Malibu Times Multimedia Director Julie Ellerton asks Malibu: “What are your thoughts on the California Water Crisis?”
“Water is the seed of life. As rain drops on Mother Earth, she gives birth to rainbows. Our creation story tells of our people crossing over on a rainbow bridge. The birth right of our children depends on a healthy environment and water is the lifeline of our earth. We must enforce our water laws. Right now, we are growing strawberries, grass, grapes … wasting water on plants we don’t need. We need to go back to our native habitat to remind us our connection to life.”
“As a vegetarian, I think it’s extremely important to consume less meat and dairy products, which is directly linked to the water issues we are having since the meat industry uses an extreme amount of water, not only to feed the animals, but to slaughter and clean up after them, which also ends up contaminating the water supply, which means even less usable water.”
“The crisis started 10 years ago. We failed to recognize it at that time. We had a couple years of good rain. I had suggested desalination plants, there’s one currently active in Carlsbad and one just opened in Camarillo and they’re reactivating the one in Santa Barbara. We need one in the L.A. basin. That’s where we are.”
“I feel it’s truly devastating. Not only is my business based on water consumption, but I feel that this is farther reaching than that—to the point that it threatens survival on many levels. I take short showers and turn off the water when brushing my teeth, but we need a lot more than that to change things.”
“I think it’s something that people overlook a lot of times. It’s just so convenient to use more water, do that extra carwash, and things like that. Sometimes you don’t see the bigger effects of the small things you use, but when everyone keeps using water, it can have a bigger effect then you think. My roommate is super aware of all of this, he pushes me to always think of the little things, even if it’s turning off the shower while you wash your hair, turning the faucet off.”