Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/

[Michael Czeiszperger <michael AT czeiszperger.org>]

On Oct 24, 2007, at 10:19 AM, Tarus Balog wrote:
> Heh, water's free, right?

We do pay for water, just not enough given that its becoming scarce.   
Say the local governments decide to follow your advice and charge  
enough to reduce consumption for most people, the side effect is that  
any price sufficient to make the average person conserve would mean  
that water would become much more expensive for the poor, and using  
water would be become a symbol of wealth, both with unintended  
consequences.  Instead, we've taken the tact of making water  
relatively cheap, and are using voluntary bans, peer pressure, and  
minor penalties to restrict usage.

It very well may be that your suggestion may work, but do we really  
want to make it so that a green lawn is a sign of wealth?  Wouldn't  
that simply lead to people using even more water to show they can  
afford it?

___________________________________________________________________
Michael Czeiszperger
Chapel Hill, NC | 919-619-0607
michael -at- czeiszperger.org