Water is wasted on freeway vegetation

Is anyone, besides me, paying attention to the outrageous water misuse perpetrated by the Department of Transportation along the newly completed section of state Route 76?

Instead of putting in a fire-deterrent landscape, like rocks along the corridor, the Department of Transportation has thoughtlessly planted both shoulders and a few hillsides along the new section of SR-76 east starting at the west corner of SR- 76 at South Mission Road all the way to Interstate 15. One must ask why?

Why not follow the proven formula of “do it one time right?” Carefully placed rocks need not be watered. It is a one-time expense. Do it and forget it. Plus, they are fire retardant.

Am I the only one who can recall the cataclysmic Lilac fire of last year?

While the worst image comes to mind – who is getting a kick back – from the nursery contractor placing the useless and unsightly, scruffy vegetation along our beautiful strip of blacktop?

One supposes it to be just another gaff executed by lazy employees who did not re-evaluate the plans for this busy and now weedy section of our new and formerly beautiful thoroughfare.

At a time when the county is willing to pay homeowners as much as $6,000 an acre to let their orchids dry up, isn’t it appalling to watch water spurt up, down and over the hillsides allowing weeds to germinate, ultimately drying and becoming a fire hazard.

One guesses the water table along the creek bed running parallel to the road is the source for this wasteful project. Shame, shame on the Department of Transportation for abusing our limited water resources.

Elizabeth Youngman