'Ironic' 

Editor:

Evidence of a drought in the immediate future has been plentiful ("Forewarned but Still Not Ready," May 27). That the North Coast is lucky to be wetter than most of California has made for some complacent behavior. The once "mighty" Eel River has been getting sucked nearly dry pretty much annually due to diversions south for wineries, etc., and semi-locally by grows, legal or otherwise. The Eel wants to come back, but we won't let it!

Same with the Klamath!

The rivers belong to aquatic life. Stealing from their natural habitat, killing off fish and birds, to supplement unnatural usage is wrong. Will we ever learn? It's already becoming too late.

It's ironic that there will likely be a huge fish farm (Nordic) on the Samoa Peninsula that will get a consistent supply of necessary water.

And why is it taking until 2023 to remove those dams from the Klamath? Another action too long in coming and perhaps too late to accomplish anything positive.

I've heard desalination is expensive and no one knows what to do with the salt deposits ... has there been more research on this? Couldn't this be incorporated into an infrastructure plan?

It seems we have developed an all too prevalent "too little, too late" tolerance. So sad!

Kathryn Travers, Eureka

Editor:

I enjoyed your article on the current drought. It reminds of the old poem, "Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink." We sit beside 1,000 miles of Pacific Ocean and I am astonished at no mention in your article of the most obvious solution: desalination. California has the world's largest desalination plant, in San Diego County (and 10 more elsewhere in the state), and it has been operating successfully for years. I estimate that with our recent enormous surplus of tens of billions of dollars we could go a long way toward desalinating the entire state. I think if we overbuild them we can sell water to our inland neighbors or trade for power to operate them. We would eliminate future food shortages, dire water shortages, critical salmon die offs and net population outflows, which is loss of political power.

Merle McDougall, Eureka