by Katy Grimes
As Appearing in the California Globe
Right now there is no way to monitor individual indoor usage, nor is there a way to separate indoor watering from outdoor watering
What is the real story behind California’s 55 gallons of water per day, per person? California Globe recently summarized some of the state Legislature’s most unforgettable moments in 2019, including some water laws.
California voters have approved more than $30 Billion in Water Bonds which has provided no new water storage, and water rationing on the horizon.
California Globe spoke to noted water expert Kristi Diener for an update on this complicated matter:
In water year 2019, which spanned from Oct. 1, 2018 to Sept. 30, 2019, an amount of water equal to a year’s supply for 275 million people flowed under the Golden Gate Bridge and out to the Pacific Ocean. Rather than acting to build new, major, reservoir storage to capture all we can when Mother Nature brings us bountiful water for free, California continuously obstructs, and has even used the courts to block putting dam shovels in the ground. In fact, lawmakers recently enacted their own expensive and ineffective solution instead.
Sen. Bob Hertzberg (D-Los Angeles), and Assemblywoman Laura Friedman (D-Glendale), authored two new mandatory water rationing bills. Senate Bill 606, and Assembly Bill 1668, were easily passed along party lines, signed into law, and will gradually keep ratcheting indoor water use down over the next 10 years, until it reaches 50 gallons per person per day. Unlike expanded reservoirs that capture additional new water to meet the current and future water needs of a growing population, Californians will adapt to living water poor. The cost of the new regulatory body, and added level of bureaucracy necessary to enforce these rationing laws, will be passed on to taxpayers. Water rates will continue to rise, and the “use less, pay more” scenario will increase. What’s worse is the actual water savings will be insignificant.
