Water Conflict

We’ve been fortunate over the last twelve years to live in a neighborhood where most of us know each other by name and are helpful and considerate of each other. At least until this last weekend. Unfortunately, there are certain situations and things that seem to bring out the worst in some people. One of these it seems is water. Our neighborhood is serviced by an irrigation district. When there is a problem with the pipes or valves, as there was with ours this week, the water is turned off until the problem is fixed. Due to repair problems beyond our control, water for a good portion of our neighborhood was turned of for two days. This brought out the “beast” in a neighbor. He wanted his water and he wanted it now. And no we do not live in an area that has been hit with drought, quite the opposite actually. Sadly, fights over water have gone on since time began, hence the old adage “whiskey is for drinking, water is for fightin’ for”. As I found out in dealing with this irate neighbor, logic and reason don’t always figure prominently in the scheme of things when it comes to water. An OSU professor once stated that “water management is conflict management”. It seems he was dead on.