Watchdog says it all on council hubris...

Watchdog says it all on council hubris

Dolores Otting’s Watchdog piece in the March 6 Sunday Forum pages

“Talk about building, and they will come” -- about the new city hall

promotion -- says it all!

The insensitivity, poor judgment and hubris repeatedly exhibited

by this City Council is just amazing. Council members seem to have an

unerring knack for picking issues that the residents are likely to

jam down their throats.

I’m also wondering how our council could take nearly six months to

get the first meeting of the Marinapark ad hoc committee off the

ground but could approve a huge consulting contract and schedule

three public forums on the new city hall, all to be completed within

two months.

I guess it all depends on how badly you want something, doesn’t

it?

MAUREEN AHEARN

Newport Beach

Reducing ‘waste’ water is logical

In Steve Bolton’s Sunday cartoon in the March 6 Forum pages, the

dog says: “Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it...” in regard to

potable recycled water.

Since the drawing of the human could be of me, my response would

be: “I’m very used to it. All of my ancestors -- and for that matter

all of humankind -- has always been drinking recycled water.”

There is no new water being created. We have many common

classifications of water, but new is not among them. There’s potable,

reclaimed, ocean, heavy and more. The classification that is the most

appropriate is “waste” water. This covers what goes down our drains,

through sewage treatment and then is “wasted” because it is dumped

into the ocean after it is almost cleaned up.

“Purple pipe” water is one current way being used to reduce the

“waste” of this valuable commod- ity, in a distributed way. “Purple

pipe” water (treated “waste water” not purified to potable level)

makes perfect sense.

Why use our best quality water for irrigation? By taking the water

from this level of purity and passing it through additional

purification processes, ground water replenishment is the next

logical step in reducing our “waste” of water.

There may come a time when all of the water (currently 250 million

gallons each day) being “wasted” through the sanitation district

ocean outfall will be recycled. So, if the idea of drinking “recycled

water” makes your stomach queasy, it’s nothing new. Get used to it.

DENNIS BAKER

Corona del Mar

* Editor’s note: Baker is a board member and volunteer naturalist

for the Newport Bay Naturalists and Friends and a member of the city

of Newport Beach Coastal/Bay Water Quality Citizen Advisory

Committee.