nOUJ IT'S THE WATER
Coming fast on the heels of last week’s
announcement of the city’s critical power
situation, Seldovia this week is asked to
face a new problem in the serious threat of
a water shortage.
M x . • : •
V'ater in the reservoir 'is dangerously
low — sometimes less than a foot deep, and
there are no new sources of supply which can
be diverted into Seldovia’s pipelines.. W-e
face a water shortage that threatens the
whole town* ^side from the physical discom
fort of an inadequate water supply.' ip .our
homes, that water shortage may limit the
salmon pack of our canneries and thereby
curtail this yearns payday, for all of. Seldo
via*
It»s' one of the most simple problems in
human economics -- no water, no canneries •
operating, no fish needed, all equal no mo-”
ney in September for .next winter’s food and
clothing. Whether the-problem works out to
that solution depends-mostly on the attitude
of Seldovia. a ■ - -
Again, as in the case of the power, Sel-'
dovia’s homes are asked to economize and to
do without wherever possible, in order that
wo may have more in the months ahead. We’re
asked to live through possibly 30 days of
scrimping in order that we may have 11
months of comfortable living.
We are asked to plan all washdays for
Monday, when canneries, need neither power
nor water. We are asked to plug all'pos
sible ljaks and drips in water lines .and
faucets in our homes* We are.asked to find
some other method of cooling milk and per
ishables than by allowing cold water to flow
around them in the sink. We are asked not
to sprinkle gardens • with water from” city
mainq. It will be inconvenient, but the wa
ter Reeded for gardens can be drawn from
well? or the lake.
Aid while w i ari making every effort to
economize whore we can, canneries ara ..being
apte£ to conserve ivery drop of water pos
siSl!;, too. Two canneries are drawing a
paH of their supply from the lake by means
rK>ir own -pumping systems. One cannery
has set up a salt wa
ter pump for use in
some of the canning
operations. The cold
storage plant has
been asked to work
out a plan whereby
water used in the un
its can be piped to
tanks and used . over
and ov,er again*
This conservation
program is one which
strikes equally hard
at canneries and Sol
dovia!s - homes. -- Wo
are facing this prob
lem together, and it
Is equally as import
ant to us- both that
we face the 'problem
squarely and - each
carry our load in its
solution. True, we
save that the ’Can
neries' may operate,
but that cannery op
eration we. must have
for a comfortable
winter of warmth and
food.
In this threatened
water shortage, there
can be no cleavage of
canneries and towns
folk, We must weld
ourselves ‘into a un
it, We must work to
gether to stop waste
and to utilize every
drop of water that
reaches us from our
constantly dwindling
source of supply.
This problem is an
"our" problem and not
a "yonrs" or "mine,"