Water savings

Dear Editor:

This letter is in response to Chet and Eileen Jaeger’s “Water Woes” letter published in last week’s COURIER, as well as Bob Gerecke’s letter of concern about the fairness of the required 32 percent reduction in water use.

I am able to reduce our water use by more than 32 percent and would like to share some of the extra savings with families in our community, like the Jaegers, who have done what they can to save water. Maybe we can set up a water savings pool to do this.

I also want there to be water to sustain our urban forest to provide shade and better air quality and close the carbon cycle.  Part of our heritage as a “City of Trees” includes these benefits, which improve the quality of life and the value of property in Claremont.

Even though my home uses only about half the water of a typical Claremont residence, with a more efficient washing machine and improvements to our irrigation, I am able to achieve additional savings in water use, while still adding seven more citrus trees. Many others can reduce their water consumption even more, compared to what they’re currently using.

The Low-Water Landscape Expo on Sunday, June 14 at the Sustainability Resource Center in Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden is intended to help you learn how to do that.

In the future, by acquiring the water company, Claremont should be able to harvest and allocate water fairly as a community. 

Let’s use water wisely, and encourage, not penalize, those who save.

Let’s invest water we save to sustain our green infrastructure.

Mark von Wodtke FASLA

Co-Chair, Tree Action Group (TAG) of Sustainable Claremont

Pepper Tree Square

Dear Editor:

My name is Gabriel and I am a boy scout with Troop 411 in La Verne. While I attend my scouting events in another city, I live here in Claremont.

I would like to raise awareness of an issue that I have been following for quite some time, and that is the status of Pepper Tree Square on Indian Hill Boulevard and Arrow Highway.

A while back, I?used to have my martial arts studio in one of the buildings in the center. It was really convenient for me since the only other Red Dragon Karate dojo was in San Dimas. About three years ago, the owner of Pepper Tree Square evicted the studio and, shortly after, evicted a market that used to be in the building next to it. They have both been empty since.

As I understand, the owner of the center has been out of contact with the city for quite some time, seemingly negligent of his land and the businesses that are still in it. Without the market or the karate studio, the other shops and restaurants have had less people coming through to support them.

Perhaps someone in the paper can write a small piece about what is happening to the square and the remaining businesses there to raise awareness on the topic.

I know it might not be the biggest thing to write about, but the businesses in the square were really struggling for a while. I believe some more awareness might lessen the strain that is being put on them.

I enjoy the articles that are already in the paper and the COURIER is doing a great job on the topics it chooses. Thank you for your time.

Gabriel George

Claremont

[Editor’s note: Thank you for writing, Gabriel. Economic development is extremely important to both the COURIER and the residents of Claremont. The story has been assigned to our city reporter. Consider it done. —KD]