On Being High--and Dry--in O.C.

Each time I brush my teeth sans running water or elect not to flush and allow the laundry to pile up to maximum load, I think, why am I behaving this way?

There is quite obviously no water shortage in Orange County. Disney is going to build a water-oriented theme park; the Irvine Co. is building a huge hotel next to its new golf course and now wants to build 8,000 new houses in Gypsum Canyon.

Why should I be punished and save water only to be consumed by in-comers and tourists? We do not profit from these people; indeed they cost us money by further clogging our roads and increasing fuel consumption.

There is no tourist spending $300 or more a day at a hotel who will elect not to flush or limit himself to a three-minute shower. And why should we allow our lawn to turn brown when the new golf course turns green?

This outburst settles my original question, and I have been a fool to conserve. There is no drought; there is only a greater charge for water. I hope your other readers in Orange County who have also been duped will become liberated like me and will now go flush our toilets whether they need it or not.

JAN MOSMANN, Corona del Mar