Year after year there are tremendous floods on nearly every river in western Washington (more than a dozen rivers), and every year there is whining and hand-wringing of concern about water conservation and a drought and how there isn't going to be enough water to get us through the summer.
Only a few months ago there were simultaneous news stories on local television stations and in the newspapers covering the flooding and the drought. What's wrong with this picture?
The insanity of it is that even with global climate change, even with the lack of typical rainfall to fill the regions' reservoirs through the winter months to sustain us through the next summer, it never seems to occur to public officials to increase the storage capacity of the reservoirs.
We always get the rain. We always get adequate rain. But when it comes -- such as when there is flooding -- the water runs off into the rivers and out into Puget Sound and the Pacific Ocean. It's not that the water doesn't come. The water, i.e. rainfall, does come, but the municipalities simply are never prepared to receive it and store it when it does come.
This is not a new problem. It has been going on for as many years as I can remember.
- The rain comes.
- The floods come.
- The cries of "drought" come.
- The fear of "fire season".
- The anxiety over "water restriction".
The cycle perpetuates year after year. What folly! What madness! Public utility districts need to construct more facilities to trap and store the rainwater when it comes, because it does and it will surely come. Why that precious natural resource is allowed to simply run-off into flood plains and out to sea is beyond my comprehension.
Does no one else recognize the insanity of same-day news coverage of floods AND drought?!?
