Seventy alumni, community leaders, business leaders and elected officials filled the Twin Oaks Valley Golf Club January 27 to talk about water at the most recent LNC Alumni breakfast. It appears to be all but inevitable that San Diego County will face rationing in 2009. Farmers are already cutting back on their crops to leave more water for residents and businesses. Soon, it will be everyone's burden to share. Thank you to Dudek for their sponsorship. If you attended, please comment below to share your take-aways or keep the dialogue going. And mark March 5 from 5 to 7 p.m. in your calendar to join our next meeting.
Olivenhain GM Kimberly Thorton shared how her local water district, which serves 60,000 users, is managing in this environment of pending shortages and tight funding. The mantra on expenses is 'hold the line in '09'. She explained in her presentation how a pricing model will be implemented that makes water more expensive the more you use while being revenue neutral to the district based on projected reductions in usage. When the rates go up, people will use less.
Dr. Wesley Schultz, an expert in the psychology of conservation behaviors, explained that the three pillars of conservation campaigns--education, price/incentives and awareness/crisis messages-- can backfire. "We don't have an education problem. People understand the benefits of conservation. What we have is a motivation problem." The most effective, long-term messaging to promote conservation is to leverage powerful social norms that tell users that "Everyone is doing it." Because no one--or very few--want to be the deviant.
Dana Friehauf has the job of planning for San Diego's long-term water supply needs through her work with the San Diego County Water Authority and she did an impressive job sharing the challenges we face over the next 25 years.
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