Send this story Print this story

Adjust text size

Letter: City's proposed water plan is off the mark

Michael Lambert's guest opinon last week expressed concisely and clearly why the city's proposed water efficient landscaping law is a bad idea.

Mr. Lambert points out that our water providers already charge for water on a tiered scale that increases price along with increased usage. For this reason, I simply turn off my sprinklers in the winter. Why should I water my lawn when nature does it for free?

When I do water in the summer, I do so for a few minutes at 4 or 5 a.m., only three days a week, to let the water soak in during the cool time of the morning.

With a lawn in the vicinity of 4,000 square feet, and some common sense, I've never even come close to a monthly water bill of $100 (excepting a break one month in a water line inherited from the previous owner), and rarely even come close to $50.

Someone with 1,000 square feet of lawn, and no common sense, can easily use as much water as or more water than me by watering thoughtlessly. The problem is not lawn size, but watering intelligently, as Mr. Lambert recognizes.

I hope that putting off discussion of the proposed law indicates that the City Council recognizes it made an error in proposing this ill-conceived law that would go far beyond state mandates, and is letting it quietly slip into well-deserved oblivion.

Brian Schar

Laurel Avenue, Menlo Park