We're being cajoled by our local water district into believing the only way to provide needed water for the Monterey Peninsula is to construct a large dam on the Carmel River. Yet a reliable and adequate source of water is being intentionally ignored. Sure, hurdles would have to be overcome before funneling stormwaters into pipelines and reservoirs for our use.
Rainwater is pure when it drops from the heavens.
It gets contaminated as it scours our hills, fields, roadways and parking lots, cleansing them of multitudes of solid or liquid wastes. So rainwaters must be cleansed anyway. Moreover, stormwater arrives mostly in the winter, thus storage must be provided for dry months. While helping to alleviate our irregular water shortages, it would solve some of the problems excess rains may be causing. Plunging down our hillsides in flash flooding, runoff water sweeps along tons of debris, topsoil, as well as tree trunks, limbs, even bridges, which are helter-skeltered into our rivers.