EDITORIAL: With another drought, county facing new costs and fire risks
Apr. 11—What is this —a Biblical plague?
Not just the COVID-19 pandemic, which shows many signs of easing in
No, we mean the other signs that might be construed as forerunners of an imminent apocalypse
Earthquakes. Prolonged drought. Fires.
Actually, these last three probably aren't heralds of the end of the world, but have become part of our "normal" existence.
On earthquakes, a 4.0-magnitude shaker followed quickly by a 3.3-magnitude quake, rattled the
Taken by themselves, no big concern. We get "minor" quakes all the time. But we all know that as stresses build up on the many fault lines crisscrossing
But of equal, or more immediate, concern, is the drought —as our county, and the state are experiencing yet another year of scarce rainfall, the driest rainy season in seven years.
The discussion has begun about mandatory conservation measures for
The
What's also of concern in these uncertain times where many people are experiencing pandemic-related financial hardship, is that if water is rationed, then less revenue comes in to water departments, which often leads to higher rates.
That would not be good news to people struggling to pay their bills. The Sentinel reported Friday almost 12,000 Santa Cruz County PG&E customers are past due on paying their utility bills due to the pandemic. The deficit has reached more than
And the lack of rain means fire season is already upon us, and for
Earlier this month,
Last
So we're cautiously optimistic that state agencies are more prepared this season in case, or when, more devastating fires break out.
On Thursday Gov.
The additional funding is about half the governor's proposed
Let's hope we've turned a corner in terms of cooperation, because the months ahead are going to be challenging and we simply can't be over prepared.
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