I want thank The Los Osos Groundwater Committee for its work, specifically its opinion piece in New Times on Jan. 17 ("Fresh water solution"). The notion of adding a 5,000-person expansion to Los Osos and its dependence on a very problematic aquifer is absurd given that the Los Osos Community Services District never stops pressuring current residents to cut back on water use and allows water purveyors to increase their water consumption rates. If Los Osos is about 14,000 residents, adding another 5,000 represents about a 30 percent increase (potentially, at least) of this aquifer's diminishing resource. The "cost effective" solutions—capturing runoff from Irish Hills and Los Osos creek, as well as the Warden Lake watershed, seem perfectly reasonable.

The Los Osos Groundwater Committee ought to schedule some public meetings in which hydrologists, geologists, and other specialists can present evidence in support of extant resources. And other specialists on implications of development on infrastructure, such as increased traffic on Los Osos Valley Road, can be discussed.

Michael Vella

Los Osos