Oral presentation before Pasadena City Council on water rates June 22, 2009, by David O. Powell, B.S. Civil Engineering, Cal-Tech; former U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers, formerly California Dept. of Water Resources Chief
Engineer of San Diego office; water and hydro-electric engineer with
Bechtel Corporation; Assistant Chief Engineer Alameda County Water
District; Vice-President and Chief of Planning for Bookman-Edmonston
Engineering, Glendale, California; presently retired and residing in Pasadena, California.
The time I have is not adequate for a full explanation of my concerns on water rates. So, at the end of this oral presentation, i'll provide you with a written supplement.
Let me use the balance of my time to express some concerns about your overall drought planning.
There is a very good chance that the severity of the water shortage Pasadena may experience will prove far more severe than you expect. How much more severe remains unevaluated by the City.
If it's as severe as I expect it could be, I don't know how you are going to cope with it. Not by pretending that decreased use of water on traditional landscaping results in an equal savings in water availability. Not by withholding drinking water in restaurants.
I suspect the only way you're going to get through the repetition of a drought comparable to those affecting the State Water Project supplies twice during the last century is to:
1. Increase your overdraft on Raymond basin ground water.
2. Destroy the existing traditional landscaping in Pasadena
3. Impose draconian measures to decrease interior water use.
4. Obtain a temporary stay of the restrictions on pumping State Water Project Water from the Sacramento- San Joaquin Delta.
Some of those measures might prove rather unpopular with many of your constituents.
I wish you good luck. I think you're going to need it.
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