As you head south on the 2 Freeway into Glendale you may have noticed a small orange colored structure on a ridgeline to the east in the San Rafael Hills. My husband had been wondering what it was. I learned at the Sept. 17 Crescenta Valley Town Council meeting that it’s a dip tank set up by the L.A. County Fire Dept. While I’m pleased to have my curiosity satisfied, it is sobering that our local fire experts are anticipating a bad fire season and want the tank there in case they need to use it for filling water-dropping helicopters. It’s a daily reminder to make sure the brush is cleared around our properties and any dead limbs and trees removed. Now is a good time to confirm your evacuation plan with family members and make sure your pet carriers are readily accessible. It’s also a good idea to check your disaster supply kit and replenish as necessary.

Community members, including six Clark Magnet HS government students, heard from CV Water District board member Judy Tejeda, Glendale Councilmember and Metropolitan Water District of Southern California board member Laura Friedman, and Michael De Ghetto, GWP asst. general manager for water during the Sept. 24 CVCA meeting. Both Glendale and the CVWD have exceeded conservation goals and the MWD is serving 19 million customers with the same amount of water only 14 million used a few years ago.

Despite meeting or exceeding conservation goals and the expectation of increased rainfall this winter, we still need to do more if we want to maintain our quality of life during long-term drought. All three agencies are encouraging continued conservation and Ms. Tejeda distributed low flow shower heads and information on gray water use for irrigation. See the CVWD website for more information: http://www.cvwd.com/.

GWP assessed a drought charge last year in order to keep the utility financially secure if revenues decline and to encourage water conservation. Yes, that means you pay more if you conserve and you pay even more if you don’t. I think it’s a necessary investment in sustainability. Details on Glendale water rates including how the drought charge is assessed: http://www.glendaleca.gov/water-rates. Click around their website for more information.

The MWD recently announced plans for what will be one of the world’s largest plants to recycle sewage into drinking water. That might sound gross at first but consider that’s what nature has been doing for billions of years. Perhaps a bit more water might reach Earth via comet impact but we need a speedier reclamation process. The natural filtration process takes too long for our planet’s ever-growing human population. Personally I’d like to see enough potable water to sustain other species too!

Their website, http://www.mwdh2o.com/, also has more information and links to other resources.

I hope it’s a wake up call to climate change deniers that the leader of atheist, communist China Xi Jinping and Pope Francis are both urging massive action to counteract human impact on the health of the environment. Residents of the Crescenta Valley have an opportunity to learn about those who are paid to create doubt about climate change, much like tobacco company denials of their product’s role in causing cancer. The Read and Practice Peacemaking group of the CV United Methodist Church is hosting a screening of the documentary “Merchants of Doubt” on Friday, Oct. 16. The church is at 2700 Montrose Ave., and doors open at 7 p.m. The film will start at 7:30 p.m. Free and open to the public. The film’s website is http://www.merchantsofdoubt.org/.

The next Crescenta Valley Community Association meeting will be on Oct. 22 starting at 7 p.m. at the La Crescenta Library, 2809 Foothill Blvd. The focus will be on Rockhaven and what the community thinks would be the best use of the property. Our meetings are free and open to the public.