Editor:
Referring to [“The Home Bistro”] in the Town Crier dated June 2, page 5: “The largest of our three very small water districts won’t sell water meters to owners of vacant parcels who have been making payments to build their retirement dream cabins.”
Wow, I think I saw a similar scenario on an old “Bonanza” re-run on TV. The evil land baron refused to provide river access to the surrounding cattle ranchers unless they payed an exorbitant fee for the water.
In Idyllwild, the situation is somewhat different. Here, we have the Idyllwild Water District controlling our water supply. It distributes this water to all existing customers on as fair a basis as it can come up with.
There is not enough water to serve the needs of all existing customers. So, of course, water rationing is necessary. We should all be thankful that our water company is being run in such a responsible manner.
There is not a doubt in my mind that if the water company could figure out how to make water out of dry sand, it would do so and it would immediately furnish water meters to all vacant parcels that requested them.
I have seen Foster Lake with enough water in which to fish and/or swim. It is currently is bone dry.
There is no water in Idyllwild to expand our current distribution system. My heart goes out to the people who own “vacant parcels and have been making payments to build their retirement dream cabins.”
The disappointment these people are feeling might have been averted if the realtors and escrow companies had been a little more pro-active in informing their clients of the dangers of buying real estate with no water or power connected to it.
All of us are naive in some ways. That’s the way we are. The owners of these vacant parcels are learning a hard lesson. As we get older we get wiser.
Idyllwild has wet years and dry years. From what I’ve seen in the 19 years we have lived here, most years are dry years.
I expect our utility company and our fire department to always be prepared for the worst-case scenario. Both have demonstrated they are prepared as well as they can be.
Don’t expect perfection from anyone; it doesn’t exist. If we have a very dry summer with no fires or a very wet winter allowing Idyllwild Water to connect to vacant parcels, just thank your God or your lucky stars. Just remember, you can’t turn dry sand into water.
Bob Rahman
Idyllwild
