EDITOR,

Friday’s column, “Water rising to unpopular levels,” by Jon Mendelson, reminded me of a conversation with coworkers from Israel when we traveled to one of our offices in the El Dorado Hills. They were blown away by how much open space was still available and asked, “Why are there no buildings and houses in this open space?”

My answer was that water is a precious resource used by not only residents but also California’s large agricultural industry. We also need to send some water back to Mother Nature to continue the little cycle of life we all take for granted. I had to explain that California is a glorified grassland desert and that further housing expansion always leads to water turf wars between developers and farmers.

Their response: “Dam all the rivers, send nothing back to the sea. That’s what we do in Israel.” I smiled and said it’s always more complicated than that. One environmental group or another will latch onto some unknown indigenous species that would be decimated by another large dam project.

My comments were met with disdain and a who-cares attitude. Coming from a country with a landmass no larger than New Jersey, I can understand where the Israelis are coming from. My co-workers have little perspective of our landmass in the states until they get here in person.

Given the existing state and federal economies with the recent slump in the housing market, all Californians need to look at any new large housing development with jaundiced eyes. Adding another large Delta pipeline to Los Angeles will only fuel growth in a region with no real resources to do it without help from Northern California.

There are several developers who would hate to read this. But as the eighth-largest economy in the world, Californians need to work together as a united front and plan for efficient use of our precious water.

— Sean Smith, Tracy

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