OPINION: Not so persistent precipitation
Saddleback College received an unpredicted but necessary downpour last Wednesday afternoon. The rain continued for approximately an hour after the first drop.
California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington states have experienced their hottest year on record, according to a report released last month by the NOAA.
The unexpected rain arrived in the middle of perhaps the hottest week of summer 2015 has provided. Hours before the rain, temperatures in Mission Viejo and surrounding cities were hitting low 90-degree heat with estimated rise of temperature.
People on campus were dressed for a hot summer day, not expecting to be soaked. Some students were wearing warm-weather clothing such as skirts with heels, shorts and tank tops. Most were not properly attired for the afternoon deluge.
The days following Wednesday did not provide precipitation and instead led temperatures to rise until Sunday.
There is no doubt California is in an almost emergent-state. The state of California has released media presentations to run during television and radio commercial breaks in an effort to preserve and utilize water reserves.
California is right to spend large amounts for public water preservation notices. If our drought continues it could and may lead to an economical devastation.
The devastation is part of an economical ripple effect. The ripple is cause by a single drop of water or perhaps in our case a lack of drops that start in a small area but after time affect many.
The first ripple would be a California farmer. If farmers have no harvest they cannot provide local communities with food.
The Second ripple belongs to the California consumers. If consumers living in California cannot purchase foods and goods from their own state they will have to buy non-local and perhaps out-of-state. Buying out-of-state goods leaves the state of California thirsty for taxes.
The third ripple and most frightening is when our state starts losing funds. When our state starts to lose funds everyone in California now and in the future will pay. We will pay by sacrificing funds going to schools, parks, beaches and countless other public places. Because if we do not fund our children in education our future could be an uneducated one with more people entering the work force rather than attending college. If beaches and parks do not get funds they will not be maintained and we could lose them all together due to trash and pollution.
We as a community must save water. Here is how we will do it.
First, we will limit our showers. The easiest way to do this is by shortening our showers in half. We could even put a timer on to make sure we don’t overuse our desired amount of water. To go further we could place a bucket in the shower while it heats up to collect the usually wasted water. With that bucket we can water plants or wash our car. Heck, we can take cold showers. Perhaps we can take showers once or twice a week and use dry shampoo for the days gone without a shower.
Second, we can change our flushing habits. Lets follow the old saying “if its yellow let it mellow. If its brown flush it down.” Also, Some of us can purchase low-flush toilets to aid in preservation.
Third, lets wash our cars intelligently. California is known for leaving our cars in dirt and dust these days due to the drought. Some of us continue to wash our cars weekly. Lets limit our car washes to once a month or less. In the time between washes use detailer to make it look showroom perfect. We can use the buckets from our shower to wash our car if need be.
Everyone could come up with a new way to save water in our drought-struck state.
