Out of Arkansas: Water Karma

For about the first 20 years "The City That Water Built" sold rainwater water (our springs) to tourists, which among ideas of what to do with excess water was merely brilliant.

Since that stroke of genius, we've hit a dry well. For example, polluting our rainwater source through broken and leaking pipes wasn't very smart, and letting it all run hog-wild down our streets and through our basements hasn't been very bright either.

But the dumbest of all ideas was when we voted to let tourists charge us for water, rather than vice versa. This is not progress. Now you understand where karma figures into this water problem.

Here's the scheme. The city buys chemically treated water, jacks up the price and sells it to us for a profit (via Carroll-Boone Water District).

Then the city takes the profit and spends it on something else, rather than saving some of it for a new water and sewer system.

Meanwhile, tourists keep coming to see "The City That Water Built." They take bathes, flush toilets, wash their hair, lounge in the pool and the hot tub, wash their cars and swill our locally taxed drinking water.

In effect, the city is a business that sells water to a captive taxpayer to help finance a tourist trade that always needs more water. We, the ratepayers, don't need any more water.

For the past 16 years, the city's lament has been: we can't fix the old water and sewer system and build a larger one at the same time, so we need to raise the water and sewer rates. Not many homeowners have much sympathy for this line of thought because (1) unlike commercial users, they cannot deduct water and sewer bills as a cost of doing business, and (2) most homeowners believe in preventive maintenance.

The city had more than 20 years to catch onto this concept. Where'd all the money go?

Actually, our city government isn't a very good homeowner because it doesn't have to be. It can always smooth talk the money from its rich relatives, us.

When you're ready for a little less talk and a lot more action, think before you vote. The idea is to fix it before it's broken and save for what you need.