dudu

Mr. Lovely - I can tell you feel passionately about this, but you are off on several facts. First, while Bend will inevitably grow in the future, our actual water needs have declined significantly in the past 5 years, giving us ample time for circumspect planning, thereby avoiding haphazardly spending gazillions of dollars. Moving to wells when we DO need additional supply and adding capacity gradually will avoid suddenly skyrocketing water bills. Second, while the aquifer is finite, it is also VASTLY greater than any amount we would ever need to support fish, farms and cities in central oregon (check the science on this if you're not convinced). Third, groundwater doesn't need the filtration that surface water does because it's cleaner, so keeping surface water is actually a (very expensive) liability in this regard. Fourth, please explain how Tumalo Irrigation would benefit from the city abandoning surface water? Do you know how water rights work? And claiming that nobody cared about the fishery before means you have not been paying very close attention to the restoration that's been occurring on Tumalo Creek for years. Finally, many citizens tried repeatedly to participate in the "process" of evaluating the SWIP, but city staff kept the "studies" (now proven incompetent) under wraps until after city council voted on the project. Claiming we could have participated on the front end is hogwash. There are a limited few who stand to benefit from this project and a whole town that will have to pay for it. Between our declining water demand and excess well capacity, we've got plenty of time to take the slow & steady approach to water supply.