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Page added on May 6, 2015
California Adopts “Unprecedented” Restrictions On Water Use As Drought Worsens
Early last month we warned that California’s drought was approaching historic proportions and that if climatologists were to be believed, the country may see a repeat of The Dirty Thirties as experts cite “Dust Bowl” conditions. Governor Jerry Brown has called for statewide water restrictions aimed at reducing consumption by 25%.
Now, the conservation calls are getting much louder as the state’s water regulators have approved “unprecedented” measures aimed at curtailing the crisis.
Via AP:
California water regulators adopted sweeping, unprecedented restrictions Tuesday on how people, governments and businesses can use water amid the state’s ongoing drought, hoping to push reluctant residents to deeper conservation.
The State Water Resources Control Board approved rules that force cities to limit watering on public property, encourage homeowners to let their lawns die and impose mandatory water-savings targets for the hundreds of local agencies and cities that supply water to California customers.
Gov. Jerry Brown sought the more stringent regulations, arguing that voluntary conservation efforts have so far not yielded the water savings needed amid a four-year drought. He ordered water agencies to cut urban water use by 25 percent from levels in 2013, the year before he declared a drought emergency…
Despite the dire warnings, it’s also still not clear that Californians have grasped the seriousness of the drought or the need for conservation. Data released by the board
Tuesday showed that Californians conserved little water in March, and local officials were not aggressive in cracking down on waste.
A survey of local water departments showed water use fell less than 4 percent in March compared with the same month in 2013. Overall savings have been only about 9 percent since last summer.
Under the new rules, each city is ordered to cut water use by as much as 36 percent compared with 2013.
And more color from The LA Times which reports that California will begin cracking down on “wasters” via the imposition of stiff fines as millions of trees die out in National Forests, raising the risk of wildfires :
“Right now we’re scared. Right now we’re in the denial stage. We have to get into acceptance, and we have a relatively short period of time to do it.”
Others were more skeptical, citing new data showing that California’s hundreds of urban water suppliers assessed only 682 penalties to water wasters in the last several months after receiving more than 10,000 complaints.
The enforcement data demonstrate the “need to make enforcement a true deterrent to water wasting,” said Mark Gold of UCLA’s Institute of the Environment and Sustainability. “People don’t park in posted street sweeping parking spaces three weeks in a row. The vast majority of people in California are not looking at this as a dire situation, yet.”
Years of extremely dry conditions are taking a heavy toll on forest lands across California and heightening the fire risk as summer approaches.
“The situation is incendiary,” William Patzert, a climatologist for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, told The Times recently. “The national forest is stressed out”…
A new study by the U.S. Forest Service tried to assess the scope of the problem. Researchers estimated that the drought has killed off at least 12.5 million trees in California’s national forests during the drought.
The scientists expect the die-off to continue. “It is almost certain that millions more trees will die over the course of the upcoming summer as the drought situation continues and becomes ever more long term,” said biologist Jeffrey Moore, acting regional aerial survey program manager for the U.S. Forest Service.
* * *
Of course, cutting back will come at a steep cost for utility companies who will promptly attempt to replace an estimated $1 billion in lost revenue by raising prices for consumers. Between rising utility costs and fines of up to $10,000 for egregious violations of the state’s conservation efforts, hydration just got a lot more expensive in California — unless you’re a MotherFracker, in which case none of this applies.
67 Comments on "California Adopts “Unprecedented” Restrictions On Water Use As Drought Worsens"
Davy on Fri, 8th May 2015 10:56 am
Juan, I go without a shower for several days and if I get nasty in the summer I jump in swim lake as recreation and to clean up. I do this as relative sacrifice or training. I do it to do my part to conserve. If everyone does their part your local will be more resilient and sustainable.
On the otherhand today in a place like Miami your effort to conserve is a drip compared to a firehose. You make a valid point that as long as we have free markets with little control any conservation efforts are swallowed up in the rape of the commons.
I still think preparation for the collapse takes training. This is why I fast and forego a nice hot shower. I haven’t progressed to the level of doing without coffee yet and I am not sure I am man enough to go to that level.
JuanP on Fri, 8th May 2015 12:38 pm
Davy, From age 16 through 19 I didn’t shower or bathe for three months in the summers because I spent so much time in the ocean I didn’t need to, so I understand where you are coming from. I did my training already. I didn’t use soap, shampoo, or deodorant either. Everything is relative. I won’t miss the showers much when they are gone, but I enjoy them while I can.
If I was by myself on a farm, I probably would do as you do, but I have to ride 18 floors on the elevators with “civilized” people to get home. I mostly shower out of courtesy to other people, particularly my wife.
I have also fasted a lot in the past, but I don’t do it anymore. At 5’7″ and 153 pounds, I don’t have a gram of fat to lose in my body and fasting would not be advisable for me right now. I am on a raw food organic vegan diet right now and that is all the detox I need. I have to force myself to eat more constantly to keep from losing too much weight because of my extremely high level of physical activity. I do highly recommend fasting to everyone who has never done it. Fasting one day a week with a longer ten day fast once a year is a very healthy thing to do for people with a little fat to spare. I miss my ten day fasts, I could feel the positive effect it had on my health for months afterwards.
apneaman on Fri, 8th May 2015 12:53 pm
Davy, let’s all just enjoy that coffee while we can. It won’t be around for too much longer. Condolences to the Juan Valdez’s of the world.
How climate change will brew a bad-tasting, expensive cup of coffee
Rising heat, extreme weather and pests mean the highland bean is running out of cool mountainsides on which it flourishes
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/mar/28/climate-change-bad-expensive-coffee-ipcc
apneaman on Fri, 8th May 2015 1:39 pm
“You have to think about the way of dealing with a crisis that has not just come in the short range, but has come to stay,” water expert Pedro Jacobi of the University of São Paulo told Circle of Blue. “You have to look at it as permanent.”
São Paulo Drought 2015: Photos Of Historic Water Crisis In Brazil Show City On The Brink Of Collapse [PHOTOS]
http://www.ibtimes.com/sao-paulo-drought-2015-photos-historic-water-crisis-brazil-show-city-brink-collapse-1912767
apneaman on Fri, 8th May 2015 1:41 pm
Wild animals in drought-stricken Western states are dying for a drink
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/animals-in-the-wild-are-dying-for-a-drink-in-the-drought-stricken-west/2015/05/06/260312aa-eac6-11e4-9767-6276fc9b0ada_story.html
Kenz300 on Sat, 9th May 2015 8:41 am
Water is a precious resource that has been wasted in the past……….
Learning to conserve resources and not be wasteful is an important lesson to learn.
steve on Sat, 9th May 2015 1:50 pm
Damn Apeman! Do you just wake up looking for bad news and spend all your time looking for it?..yes it is all around we are on a decline but dude, Go get laid….and here is where apeman starts looking up the negative impact of sex….
Apneaman on Sat, 9th May 2015 2:12 pm
steve, it takes almost no effort. In fact, the only way not to notice is to leave ones head stuck in ones ass. Which is where you should stick yours if you can’t handle it.
Dry Heat
As Lake Mead hits record lows and water shortages loom, Arizona prepares for the worst.
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2015/05/arizona_water_shortages_loom_the_state_prepares_for_rationing_as_lake_mead.single.html
GregT on Sat, 9th May 2015 2:26 pm
Apnea,
As always Sir, thank-you for the links. We hear very little these days from the lame stream media, and most people are completely clueless of the direction that we are heading.
Hopefully more of us will get our heads out of our asses and start preparing lifeboats.
GregT on Sat, 9th May 2015 2:32 pm
Oh, and just for the record, I didn’t read your last comment until after I had submitted mine. I guess what is so blatantly obvious to us, is lost on others. Maybe that is one of the consequences of having ones head full of shit.
hiruitnguyse on Sat, 9th May 2015 2:50 pm
http://rt.com/news/257173-more-sex-enjoyment-happiness/
Davy on Sat, 9th May 2015 3:06 pm
Steve said “dude, Go get laid” Steve, we are trying to promote zero population growth here at PO and you are telling people to have sex. What’s the deal? Besides can you imagine little furry Ape Men running around terrorizing the place. Scary!
Apneaman on Sat, 9th May 2015 3:11 pm
Greg, hard core deniers are not the only ones who don’t want to hear it. There are many who’ll say ya it’s bad, but not “that bad” No it’s worse. I’m not going to sugar coat anything just so people can feel a little bit more comfortable, for just a little bit longer. I am especially not going to do it here for poor little steve. That’s not the first time he has tried to use me and my views to announce his anxiety. He wants to be a Doomer lite. Seen it before. We did what we did and we are getting what we are getting. If someone can’t handle it- does not want to hear it then they should go watch tv or cat videos on you tube. Come to a doomer site and whine that someone is too doomy? How fucked up is that?
steve on Sat, 9th May 2015 3:42 pm
sorry apeman didn’t mean to get you into a tizzy…you are just preaching to the choir with your links….so us something we don’t already know…you are a boring self obsessed american…with an american temper to match…
steve on Sat, 9th May 2015 4:31 pm
Sorry Apeman that was the evil captain Steve….go back to computer and your attachments…
https://screen.yahoo.com/star-trek-convention-000000768.html
Apneaman on Sat, 9th May 2015 7:22 pm
Wrong again steve, I was born and raised in Canada. And they are links not attachments – tard.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxJvrD80nJ4
Apneaman on Sat, 9th May 2015 9:49 pm
Water strategist says drought is the ‘new normal’
“We need to stop calling it a drought. This is now the new normal,” said Will Sarni, who has worked for both the public and the private sectors over the last three decades. “A ‘good rain’ is not going to make life good.”
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=34569330