An underlying reason for these troubles is that the
PNW is a high rainfall region, and no one has thought, before nowadays, that governments should be considering coherent water management policies, as well as waste.
Yesterday, in the NY Times, I was reading a water management article about how
Israel had focused on that issue since before it was a country, getting the most use out of the water they do have, and treating all sewage for agricultural use; seeking new sources of water, plus teaching everyone, from kindergarten up to be aware of water use.
Now, to me, using your water, the way it presently is, is just poor water use. And where i came from (the
SF Bay Area) still had shared storm drains and pipes, so rainfall days, particularly on football Sundays, showed huge faecal clumps discharge. Now, human waste can be made into quite usable fertilizer, after the death of the bacteria. Of course, it would involve infrastructure and (gasp!)
funding through taxation, but the problems in the
PNW could be addressed. We have the capability to have drinkable discharge from sewage treatment plants, and have done so for a long time. Richmond, CA, had one when my son was a Cub Scout.
So at the township level, your city councils should be talking about it; perhaps it would mean selling bonds to get the
money to change the systems, maybe adding storm drains, and limiting rainwater flow to sewage lines, and
funding for better treatment. Incidentally,
Israel processes its sewage for fertilizer, as did Milwaukee, and it still may!
However, as suggested above, there are some discharges that are worse for the environment than feces, but so far, policy makers have not been successful in getting those wastes addressed. Sure, but I'm preaching to the choir here, but at least Americans are mainly not involved politically, but I'm afraid such involvement will be essential for progress. Of course there are dangers, we are susceptible to urges for
power, so Greenies can be just as objectionable, if they let themselves be, as any other group agitating for the change they want, especially after they have
power. Transparency is the answer, a requirement that is sadly out of fashion.
Yachties are a politically disorganized group, perceived as wealthy, and are an easy target, in part because we ARE apolitical, which gives the lawmakers a very soft target. Now, the choice to believe the propaganda, well, that's another issue, and we're not to talk politics here. But for you guys who are
boating in these polluted waters, just remember the pollutions that you mostly cannot distinguish with your eyes are usually the worse ones. It is only our programming that bowel movements are "dirty" that makes us give them priority, but the lawmakers are just as susceptible to the prejudice as the yachties.
Ann
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