Can we help it if our golf courses need extra water? It's not like they're getting it from the sky!

Guest editorial by The Bridges at Rancho Santa Fe groundskeeper-in-chief, Arturo Mendes.

Recently, a story in these pages took note of a New York Times article that took note of water use in the community where I live and work. The article noted that our home-owning residents use an average of 584 gallons of water a day — almost five times the regional average. And this in a time of mandatory water use restrictions in San Diego. Some people were upset by the news, and I would like to try to help unbunch their collective panties.

For starters, the biggest reason for using five times more water than the regional average is having lots that are five times the size of the regional average. It's just logical.

Second, for those complaining about adherence to mandatory water restrictions: everybody acknowledges that these restrictions can never be enforced without community supervision. Unfortunately, the multi-acre gated estates here in Rancho Santa Fe make effective supervision all but impossible. Particularly when they're completely surrounded by lush, 12-foot tropical hedges. Who knows what's going in there, waterwise or otherwise? Privacy is a big part of the reason people of means move to Rancho Santa Fe in the first place. The good news is, we can probably trust our residents to be responsible consumers. You know how nobody gets to be rich by being careless with money? Well, the same goes for water.

And in order to demonstrate our good will and commitment to water responsibility, the Rancho Santa Fe Lady Lunch Club has volunteered to do some community supervising in a place where they can do some real good: La Jolla. Someone has to keep an eye on those arrogant arrivistes. They sure aren't going to do it themselves.