Gov. Cox asked that we all pray for rain. Well, Gov. Cox never met my grandmother. Forty-five years ago this wise woman told me you can pray all you want but you better be willing to put in the effort to make it happen. The governor seems to forget that we have had science predicting worse and worse droughts. For over two decades we have been warned, but the Republican party and their so-called leaders have ignored the science and threw all their eggs in the pot with the to-hell-with-the-consequences, there-is-money-to-be-made crowd. They have happily supported those activities that have been shown to be a contributing factor of our current crisis.
In Utah it takes 8 gallons of water to get 1 gallon of water to the crops. Yet we have untold miles of open irrigation canals that could be covered and save water lost due to evaporation. All cities should be required to provide secondary water for their citizens to water lawns and gardens. This secondary water should be recycled gray water — nothing new here — it has been down in many arid states.
Lawns and yards should be utilizing more drought resistant landscaping, including getting rid of the predominant grass required by many cities that use too much of our precious water. Agriculture is going to need to find more efficient ways to irrigate many of their crops.
We are in the middle of a 1,200 year drought (The West Is Facing Its Worst Megadrought in 1,200 Years (gizmodo.com), yet some think all we have to do is pray. Sorry, but we need to use what has been provided for us for over 2 decades. We need to put in the effort to protect and ration what we have and find ways to better treat the earth and our precious resources. Republicans screamed when they thought Dr. Seuss was being canceled, yet apparently they have never learned the lesson of the Lorax.
If the governor wants some results from prayer it is time to also put in the work.
Russell Walters, West Haven