What The Canditates Won't Discuss

My landlord obsesses about water. It is included in our rent—apparently with reservations. The tenants have been using a lot of water so his bill is very high. He has gone out of his way to make that apparent to us. Water is a treasured commodity. I’ve lived in Southern California all my life and it’s always been an issue.

It was an issue in 1960 when, “…California voters approved financing for construction of the initial features of the State Water Project (SWP). The project includes some 22 dams and reservoirs, a Delta pumping plant, a 444-mile-long aqueduct that carries water from the Delta through the San Joaquin Valley to southern California. The project begins at Oroville Dam on the Feather River and ends at Lake Perris near Riverside.” My friend John lives in Paradise near Orovillle, a trip by car of twelve hours. I take it for granted (as my landlord reminds me) when I turn on the tap. No wonder water level in the Sierra is so important to California. Hopefully they are right about this being an El Nino year so that we won’t have another shortage.

A brutal and terrible shortage may hit us quite hard in six months. News reports say there will be a bacon shortage. A vegetable or fruit shortage would not alarm me. I will pay extra for the salad I eat every three months. Take away my bacon and I will weep. What will I eat with my biscuits and gravy? My pancakes won’t be sweet and savory without the crunch of bacon. I will have to buy a freezer and stock up. It will be a difficult winter this year unless things take a turn. No long hot showers and no bacon for breakfast. These are hard things yet I’ve not heard them addressed by either presidential candidate. These are dark times. Tomorrow I start stocking up.