An old fashioned method of water conservation was to put a brick in the tank of your toilet. But what if you put a sponge brick in the tank of a toilet? You wouldn't save any real water but you might create the impression that you were conserving water. The term *sponge brick* is thus an oxymoron - a contradiction in terms. At the macro-level water conservation in Pasadena is oxymoronic like a sponge brick. It entails high profile popular efforts at restoration to the middle Arroyo Seco streambed within the Raymond Basin for aesthetic and recreational purposes, the acquisition...