We Should Stop Wasting Water

As most of you know, water remains one of the most pressing issues facing our state and region. Whether or not our drought is ending cannot yet be determined, though future droughts are a certainty.

I have long supported initiatives that would increase local water supplies. While a member of the Escondido City Council, I was an early supporter of the `toilet to tree’ plan. I joined with Escondido Growers for Agricultural Preservation (EGAP) to support using recycled wastewater to irrigate the citrus and avocado groves on the city’s perimeter. Since the capacity of the city’s outfall pipeline that delivers Escondido’s excess wastewater to the ocean is insufficient for future growth, a costly upgrade will soon become necessary. Instead of spending millions to upgrade the pipeline, Escondido is now building the first part of a multi-phased project to deliver this water to local farmers and other users. While this solution won’t work everywhere, the plan could become a model for the entire state.