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- NATION, Page 37American NotesCALIFORNIATrouble in Paradise
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- Residents of Santa Barbara (pop. 80,000) have long resisted
- development that might attract people to their seaside city. In
- 1979 they voted down a measure that would have connected Santa
- Barbara to the state's water system, mostly because they feared
- a plentiful supply would encourage growth.
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- Now there is trouble in paradise. A severe drought has
- plunged the city into a water crisis for the fourth consecutive
- year. City officials have hiked water-user fees as much as 500%.
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- In a desperate search for new supplies, city officials are
- considering importing Canadian water in tankers or barges,
- employing a never used Chevron oil pipeline or building the
- country's biggest desalination plant. Despite the hardships,
- most Santa Barbarans would rather live parched than
- overpopulated.
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