Dear Editor,

I think it is time to stop trying to fix blame for the drought. The reason we are in a drought is that we have not had enough rain for some time – plain and simple. Now let’s see what we are going to do to get through it.

Almond growers are not going to go away. Cattle ranchers, dairymen and crop growers are not going to go away and the industrial users are going to stay around as are the residential users. What we need to do is try to work together.

The nut growers and the ranchers need to talk to each other and make sure that they are not pumping at the same time. They need to work out some kind of schedule so there is no overlap pumping in the same area at the same time. Also, maybe the industrial users can figure more ways to reuse more water or try to store more water when ranchers and farmers are pumping. The residential users need to talk to the farmers or ranchers to try to schedule when they are pumping and try to cut back during these times, or set up a storage system by pumping into a tank during low demand times to use during high demand times. Talk WITH one another, not AT one another. Listen to the “other guy.”

This drought will end, but droughts will happen again. Let’s learn from this one. We do not need the government telling us how to use our water. We already know what we need to do.

We all have to realize that the “other guy” is not going to pay for this and the government will not solve anything, so each of us must assume the responsibility for our own situation. We will get through this together.

Don Knickerbocker