Why Should People Bother to Conserve Water?
When people hear that they should conserve water, they may accept the idea out of a general sense that it’s not a good idea to waste any resources. However, California residents may not be clear about why water conservation is as important as the experts say it is.
Many Californians live near the Pacific Ocean or within a short driving distance, or they know about rivers and lakes in their communities, which can easily lead them to think that water is so abundant and easy to access that we will never experience a shortage. Potable water is easily available at the turn of a faucet, and supermarket shelves groan with a multitude of bottled water brands. Folks may ask that if saving water is such a big deal, why aren’t we hearing about it in the news every day, and why aren’t we being charged more for water to discourage wasting it?
Never Experienced a Drought
It is possible that California residents find it difficult to accept the idea of a water crisis because they haven’t personally experienced drought conditions. They may have heard from their local water government officials that they need to water their lawns only during certain times of the day, for example, and they may notice that they have low-flow toilets and low-pressure shower heads in their bathrooms, but still find it inconceivable that we might not have enough water to run our modern society in the manner in which we have become accustomed.
Focus on Money
One method to get the message across could focus on economics. Instead of encouraging people to turn off the faucet while they brush their teeth or to take shorter or less frequent showers, why not remind them that the more water they consume, the more treatment is required. If water usage increases, taxpayers will have to foot the bill to build more water treatment facilities, as well as pay for the employees to maintain and run them. When you needlessly dump water down the drain, it must be purified before someone else can use it again, and purification costs money.
However, people who have gotten used to paying a few dollars for a bottle of imported water may be slow to consider the idea that they can save money by using less water in their daily activities. They may pay more attention to rising prices in other areas, such as the cost of gasoline or food, and imagine that in a worst-case scenario, someone will figure out a way to maintain the supply of water.
California Economic Crisis
California residents may they may think that we can easily tap into aquifers and build more canals and pipes to transport the water, or that the government will construct huge desalinating plants on the state’s sandy shores to obtain fresh drinking water from the sea. However, such projects require enormous expenditures. During an economic crisis, California is cutting back on all kinds of funding, and the taxpayers could save plenty of money if they redouble their efforts to conserve more water now.
By getting people to think of wasted money every time they even consider wasting water, we may succeed in getting the message across about the importance of water conservation.
