Our View: Let’s talk about water in a Community Conversation

It’s time to have a serious conversation about water, and not just about this unprecedented drought. As bad as this dry spell is, droughts come and go; they’re a California constant, like allergies or 100-degree days in July.

We want to go deeper. We have to; the water we depend on is being threatened. Some of the threats are bureaucratic, some due to overuse. But in a state with 40 million residents, all clamoring for water, the threats cannot be ignored.

“It doesn’t matter what your occupation is or your lot in life,” said Turlock Irrigation District board member Michael Frantz, “we all rely on water.”

The Modesto Bee invites you to attend a “Community Conversation: Our Water” at 7 p.m. July 15 at the Gallo Center for the Arts. We’ll hear the thoughts of five experts and policymakers as they respond to questions compiled by The Bee from readers’ submissions. Joining us will be Assemblywoman Kristin Olsen; the state’s chief water policymaker, Felicia Marcus; groundwater expert Sarge Green; Modesto businessman and former Modesto Irrigation District president Jeff Cowan; and Randy Fiorini, whose list of water affiliations is too long to detail but began on his Turlock farm and now includes chairmanship of the Delta Stewardship Council. Carol Whiteside, founder of the Great Valley Center, will be our moderator.

There are only 440 seats, and 240 have been taken. To reserve a seat, go to www.modbee.com/water. While there, submit a question (it’s on the same form) for our panel. We won’t be able to get to all of them, but we’ll try to ask those that people think are most important.

When it comes to water, we’ve got a lot to talk about. We hope you’ll join us.

This story was originally published July 4, 2015 at 7:47 AM with the headline "Our View: Let’s talk about water in a Community Conversation."