This lack of rain has become a very real burden for many across the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Lawns have turned brown, the leaves of some trees are already turning about a month prematurely, and those dependent on agriculture are getting hit harder than any of us.

But this lack of rainfall is exposing an aspect of our infrastructure that needed to be evaluated. Many creeks and streams in our area are literally drying up. We have been without a significant rainfall for so long that sand bars that were exposed weeks ago have plants sprouting up as if water had never flowed. It has been said that government never acts until after a problem arises. Although we have yet to run out of water, and we most certainly will not, it stands to reason that we should reevaluate our water supply to ensure that there will always be enough for the people in our communities.

Many counties in Eastern Kentucky have been expending millions of dollars on waterline extension projects, and rightly so. But at times like these, where rainfall has been nearly nonexistent, we need to make sure that we are not spending these tax dollars for no reason.

Knott County knows full well what it’s like for a community or two to run our of water and the measures it takes to bring water back to those customers. It was something that apparently could not have been avoided, but it’s something that other local governments need to make sure will not happen again. This is not to say that we will ever run out of water, but counter measures are certainly something to think about in the future in light of the drought our region is experiencing.

On a totally different subject, just what exactly is going on with all of the copper thefts? These people are risking their freedom, and in some cases their lives, to steal a metal one would think is the new gold. So far there apparently isn’t a metal that has the properties of copper as to be as good a conductor, and despite all our collective knowledge of metallurgy we haven’t been able to come up with a conductor to replace copper. I suppose it’s a good thing currency is no longer made of copper, or there would be a severe shortage of coins in the economy.

Copper theft has become such a problem that the Hazard Police Department spend approximately two to three days each week working cases involving some sort of copper related theft or crime. I suppose we could have problems in our community much worse than copper theft. But is copper theft a serious problem? Apparently it is.

Apparently it is because people are willing to risk their lives for the stuff, and in some cases in the region people have actually died in apparent attempts to steal it. That is a real problem in much the same way illegal narcotics are a problem. People are dying for drugs and continue to do so every week. While deaths related to apparent copper theft are much lower, they are a reality none the less, and something we shouldn’t turn our back on with a snicker and go about our day. It’s a problem, and a problem that needs to be addressed by someone else besides law enforcement. The Police can only do so much with this issue, and if things keep going on as they do these thefts will become more of a problem than simply here and there.