RANCHO CORDOVA, CA (MPG) - The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, is where the phrase, “Water, water, everywhere, nor any drop to drink,” came from. The person who said that in the story was a sailor on a becalmed ship that was surrounded by salt water that he could not drink. There are a few people in California (40 million) who seem to have a continuing problem about water when it comes to where it is, where it should go, or how much water the citizens in Northern California should be allowed to drink. The last thing I heard was that someone is going to be fined $1,000 for either drinking too much or using too much water…or something like that. We are not going to hire “water cops” to make sure someone doesn’t drink too much water.

The “Waterfix” has been going round and round and round for years, and the solution (or Waterfix) that the Governor wants approved before he leaves office is to get two huge tunnels that will move a large amount of the Sacramento River water to Southern California. He said that would ensure that 26 million citizens of California would be sure to get the amount of water they want. I still wonder, however, what about the other 14 million citizens in Northern California?

Looking back in time, the Peripheral Canal Act was on the June ballot in 1982. The vote was 3,444,483 against and 2,049,042 for, so it was kept quiet for a while; but now the canal has appeared wearing another costume called the twin tunnels. Quite a charade, but still a wolf in sheep’s clothing the way I see it. And now another thing (or things) appeared in the news regarding the City of Sacramento talking about selling more Sacramento water to Southern California.

Now let’s see; the Governor wants to build two huge tunnels ($16 billion) (Waterfix) to move Sacramento River water to Southern California. The City of Sacramento wants to sell more Sacramento River water to Southern California. There is no discussion by anybody about lowering the amount of water that is already being sent to Southern California from Northern California using the California Aquifer, which was built in the 60’s. The citizens of Northern California are being told that they have to begin using less water, then less water, etc. or the water companies (maybe) will have to pay $1,000 in fines. I’m not sure what else will come up with the “Water Wars” in California, but when Mark Twain said, “Whiskey is for Drinking; Water is for Fighting Over,” maybe he was more of a prophet than he realized.

From Vice Mayor Bob McGarvey, God bless, and see you next time.