An Open Letter to Lone Pine Unified School District

To whom it may concern:

Happy Earth Day! As you may know, today is a day to recognize conservation and reduction of waste and pollution, and our current day and age is a prime example of the importance of protecting our environment and natural resources. Being where we are-- in the beautiful Owens Valley of California-- means we have a pretty strong sense of human impact on the environment; the Los Angeles DWP water projects that dried up the Owens Lake over a century ago, the alkali dust from the lake bed that hangs in the air during the all-too-common windy days, and the aquifers that have yet to be repaired from groundwater pumping are things we see all around us pretty regularly. Along with the entire state in a drought crisis--all while the City of Los Angeles still diverts water from here to the LA Basin-- it's up to all of us to be conscious of what we do with such a precious and finite resource.

Which brings me to why I am writing this letter: Please fix the damn sprinklers in front of Lone Pine High.

I live near the school, and pass it every day on my way to work. Every night when I come home, huge torrents of water gush out of the sprinkler heads and water the sidewalks and streets. Awhile back I assumed it was simply sprinklers that had been damaged by a lawn mower or a bored student, but after a few years it seems to me it's just negligence with the system. Sure, the grass in front of the high school looks nice most of the time, but to dump water into the street during a statewide crisis-- and in a place with its own history of water and riparian issues-- is pretty dumb. It makes you look bad to people driving by on Highway 395, and it's probably costing you a lot of money that you should probably hold on to (state funding for education is never great, y'know).

I don't feel my request is a big one, nor do I believe it to be impossible or too costly to make minor repairs and adjustments to your sprinkler system. The school is a fixture in town, and it's one of the first things you see driving in from the south, so I believe it'd be worthwhile for the image of our community, and in the benefit of our local environment, to stop watering the sidewalks so much. They don't need the water. We do.

Thank you for your consideration,


A.J. Hampton