Swimming Hole Is Bad Idea

A recent Times article indicated that $74,000 had been awarded to design a 15-acre swimming hole at Hansen Dam, estimated to cost $2.1 million (not including inevitable overruns).

Here are seven good reasons it is a stupid idea:

* It won’t use the old lake. A very costly high ground hole will have to be dug and sealed, to prevent leakage.

* It will have to be filled and replenished with fresh drinking water (ever heard of a water shortage and rationing?)

* It will be very costly and perhaps impossible to maintain a safe bacterial count. Huge Castaic Lake has to be closed to swimming for this reason. If purifying poisons are used, what will keep them from seeping into our water supply?

* The city is in a budget crisis. Our police are understaffed. Many services are being cut, including swimming pools closed. School teachers are being asked to take a pay cut. Can the taxpayers afford the added cost of life guards, police patrols and maintenance?

* The federal government is deeply in debt and going deeper. A big part of our income tax is simply going to pay the interest on it. Do you want more money to be borrowed to pay for this? If it were a bond issue and added to your tax bill, would you vote for it?

* It can only be used four to five months a year for swimming. The rest of the year it will be a hazardous nuisance to be maintained.

* And don’t forget the little children who drowned in the old lake. This will not be a clear water swimming pool. Drownings will be inevitable.

HOWARD C. LOCKWOOD

Lake View Terrace