Letter: States should quit fighting over water

California has access to more water than can ever be used for a plethora of years. Saudi Arabia has built, with the aid of water engineers from the United States, a system of desalinization capable of serving a city the size of London. California can do likewise.

California's poor-mouthing will continue to fall on deaf ears until it makes a concerted effort to use the trillions and trillions of acre feet of water available from more than 1,000 miles of coastal waters.

For at least 50 years, the California has belly-ached about its need for more water. It has an abundance of water from the Pacific Ocean. This far exceeds any other state except maybe Hawaii, Alaska and Texas.

Come on, California. Get with it. Pull your own oar.

In the thirties, I attended Los Angeles High School. One of the required reading assignments was "The Ancient Mariner," by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. The most memorable line in this poem was:

"Water, water, everywhere, nor any drop to drink."

This could be California's legacy, if it continues to resist desalinization. Both Nevada and California should take heed. Learning is the new form of labor in the 20th century. Whether seven or 77, none of us can afford to resist learning.

Hugh S. Jenings

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