Start conserving more water

The present drought we are in, both short-term and longterm, is not generating the responses needed. As I read through the impacts to and reactions from municipalities up and down the Front Range, I’m disappointed by the lack of long-term planning outside of larger reser voirs like the Gross Dam Expansion or the Northern Integrated Supply Project in Fort Collins.

All of us must embrace the reality of water scarcity here along the Front Range and do something useful about it. Battles for “our water” over in Thornton, down in Denver and right here in Boulder miss the point and solve nothing.

Trying to get “our fair share” merely results in less water in places like the Gulf of California, which is becoming more and more salinated, resulting in an environmental disaster directly related to our water addiction. Wholesale destruction of riparian environments up and down the Colorado, Arkansas and Platte river watersheds are another large-scale problem related to Front Range water needs.

Instead of feeding the ever-increasing water grab, ever y city, town and county needs to implement changes to reduce our demands. Incentive programs to encourage xeriscaping of homes should be put in place. Replacement programs for water-hogging appliances and spray-irrigation systems need to be undertaken. Grasses like Kentucky bluegrass should be banned, replaced by more drought-tolerant grasses in our parks.

Finally, no irrigation should be allowed for any public or commercial landscaping that isn’t a park. These are all reasonable steps taken by other places in the Southwest such as Phoenix and Albuquerque, and as climate change makes the Front Range water problem worse, they will inevitably be needed here as well. We should take these steps now to prevent worsening the environmental catastrophes we are already causing.

J.V. RUDD Louisville