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Too Much Water to Waste?

April 11, 2016

Too Much Water to Waste?

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Does California have too much water? Seriously. Because our actions are sending peculiar messages. Even the State Water Board has backed off on conservation targets for some water agencies.

It’s true, rains have replenished much of Northern California’s reservoirs and Governor Brown’s mandated 25% water restrictions made a serious dent in our water binge. A whopping 1.1 million acre-feet of water was saved, or rather, not wasted, thanks to these restrictions. And that water savings came with other benefits: If that 1.1 million acre-feet of water had been produced in a desalination plant instead, 5 billion kilowatt hours of electricity would have been consumed—enough for over 800,000 California households for a full year.

Our savings was not inconsequential, but the truth is, we could have squandered even less without much hardship or inconvenience. I learned this directly when, after ripping out the lawn, I cut my water use by 75%. But throughout last summer, the majority of my neighbors—and perhaps yours—were still pouring water on their lush green lawns, ignoring restrictions, and not suffering any consequences except for an occasional warning.
YLWD-water-useMeanwhile, water agencies were complaining that their budgets were being severely pinched as a result of lower water sales. Many have temporarily weathered the cuts by drawing down reserves but others have been forced to raise rates.

Last summer, the small Yorba Linda Water District in southern California was facing a $9 million budget shortfall and so they raised rates in this conservative upscale Orange County community (home of the Richard Nixon Library) by $25 per month. Residents were so outraged that they gathered twice as many signatures as needed to repeal the hike. Legal wrangling has ensued.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

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