Nonsense!
The July 6 Tribune editorial headline reads: “Utah needs to use less water. So water needs to cost more.”
Baloney.
Thankfully, the editorial verbiage improves on the headline. Even so, increasing the cost of water does not solve the drought problem.
It means affluent homeowners have lush, green lawns while homes of lesser-income families end up surrounded by combustible weeds. It means country club golf courses have manicured fairways and satin-smooth greens while municipal golf courses offer hard-as-rock fairways and unreadable greens. It means wealthy corporate farms buy up water rights and install expensive metering systems while family farms struggle to survive. It means that instead of solving the drought issue by finding new water supplies — as humans have always done — we ignore necessary long range solutions in favor of temporary feel good bandaids.
Instead of higher water costs, how about better leadership?
Don Gale, Salt Lake City
Donate to the newsroom now. The Salt Lake Tribune, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) public charity and contributions are tax deductible