Seattle citizens support real water conservation

Every once in a while we have to exercise power to keep our government in check. Now is one of these times. For more than 20 years, the people of Seattle have been conserving water, but that water has been used to supply sprawling development east of Lake Washington. That's why more than 26,000 citizens signed Seattle Initiative 63, which will assure that when we conserve water it goes to benefit the environment.

Unfortunately, I-63 opponents are promoting a scheme to deceive voters by pushing their own watered-down proposal through the City Council. Instead of allowing this scheme to move forward, the City Council should stay out of the way and allow voters a chance to weigh in with a clear "thumbs up or thumbs down" vote on I-63 in the November general election.

The vast majority of Seattle residents agrees that this is the right time to increase water conservation to protect the environment. Our region's population is on the rise and our salmon are in trouble. We have the opportunity to be leaders in water conservation by speeding up our city's conservation while assuring that the water we save goes to the environment, not to more suburban sprawl. This is precisely what I-63 does.

Regional environmental groups such as the Washington Environmental Council and King County Conservation Voters support Initiative 63 because its water-conservation programs will benefit people and the environment far beyond Seattle's borders. It will also set a positive environmental example across the state. Other endorsers of I-63 include the Sierra Club (Seattle chapter), WashPIRG, the Seattle Audubon Society, Housing Development Consortium and Coalition for the Homeless (Seattle-King County).

Opponents of the initiative, such as some suburban real-estate developers, want us to continue directing the water we save to support new suburban sprawl. This would be both irresponsible and unfair.

Seattle has conducted surveys that show when Seattleites save water, they are motivated by a desire to protect the environment. For years, this conserved water has instead supported the sprawling development east of Lake Washington. It is time for a change.

For the sake of balance, suburban communities should increase their own conservation efforts to meet their future water needs. After all, water is a limited resource in the region and we are stretching our supply to the limit.

Initiative 63 also ensures that all Seattle citizens can participate in water conservation regardless of their income level. Low-income homeowners and low-income housing developers will be paid to retrofit their water systems to increase water efficiency. This program is funded by increased rates on those who use "extraordinary amounts of water." This has been called the "water hog" rate. While the city has already imposed a temporary "hog rate" on residential water users, to be fair, I-63 will go the extra step and apply this rate to commercial water users as well.

If businesses or individuals show that they are using reasonable water conservation, they can be exempted from the new rate. In addition, the initiative allows for certain types of users such as hospitals, adult-family-care homes, day-care centers and schools to be exempt.

There is no question that when Seattle citizens and businesses save water they expect the saved water to benefit the environment. Initiative 63 simply makes sure this happens by instructing Seattle Public Utilities to use the water saved by Seattle to benefit the environment and salmon recovery.

Again, the first step — in the next few weeks — is to make sure the Seattle City Council is not pushed by opponents of the initiative to pass a counter-proposal allowing our conserved water to continue to be used for purposes other than protecting the environment.

It is most fair to the voters to allow the decency of a straightforward vote — yes or no — on the initiative. The attempt by opponents to craft a counter-proposal is a last-minute and desperate effort to deny a clear vote on this proposal, because it is clear that a majority of Seattle citizens supports the goals of Initiative 63.

Pam Johnson and Tom Geiger are board members of Yes For Seattle, an organization dedicated to direct democracy for local solutions.