Rich Californians balk at limits: ‘We’re not all equal when it comes to water’

If they don't like it, they can relocate. But that would be upsetting too.

Rich Californians balk at limits: ‘We’re not all equal when it comes to water’

Quote :

In April, after Gov. Jerry Brown (D) called for a 25 percent reduction in water use, consumption in Rancho Santa Fe went up by 9 percent.

A perfect illustration of the disconnection and sense of entitlement among the upper classes these days. Water shortages, and by extension climate change, are problems of the poor people. We who are smarter and therefore better compensated should not be hampered by the poor decisions made by the lower class.

This summer will be fun.

"Fun" isn't the word I would use.

A few days ago, it was 105 degrees. 20 degrees higher than normal for the date. Last year on that date it was 106, which was a record for the date. No. I'm not going with "fun."

Some interesting comments in here.

Donald Trump is even more of a monster than you think: Why his golf courses are environmental disasters

Anthony Baxter wrote:

I also wanted to focus in on the ludicrous situation of these golf courses being built in places like the California desert, for example, which has experienced the worst drought in history. And when you consider that the average golf course uses 312,000 gallons of water per day, and the average American family of four uses 400 gallons/day, it really is shocking, the scale of this stuff. I wanted to explore how our planet cannot afford these gated, super-luxury resorts for very wealthy people like Donald Trump, yet they keep being built in places that are so unsustainable.

Anthony Baxter wrote:

The super-luxury resorts that the super-rich are building for their own enjoyment and entertainment are having a really detrimental impact on local communities, and rather than actually supplying the community with jobs and economic benefits, they’re actually costing the community greatly.

You only need to look at California, which is second to Florida in the number of golf courses it has, and there are 921 in an area with the worst ever drought, and the town sprinkles tap water onto the San Diego golf courses. So you have these situations where these golf courses and gated communities are benefiting such a tiny, tiny proportion of people, like Donald Trump, who are getting richer, and then the poor who are getting poorer are having to pick up all the pieces from these stupid decisions that are made about building them in the first place.

One of the things I find almost unbelievable about the situation is the number of very-well-off people who think the government can fix the problem. "I'll be glad when they get this water thing taken care of" is a sentiment I have heard many times. It's almost impossible to convince these people that the government can't make it rain. "Well, what do they expect us to do if they can't fix it?" I hear this over and over. "You fucking move somewhere else," I tell them. That is unacceptable: "No, they've got to straighten this out."

For a class of people who despise the very concept of government, they sure do expect miracles.

BTW: We have one golf course in town. It is watered with reclaimed waste water and has been for many years.

Coz that's what happens when you put coloreds in the White House.

Why shouldn't they live there? They built it. And didn't even charge for their labor.

Depressing.

Who Is the Wet Prince of Bel Air?

Solution: treat water as a natural resource, like air or sunlight.

Do not charge for it.

But, everybody gets the same amount. Nobody can buy more.

NoCoPilot wrote:

Solution: treat water as a natural resource, like air or sunlight.

Do not charge for it.

But, everybody gets the same amount.  Nobody can buy more.

And that's going to make it rain?

No, but it makes dividing the available water among the extant populace a lot more equitable.

Where I live, the water rights are owned by the property owners. There is no charge for the water, just for the actual cost of delivery. It still isn't raining.

I every home in California used the same amount of water, it would make no difference. Eighty percent of the water is used by agriculture, which accounts for less than two percent of California's GDP. There's the biggest problem. Well, the biggest except for no rainfall.

I'm not sure that "disputed" is the correct word. "Clarified" or "re-defined" maybe. But the fact remains that eighty percent of water used by people is used for agriculture.

Very pretty.

I'm not sure what you were trying to illustrate with that graph, NoCo.

I admit that I was pissed off by the article at the link you provided. It missed some salient points in its description of water usage. For example, they showed a lot of environmental usage - which is true - but they neglected to point out that their numbers were percentages of the total water in a typical year in California - including that water that just falls on the ground and is dispersed naturally and the natural run off from the snow pack. It is not managed water. They further neglected to note that more than half of the water allocated to environmental purposes is in the far northern part of the state, where it is unavailable for other-than-natural use and not needed in the area. The use of water to keep the delta from being contaminated from sea water is hardly a choice, or an environmentalist plot; without it the water supply would crash.

Carly Fiorina loves to say that the drought in California is man made and caused specifically by environmentalists. So when I read an article that is incomplete and can be misleading, it is the fucking Republicans that come to mind.

I have been looking at several articles than confirm - more or less - much of the data in the article you posted, but with more detail. And every one of them has at some point noted that eighty percent of all water used by human beings is used by agriculture. And it may be even more than that. The amount of water being drawn from the ground for ag uses cannot be measured. But when you see places where the ground has dropped by more than a foot because of the groundwater extraction, it gives one pause.