There’s an old saying “Something smells like rotten cheese.” My point is that something might be “rotten” in Gilroy and Morgan Hill when it comes to new residential construction and the drought.
We all know by now that California is in its worst drought in modern history. Years of below- normal rainfall and continued demand for water resources have created a problem that affects the entire state. Gilroy City Council has declared a Level 2 water supply shortage, and obeying it is mandatory. Residents were forcefully reminded of this in July with yellow door hangers.
Yet if you drive around Gilroy and Morgan Hill and observe, you’ll see new houses, apartments, and condos under construction; it seems like everywhere there is a vacant lot. For me, this raises a curious question—is the drought a real problem?
By way of illustration, let’s use a cherry pie as an example. The pie is only so big, and it won’t get any bigger. While the pie can be sliced into nice portions for 6 people, slicing it for 12 people greatly reduces the size of each piece.
It does not take rocket science to figure this out. I’ll use the pie example as an analogy for California’s fixed water resources, and for Gilroy and Morgan Hill’s fixed water resources as well. The new construction of homes, apartments, and condos is in fact increasing water resource demand, and by implication, reducing the size of the pie for existing residential structures.
Is this really prudent planning to add so many additional residential units without the ability to increase water supply? Could it be that the planning commissions in Gilroy and Morgan Hill are somehow in the pockets of the builders? Can our city governments be so desperate for more money that this dilemma is not only overlooked but totally ignored?
Of course, one way to manage this situation is to create water usage guidelines and make them mandatory law. Gilroy has done this, and I’ll guess Morgan Hill has, too. But, given that enforcement of such laws is limited due to budgets and the size of city enforcement staff, the next tool to manage this dilemma is to increase the cost residents will pay for water use.
Nothing like a massive increase in water costs with the downside potential of water stealing. Watch the chaos when this happens. Too bad our politicians in Sacramento did not have better foresight into this water problem years ago when the drought began. Maybe building more dams would have helped. But that’s typical of politicians, closing the barn door after the horse has escaped. In the meantime for Gilroy, why no moratorium on new residential construction until the drought is over?
James Fennell has lived in Gilroy since 2000 with his wife Diana. They have 8 adult children and 17 grandchildren. He retired from IBM after 30 years in middle management. He wrote this piece for the Dispatch.
