In many ways, the current drought and reaction by the public remind me of the energy shortages from the 1970s. Remember how concerned we all were about low-mileage gas-guzzlers and the rush to purchase vehicles that could make it past the next gas station? Then came years of plentiful fuel, and what happened? We all bought big, stinking, fuel-guzzling mega-monster SUVs.

Once rainfall returns to normal and water use restrictions are removed, this current drought will become a distant memory too.

Several years ago, I was asked to serve on my township’s plumbing board. “Don’t worry, they never meet,” I was told. Well, that sounded like my kind of hard-working committee!

Then a few months ago, I got a call from Greg Henry, the plumbing inspector and chairman of this committee, asking if I would approve the use of waterless urinals in a large addition at the local Harley-Davidson motorcycle factory. After all the controversy over 1.6-gal. per flush water closets, I didn’t want to sign off on this idea before doing some research. What about odors or drain line clogs caused by sedimentation from the urine, I wondered? Somehow the idea of a fixture that doesn’t get washed down after use seemed likely to be unsanitary and potentially unsavory.

In Tucson, Ariz., there’s a dry riverbed running through the center of town! Oh, it used to flow 12 months out of every year back when just the Indians lived in the Sonoran Desert and used 20 gal. of water per person per day on average. But then along came the rest of us, and instead of letting the local flora and fauna alone, we imported water-thirsty crops and turned every backyard into a grass-covered oasis! Tucson monthly water bills in summer rival those we pay for air conditioning back here in the hot, humid East. The townsfolk have pumped so much water from the aquifer; the center of Tucson is subsiding as it settles, squashing the life out of its aquifer.

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