Great Question

Dear Editor,
    I emailed my congressman, Michael McCaul, this message in the middle of last week – still no response. Perhaps he’ll notice it in the Chronicle:
    As the city of Austin is under a state of emergency, a boil-water warning, and there are urgent requests for water usage to be curtailed, I couldn't help but wonder how you are pitching in at your own residence back in Austin, which is consistently on record as using more water than any other residence served by the Austin Water utility. ["Headlines," Aug. 3.]
    If you halved your home usage during this time, it would have a greater impact than many dozen "average" users.
    You see, we're boiling water for cooking and dishwashing, flushing toilets with rain-barrel-water, taking cold showers rather than waiting for the water to warm up, and getting up early in the morning to buy enough bottles before H-E-B sells out. We're also buying extra water to take care of our elderly neighbors and to bring some to nearby schools.
    If you did take steps to do something about this, I'd encourage you to let people know how you are standing with the rest of us, as a fellow citizen, and not as some out-of-touch politician who's spent so long in Washington that he is not concerned with the folks back home in the district.