Voters showed apathy over water availability

In Nicaragua, the average girl and woman spends six hours every day in procuring water.

In most of rural Africa women and children walk an average of four miles every day to fetch water.

In Sandpoint, Idaho, on one day of the year, 94 percent of registered voters were apparently unable to find 15 minutes to drive themselves a mile or so to the polls to vote on whether they want to ensure the future supply of unlimited clean water piped to their homes.

The vote appears to be a clear mandate to the city that people don’t really care whether they get clean water piped to them or not. It would be interesting to see if folks change their minds if the water department turned off all the taps and simply closed shop.

At the very least, the next time around, perhaps more voters would turn out if the city turned the water off for a week or so prior to such a vote.

STEPHEN AUGUSTINE

Sandpoint