February 16, 2012
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San Diego Union-Tribune
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Clean, safe water should be priority for voters, By Gale Filer
In November, San Diego will elect a new mayor. Arguably, no city mayoral race has been as important for our city’s future as this one. As I see it, there is no more important issue for San Diegans than clean and safe water. Our mayoral candidates need to tell us how they will protect and restore fishable, swimmable and drinkable waters in San Diego. And it’s up to you to understand the issues and use your vote to help select our next leader.
A recent study by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) states that improved monitoring proves the severity of water pollution in California from 2006-2010. The more robust data identify a 170 percent increase in waters with toxic pollution; a 90 percent climb in sites with unsafe bacterial levels; a 76 percent jump in amount of trash fouling our waters; a 36 percent increase in waters tainted by pesticides, and a 24 percent growth in the number of fish that contain unhealthy levels of pollutants.
