“Facts are important.” Indeed. So where are the facts to support the allegations of mismanagement in this post? All we get are rainfall data which suggest a fundamental lack of appreciation for the difference between groundwater and surface water supplies. Yes, drought conditions impact an aquifer, but up to a point, excess rainfall simply runs off. The problems Ridgewood faces are not unique and have been decades in the making. In a nutshell: too much lawn irrigation (especially automated lawn sprinkling that has proliferated in the last 20 years) and increase in impervious surfacing which increases runoff and diminishes aquifer replenishment.
The fix is a little more complicated other than the obvious idea of preventing people from over-watering their lawns. More tank capacity would help but not solve the problem. You also will face enormous NIMBY resistance to locating such tanks where they are needed in residential areas. Partnering with a surface water supplier? Expensive, but an option if we want to underwrite the lavish lawn irrigation that we seem addicted to. Selling to a private supplier? A nightmare option of increased rates and unresponsive profit-motivated management.
Is RW management perfect? Or even good? Maybe not, but the infrastructure issues here come down to over-development and over-sprinkling of lawns. I see the water restrictions as inevitable and entirely reasonable. Get used to them.
Must be an employee of Ridgewood Water
Amazing how simple it is for some people to just accept regulation and the loss of service
The water issue only exists due to weak management and poor leadership
We can debate non stop about rain runoff etc but simply put.RW water Is a service provider who can no longer provide a service. We lose countless gallons due to leaks, we have wells shut down with no published plan to correct, and the argument about storage tanks is non existent.
That anyone is willing to accept paying more for less is simply amazing. Nature has provided plenty of water, Ridgewood is unique in that we don’t know how to manage the resource.
so true, in the end the top dog’s have full control of the bank. it’s big money.
RIGHT.