Letters: Water issues still plague us

Thank you, Tom Willey, for the great water article. Our aquifer is and has been of great concern as the bread basket of our nation taps into it to raise water to the surface to nourish the crops we grow here in California.

Additionally, we tap into it to quench the thirst of our communities, old and new. If we choose to live here, water will continue to be our lifeblood. Fortunately, water is a renewable resource, but to replenish, the aquifer takes years for the water provided by rain and snow to percolate into the underground lakes that we have been draining.

It is time that we realize that people like living in California and will continue to need more and more water as the population grows. The decision that ought to be made is whether we will take advantage of God’s replenishment efforts of supplying rain and snow by building surface storage to abate the need for wells that drain the aquifer. Surface storage allows us to take advantage of wetter years and store the water for dry stretches as well as aid in the percolation process of holding water back from the ocean and allowing it to replenish our underground supply. Over the years, California developed a tremendous network to transport surface water to agriculture and communities. We ought to be using that network to its fullest extent.

Environmental concerns for wildlife and real estate have been the driving force that have blocked the construction of surface storage. In the past several years our wildfires have destroyed more real estate and killed more wildlife than surface storage ever would.

For us to live (us meaning human and all of God’s other creatures), we need water. Wake up people and tell the environmental concerns to get real. Let’s build some more surface storage and maybe even add a hydro electric plant or two to supply clean electrical power to California.

— Respectfully,

Keith Rigby,

Madera