Letter: Water (March 31, 2015)
Hesperia, CA — Not Bravo! Not bravo because Mr. De La Cruz has misreported the facts in his bias to continue reportage to mold a perception of the wholesomeness of Hesperia City politics.
Mr. De La Cruz attended the City Council meeting and he heard the careful explanation about how much water was being purchased. The only thing immediately correct in his report is the expenditure amount, $2,500,000. What is wholly INCORRECT is the amount of water which was purchased and how much was paid per acre-foot of water (an acre-foot is about 300,000 gallons). The city did NOT buy 500 acre-feet but did buy 300 acre-feet. That makes the cost of that water approximately $8,300 per acre-foot and not the $5,000 per acre-foot which Mr. De La Cruz so carefully attempts to PROVE is an average amount.
Mr. De La Cruz gave us the names of everyone who quoted incorrect water perceptions but he could not remember the name of the one person who correctly quoted the truth of the matter.
It is ludicrous to imagine that City Council member Holland believes that because of the drought the city should continue to buy water. You cannot BUY that which doesn’t exist. If it does not rain and it does not snow there is no water to buy.
Desert residents should remember that our replacement water comes from the State of California and they don’t have any water to deliver to us. In fact, this week, the state passed further restrictions on water use because of the on-going/lingering drought. The truth is that no one knows how long the drought will last, not the pro-development Mr. De La Cruz or Mr. Holland. Their perceptions emanate from a pro-building bias, at any cost. No matter how high the taxes and fees become, as long as construction jobs are created for workers which will travel from outside of the Victor Valley to go to work. We noticed that the Building Industries Association (BIA) was well represented during the City Council meeting and they were treated with great courtesy.
Source: Al Vogler, TheLibertyPoint.com