A look at lessons after the deluge

Re “As 4 More Victims Are Found, La Conchita Ponders Its Future,” Jan. 13: I too am horrified and deeply moved by the devastation in La Conchita. Nevertheless, I am outraged that the

governor has promised government assistance to help the residents rebuild in an area that has proved dangerous and subject to damage and destruction by Mother Nature. At a time when

California is in the midst of a financial crisis and the governor is calling for budget cuts (which include the disabled paying toward their medical costs, welfare recipients taking a cut in

benefits, college students suffering another tuition increase), how can a Republican think that government money, rather than individual responsibility, is the answer? Karen Roberts Los

Angeles * What makes the La Conchita tragedy all the more horrible is the fact that a major slide occurred in the area a decade ago and nothing was done to make certain that further slides

would not happen. Doesn’t the state have a responsibility to declare certain areas unsafe and to vacate them? Shouldn’t a fund be set up to buy property that is declared unsafe and therefore

unusable? A.J. Buttacavoli Oakland * The Jan. 13 editorial, “Rainfall Windfall,” presents a what-if scenario for the [region’s] water picture. Expand your vision statewide and you’ll

receive a glimpse of what many of us have been saying for years -- if we had somewhere to put all this rain runoff instead of trying to fill up the Pacific Ocean, our state would be better

off. Several studies have been targeted to determine whether new storage facilities, both underground and surface, are realistic. These studies must answer whether the proposed facilities

are environmentally acceptable and financially sound and whether they would yield sufficient water supplies. Yet some groups oppose the development of new storage facilities. Until their

voices are overshadowed by more reasonable ones, excess flows will be wasted in attempting to fill the Pacific. Mike Wade Executive Director California Farm Water Coalition, Sacramento *

With all the scenes of destruction from mudslides and floods, I’m thankful the Los Angeles River wash did its job. The massively walled river, which always seemed like a waste of space due

to water trickling through most of the time, turned into an all-out rushing stream, nearly hitting the top of the wall in the part that runs through my neighborhood. If the river weren’t

there, perhaps cars and houses would be floating through the San Fernando Valley at this point. Thanks for whoever had the foresight to build and maintain the L.A. River! Richard Sieger

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