Letters to the Editor
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Portland is desert half the year
Sure Portland gets the coastal rains every winter, but the rest of the year the rain spigot shuts off and it's like the rest of the West. Lawns are brown for months. Plants go into a semi-dormancy.
Drinking water here is from wells. The water table has been reliable, but the intense agriculture in the surrounding area is entirely dependent upon groundwater for anything to grow in the summer.
As for Atlanta reaching the limits of its water conservation, I don't believe it for a second. But a crisis always needs to happen before people begin to value the simple gifts of nature and life.
Atlant's problems are entirely the result of profligate resource use, waste, and poor planning.