for the year. If it is a calm summer than water resources are usually fine, but when we have very hot and dry summers we are faced with a tremendous problem. When we have these water shortage years, the North is responsible to maintain a high enough resource to not run out of water after giving the South, their allotted amount. In times of water shortage, Southern Californian's receive their water and they think nothing of it. They turn on their water and there seems to be an abundant supply from the tap. Southern Californians have always had the bad habits of misuse and overuse of water supplies. It is clear they have only small amounts of motivation or knowledge of conserving water. From washing their car in their driveway, instead of at a car wash where the water is recycled, to watering their lawn all day as well as the sidewalk, street and side of their house, water is not valued equally in the south. Unfortunately for the whole state, water conservation is a much less deal in Southern California. We must realize that it is not only the citizens of Southern Califor

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Approximate Word count = 2072
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)