Going through my e-mail from the weekend, I see this one came in from Mayor Bob Saturday:
I wanted to update you on the water restrictions for Northeast Columbia. The restrictions will be the same as last year in terms of the even-odd address watering. Additionally we will limit the number of taps to 1700 until June 2009. Only 50% of the taps were used from the same allotment as last year. Any project that does not need water until June 2009 is not restricted.
Three projects that will expand our capacity to serve the Northeast will be complete by June 2009. Those projects include a 48 inch line that extends eleven miles from the Lake Murray plant to the Northeast, another tank on Old Reemer Road, and a new pumping station on Monticello Road. The Northeast will not have these distribution problems after June 2009.
The issue with the Northeast is not a matter of a lack of water. The system can now produce 146 million gallons per day. That is an increase of 20 million from last year. All of Atlanta and Raleigh were under water restrictions last summer with the drought. California is under development restrictions now.
We are asking all customers to voluntarily conserve water. Our program is called "Conserve Columbia." Material is on our website and has been mailed to customers. Thanks
Thought I’d better give you a heads-up, seeing as how some of y’all live out that way…
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Wonder if we would have had these problems if we had anyone in local government who didn’t put short term interests over long term planning?
Considering the unfettered growth that has been allowed to occur in the Northeast Columbia area for the past decade, is it really a shocker that we’re only starting to see the impact? Overcrowded schools. Clogged roads. Water restrictions. Who would have guessed?
Impact fees. Building permit limits. Investing in roads BEFORE the buildout occurs. That’s what should have been done.
Unfortunately, all we get are the nasty side effects of a county which is controlled by developers and politicians who want to increase the tax rolls. You reap what you sow.
Building more roads is not the answer; in-fill development is. When will suburbanites learn that sprawl and building more roads is not the answer to growth, it is the problem. Dense, urban growth is the answer to the problem along with investment in reliable, speedy public transportation.
The politicians need to quit promoting development and trying increase the size of Columbia. Stop using tax dollars to build water and sewers. Make the developers pay 100% of all infrastructure costs up front and add it to the cost of the house. Let the home buyers finance their own homes, instead of existing taxpayers subsidizing the costs.