So... the local water board elections have always been a sleepy - TopicsExpress

So... the local water board elections have always been a sleepy affair, the same incumbents run unopposed year after year, doing their best to administer a precarious situation. We are not on the California aqueduct system here; we run off a series of wells. The current drought has exacerbated a growing problem -- a growing population and booming tourist business has us overdrawing our wells, leading to salt-water intrusion (were right beside the Pacific). The water board has said we all have to cut usage by 20% for a decade or two to get our wells healthy again. Any new hotels and such are having an extremely difficult time getting water permits. Sensible people, civic-minded folks see this as something we all need to do together. Corporations being the people they are, have mounted a slate of sock puppet candidates to take over the water board and get the taps turned back on. They are pouring money into our town with an anti-hippie campaign. They have bought the one-and-only billboard and put a message We need to put a stop to this!! Well, now the incumbents have election signs on all the lawns around town, trying to keep control of the water board. Where did the $$$ come from for this? The Sierra Club has showed up in town, bankrolling the hippies. This is all so upsetting. The Turn The Taps On team doesnt have a strategy for our water usage future; theyre just there to issue permits to the hotels and other outside businesses that bankrolled them.