Annual water conference tackles drought

California’s drought should not slow down the state’s housing industry, although home builders must continue to do everything they can to build houses that save water, a panel of experts said Friday.

The four-member group, part of the Ninth Annual San Bernardino County Water Conference at Cal State San Bernardino, discussed the impact the drought is having on the state’s housing industry.

Some people might be asking why houses are still being built with the state in the middle of a historic drought, said Randall Lewis, executive vice president with Lewis Operating Corp. in Upland.

“Yes, it’s a crisis, but so were 21 percent interest rates,” Lewis said “You get used to dealing with crises in the housing industry, but I don’t think this should put any [home builder] out of business.”

Members of the housing industry need to take the lead and speak before city councils, planning commissions and business groups to let them know any moratorium on home building would be catastrophic for the state, Lewis said.

“There are some people who go from city to city opposing everything, but there are also people who are concerned about this issue who are trying to be good citizens,” Lewis said during the one-hour discussion. “We need to engage those people and have a dialogue with them.”

Home building drives much of California’s economy, so slowing it down would make no sense, Paul R. Russ, Hesperia city councilman.

“That would be the kiss of death, not just for cities but the entire state,” Russ said. “If we didn’t have it everything would shut down.”

California was better prepared for this drought than it was for the one that happened in the late 1980s and early ‘90s, said Timothy Quinn, executive director of the Association of California Water Agencies.

“Back then we relied on the state to fix the problem and the state didn’t come through,” said Quinn, who was part of a discussion that assessed the state’s water supply. “This time, the water agencies were ready with their own conservation plans, and they’ve done a good job.”

Nearly 400 people attended the one-day conference, which was sponsored by the Baldy View chapter of the Building Industry Association of Southern California.