In July, the Governor passed an Executive Order asking the people of the state to reduce our water consumption by 15%. HERE.
Because of the unique circumstances in OUR county, Marin Water District (MWD) asked those of us in Marin to reduce our water consumption by 40%. HERE.
In a recent meeting of the Fairfax Town Council, one resident asked, "If I am using 100 gallons per day per person, is that ok?" The answer, at that time, was yes, that was a reasonable number.
But yesterday, the California Water Resources Control Board released data that shows us that we are not meeting ANY of the needed reductions, as a state, or as a County. HERE. Even if we are using only 100 gallons per day per person.
Some of us may not believe that the climate is changing. But, go look at our reservoirs; your eyes will show you that we are in a water crisis.
Friends and neighbors, we are running out of water. We are not doing what we need to do to make the needed difference.
Maybe it will rain a lot this year, and all of this will, temporarily, recede from view. And maybe not. And, even if we do get some rain, it will take about 140% of normal rainfall to get us back to "normal." And, all signs point to the fact that dryness will be our new norm. And, pressures for the town population to grow are mounting.
Let's not put our heads in the sand.
Let's take a clear-eyed view of our reality, and let's accept our responsibility to do what is right for our community, for our County, for our state, for our world. And, unfair as it might be, there are going to be people who won't stop watering their lawns, and who think they can afford to pay for more water, so they will not heed the call; putting an even greater burden on the rest of us.
I am using about 100 gallons per per day. I am going to heed the call of MWD, the call of the state, the call of nature, the call to serve all of you, my friends and neighbors; I am going to try to get my consumption down by 40% - more, if I can, to make up for people who refuse to do so.
So, let's all work to cut our consumption as low as we can. Let's also urge the Town Council to use 10% of our ARPA money to help us. Together we can do what we must do.
Thank you.