Political Quotes

“Benjamin Franklin said: ``When the well is dry, we know the worth of water.'' The drought is here. It has been going on for 15 to 20 years in the western part of the United States. All over the West, we are perilously close to running dry. The water situation is as dangerous as it has been in our lifetime. The States of California, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming don't have these huge rivers like we see west of the Mississippi. We have, basically, the little Colorado River. It is a tiny little river. In the past, it has become mighty, but for very short periods of time. That little river is called upon to respond to everything. One of the things that is happening is that Lake Powell, the largest manmade lake in America, is going dry. There is no end in sight. This drought has dropped Lake Mead, which is the resource for water that goes everyplace in the West. Most of the water in California they get out of the Colorado. It all comes out of Lake Mead. Lake Mead levels have dropped to levels not seen since the Great Depression. That is, of course, when the lake was born. It hasn't been full in over three decades. To make matters worse, El Nino is supposed to ease the pain, but it hasn't--only a little bit more. Some say up to 50 million people rely on the Colorado River. We know the State of California, with almost 40 million people, depends on it as much as any other source of water.…”