Construction will exacerbate water problems

Thank you for your informative article of June 5 regarding a proposed rezoning in Kern County to high-density housing.

I understand that the county may be out of compliance unless we make changes. In particular, the state is recommending nearly 15,000 units of high-density residential housing.

It’s interesting to note the conflict in the messaging coming from our state government. On the one hand, we are asked to conserve water. In fact, we may well be facing more mandatory restrictions in that regard.

On the other hand, the average home uses about 360 gallons of water per day, which is about 10,800 gallons per month. Areas such as Lake Isabella, Antelope Valley and Belridge, which are areas in which the state is recommending that these units be constructed, already have water shortages.

More construction will only exacerbate the issue. The conflicting message from the state leadership is obvious.

Of course, no politician would consider placing a moratorium on new construction. If they did, it would be their last term of office. However, I don’t see any other viable choice for the state of California.

All major rivers in California are already dammed, some with multiple dams. More dams would simply collect the paltry remainder of the existing water, leaving almost nothing for migratory fish, waterfowl and recreation. More dams would not make more water — only precipitation can make more water and we’re seeing very little of that.

Desalinization of salt water is currently prohibitively expensive. However, when we run out of ground water, we will have little choice but to use water from that source. We will all be paying a larger percentage of our income for water.

Perhaps it is time to consider a moratorium on new, residential construction in areas where water shortages are most acute.

— Gary Bray, Bakersfield