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Written by: Connel Murray

Published: 14 January 2014

Mark Twain once famously said that everyone talks about the weather but nobody does anything about it.

This holds doubly true for sunny California and the Pacific Southwest where we’ve known for at least 75 years that at some point there would simply not be enough water to support the millions of people moving into these semi-temperate, often semi-arid lands.

We have attempted to solve the water shortage with ever-increasing storage capacity, but sheer population numbers eventually deplete those resources, since water can’t be stored unless and until it falls from the skies.

During the 1977 drought Walter Hickel, a former governor of Alaska and Secretary of the Interior, proposed sending water south from Alaska, which has one-sixth of the nation’s fresh water, and even won keen expressions of interest from Southern California water users, but these discussions ended when the rains came, although the influx of people into the Southwest continued.

Since that time our water managers have been busily rearranging the Titanic’s deck chairs, while our water supplies continue to shrink.

Although Hickel’s plan may have been a little too grandiose and costly to succeed, the basic idea was sound: Namely, get fresh water from where it’s plentiful and ship it to where it’s needed.

This would be from Canada, which has the bulk of the continent’s supply, much of it draining without significant benefit, into the Arctic Ocean.

And it might not be as expensive as one would think. Since many of the rivers of the West flow from north to south, natural waterways could be used to transport much of the water, coupled with pipelines and pumping stations.

As an example, with appropriate dams, the water of huge Great Slave Lake alone might be enough to recharge the aquifer of the Colorado River.

Of course Canadians have shown no interest in exporting this valuable commodity, but then nobody’s made them a serious offer.

It seems to me that the governors of our drought-threatened Western states – led by California – might organize a task force to explore this or other possibilities of getting the fresh water we need before our wells run completely dry.

Connel Murray lives in Kelseyville, Calif.

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Written by: Dave Gebhard

Published: 10 January 2014

There is a safety problem in our town.

Streets are not marked well enough for our elderly to walk or drive safely. It is difficult to make out the faded lines in the middle lanes or the bicycle lanes.

The reflectors on the repaired roads on parts of Lakeshore Boulevard are a godsend, but older people often cannot make out the faded lines of older roadways.

We have a higher percentage of elderly than any other county, why should they be unable to drive safely at night?

I realize that the state has been borrowing city and county taxes for years, but this year there is a surplus and our infrastructure is shameful.

We have roads and bridges that are begging for renewal. Main Street in Lakeport is an example, and I am hopeful that it will be on the repair list very soon.

I cannot stress how important it is to allow the elderly to continue to participate in society and charitable functions in the evening.

We need to make the streets safe for them to drive by making the road markings visible to all. There are crosswalks that are too faded to see by pedestrians or motorists.

Save a life, clearly mark our streets and crosswalks, for safety sake.

Dave Gebhard lives in Lakeport, Calif.

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Written by: Tom Guthrie

Published: 29 December 2013

If you saw the Record-Bee or Lake County News the other day, you know that a group was formed to overturn the county's new marijuana cultivation ordinance by collecting enough signatures to force a referendum.
 
One expects some degree of truth bending, but to collect signatures based on the “Community Alliance to Ban Illegal Cannabis Cultivation” is morally deceitful and dishonest. If sneakiness were an admirable trait …
 
The alliance says its goal is to have a “responsible and enforceable regulation.”

If true, the Board of Supervisors just approved an ordinance that is exactly that. Which is why alliance members so desperately want to kill it. So much so, in fact, that the alliance is using professionals to collect signatures.
 
So if you see them out collecting signatures, read before you sign, and tell your friends and neighbors.

I thought it was over, too.

Tom Guthrie lives in Lakeport, Calif.