Has the Santa Cruz Water Department fully studied the implications of a proposed expansion of the UCSC campus? Some members of the county’s Board of Supervisors are not convinced it has.
Has the Santa Cruz Water Department fully studied the implications of a proposed expansion of the UCSC campus? Some members of the county’s Board of Supervisors are not convinced it has, and argue that it may have downplayed the “dry-year impact” on other county residents. The proposed expansion would increase water consumption by the university by 100 million gallons a year.
Critics of the plan argue that this would force people in Live Oak and Pasatiempo to cut back water usage another 2-3 percent during drought years, while the city would have to divert more water from the San Lorenzo River, further threatening fish runs there. But City Water Director Bill Kocher responds that 100 million is just a drop in the bucket, considering the city’s annual water production of 4 billion gallons. Besides, he claims the university is not dependent entirely on the city, and if the plan is rejected, UCSC could still invoke its authority as a state agency to get the water it needs.
UCSC’s expansion program is intended to allow the university to increase its student body by as many as 3,000 students. Read More at the Santa Cruz Sentinel.
