Governor Jerry Brown
yesterday approved two new laws
limiting water usage for Californians. Daily limits will begin at 55 gallons
per person, later dropping to 50 gallons. As one California news report notes, "Fifty
gallons are considered the minimum needed for health and safety." It
further explains, "How consumers will meet the goals remains unknown. An
eight-minute shower, for example, uses about 17 gallons of water, a load of
laundry up to 40 and a bathtub can hold 80 to 100 gallons of water." The
paper notes that the restrictions are supported by various environmental
groups, though some groups complained the restrictions don't go far enough.
The imposition of these draconian water limits was predictable. In 2015,
referring to previous water restrictions mandated by Governor Brown, I wrote, "And it's a
safe bet that Brown's mandatory water reductions will not alleviate the crisis,
leading to a drastic increase in restrictions in the not-too-distant future.
Watering your lawn, washing your car and countless other everyday activities
will be banned up and down California. In their mania to attack Central Valley
farming, the radicals are inadvertently running the entire state out of
water."
Make no mistake, environmental extremists and the Democrats who serve
their interests put us in this situation through their misguided
legislation and their prolific lawsuits designed to impose
ever-stricter water limitations. And by blocking commonsense
solutions in House-passed bills such as operating the pumps to full capacity,
repealing damaging laws, and approving more water storage projects, they
have engineered a permanent water crisis.
The result, as we see today, is a drastic reduction in personal freedom
and our standard of living. Californians don't want to have to choose
between doing their laundry and taking a shower, but that's the kind of choice
being forced on us - and the odds are, without a drastic course correction,
more restrictions lie ahead.
