Water wasters

In honor of World Water Week (Aug. 18-23)—when this is being written—let’s join the Austin-American Statesman in hanging Lance Armstrong out to dry. The champion cyclist was “outed” by the newspaper for being one of the biggest individual water hogs in Austin, Tex., where he lives. His sprawling Spanish-colonial home, which boasts an acre of gardens and a swimming pool, used 330,000 gallons of water last July. That’s 38 times what the average Austin household uses in the summer. The bill was $2,460. City water records show he’s used an average of 158,000 gallons a month since January 2007. Armstrong told the Statesman, “There’s no justification for that much water. I need to fix this.”

Also in honor of World Water Week and dry aquifers everywhere, just a reminder to water between 3 a.m.- 9 a.m. and never when it’s windy or in the heat of day to avoid waste and evaporation. We know you know this. We also know we see on a regular basis—at residences, businesses, and county and city facilities—sprinkler systems going off at 2 p.m. when it’s 95 degrees outside.