Blog Action Day: Water.

This is Garrison Lake, a freshwater lake fed by numerous streams of pristine beauty smack in the middle of Port Orford, between main street and the Ocean.  To the South, is Hubbard Creek,  our main water source.  To the North,  the Elk River sports some of the best fishing in the West.

It rains six-eight months here.
We are water-logged most of the time.

But this town has a  dirty little secret.

Our municipal water, after it's processed and stored, is lost by 50% before it reaches its residents.  Our delivery system is ancient, leaky, broken.  Our pipes need repairing before the town can grow and prosper.  We have had this problem for a long time.

To replace this infrastructure the town needs to float bonds or tax its one thousand inhabitants, most of whom are part timers, vacationers. Nobody wants to take on a debt of fourteen million dollars to repair the water system. Everyone wants an easy,  inexpensive solution. 

We have water. We just can't deliver it!

There are many towns like ours up and down the coast, in remote areas, in places that once were bustling with fisheries or saw mills.  Many of these towns no longer have fisheries or saw mills.  Without jobs and commerce, these towns have dried out.  Their tax base cannot take on major changes. Now, most of them are havens for retirees looking for peace and natural beauty. Retirees, usually on fixed income, do not vote for bonds or taxes.

Clean, potable water is the first thing a town needs to deliver.
When this need is neglected, we can't survive.

For discussions and articles on water and other environmental issues visit:
Island Press.org
This was written for Blog Action Day October 15, 2010.

Down on the lake

Lake Garrison has a thin dune separating its waters from the Pacific Ocean. Every winter since we've been here (six winters now) the dune is erased, crushed by waves an winds; then, the lake becomes a lagoon for a few years. We get almost 80 inches of rain every year, mostly in the winter, and between the marine layer, the fog, the rain and the sea spray, we are sorrounded by water. Within a few miles, three wild rivers flow freely to the Ocean. Water Everywhere.

Still, we have a water shortage. Our town's infrastructure is old, very old. Of the water we process, we lose 50% due to old pipes and leaks. Our water treatment facility needs an overall. But there are too few of us to afford a new system. We are paying for a sewer system that was totally destroyed during a winter storm before it was paid up. And we are paying for a newer system as well. Our water and sewer cost equal the cost of food on a monthly basis.

Many small towns have these problems. They seem idyllic and pastoral; but, without some government or state subsidy ( we did get a grant to rebuild our sewer system) they will cease to be vital and die out.People will move out, forced to live in congested settings.

In the next few years retirees will move to small towns and will be hit hard by the cost of maintaining such communities. Are all small towns disappearing?