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FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | OCTOBER 2024 17 By Steve Beno Water. What a fascinating subject. When I think of water, it reminds me what a bad planner I've been throughout my life. I have bachelor's and master's degrees in theater arts, but did I ever go into theater in particular or entertainment more broadly? No. I did two stints in summer stock as an apprentice (great fun both times), but that was it. I went to law school (USC '71, even law review). But did I practice law? I worked in the law department at Flying Tigers for two years, but that was it. In fact, the biggest impact law school had on my life was after my first year walking into the student center to see an ad for someone to install a stereo system in a new house. That's what led me to my business as a custom electronics systems contractor for over 40 years. What I'm pointing out is that my life has evolved more by happenstance than by planning. But for the wise decision to buy a house on the Westside of L.A., we wouldn't have had a nest egg to live on now. That brings me back to water. On ref lection as an octogenarian, the two professions I would have liked to spend my life in are as a movie music composer and as a water lawyer. Unfortunately, as much as I love music, especially classical music, I have no innate talent for it. My father had. My brother owned a recording studio before he spent decades as a professor at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. But a lifelong love of music isn't enough to make a career out of it. Water lawyer, that I could have been. Anyone with a decent brain, even in the early 1970s, and I count myself among that group (decent being the operative word), could have seen the importance of water to the southwest. You didn't have to predict a drought to see that. I did, even then, have an interest in water, but I never sat down and thought about my future. Can you imagine the consulting revenue I'd be raking in now as a water law expert? But no; I didn't think that way. So, by happenstance and some good luck and a little bit of effort, I now lead a comfortable life that allows me to ride my bike three times a week, but not as the result of planning. So, water. Why bring that up? Thanks to having a podcast app on my phone, I was able to subscribe to the Lawfare podcast. One episode featured hydroclimatologist Peter Gleick discussing his book e ree Ages of Water. This is an absolutely fascinating discussion of the history of water including his conclusion that, but for possibly one three-thousand years ago, there has never been a war over water. (And he doesn't mean sea battles.) This podcast led me to wonder if there's a water app. At the time, I didn't even think about the one I already had on my phone. I have a Rachio sprinkler controller connected to the internet and an app that goes with it that allows me to control my sprinklers from near and far. (If you have a sprinkler controller that can connect to Wi- Fi, it probably has an app.) I searched for water apps in the app store and was sorely disappointed. I'm not sure what I expected. Maybe an app that centralized water issues like reservoir levels? One that showed the f low of the Colorado River on a current basis? All I got were apps in two categories. There are too many apps to count that will remind me to drink water regularly. Frankly, I start each day with a large glass of water, and I don't need an app to help me do that. The other category is games. Again, too many to count. But I'm not into games; at least not on my phone. So, water apps turned out to be a dud. Sorry. But wait — why don't I create an app showing reservoir water levels? I'll tell you why. According to app developer Addevice, the average cost to create an app is $170,000. Assuming Apple is willing to add it to its app store, I'll be competing for user attention against one and a half million other apps (there are twice as many in the Google store). OK, that six-figure amount covers the simple to complex. But I still don't like my odds even for $50,000. So, I'll just keep commenting rather than creating. But you go ahead if you're inclined. Don't let me stop you. If you use an app you'd like to share with others, let me know at steve.benoff@verizon.net. THERE'S AN APP FOR THAT! There's a Drought of Water Apps

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