It should come as no surprise that a water crisis is looming for all Californians. As the State has grown, the sources of our water supplies have diminished, and a period of water scarcity and drought conditions once again are plaguing all of the western United States.
Of course Long Beach is no exception and it’s our time for a call to action. Years of work and money have gone into developing a salt water to fresh water prototype, but in reality this new direction for our city has been a slow, difficult, and perhaps over regulated process.
Our city owned water department needs to be commended for its scientific innovation in developing an energy efficient model to convert salt to fresh water but they cannot solve our Long Beach water problems single handedly.
We’re practically surrounded by water. However, to really take this water scarcity problem seriously, our great American reputation for innovation and ingenuity have got to become center stage. Should it be time to look at our city’s future infrastructure plans and incorporate a reclaimed water system for not just parks, limited industrial use, and water table recharging but for residences and commercial use?
This notion is not going to be cheap but neither are the consequences of an incomplete water conservation and scarcity planning roadmap for Long Beach. A secondary reclaimed water supply available to tie into in our neighborhoods for those who chose to have a two household water system shouldn’t be left as a matter of last resort.
Recycling is now a way of life for all of us. The time is ripe for us to look to the present and not wait for the crisis to become unmanageable before we plan for a city with its residents that used good common sense to prepare itself for the future.
Ray Kroc, the founder of McDonalds once wrote that “persistence and determination” are omnipotent. Not a bad way to look at how to get ourselves way ahead of the oncoming water crisis that certainly is just around the corner.