California threatens ‘mandatory water restrictions’ if people don’t cut back | Hacker News Reader

California threatens ‘mandatory water restrictions’ if people don’t cut back

theguardian.com

7 pointsBarrera9 comments

Worth knowing how California water is used and which sectors consume the most.

Hint: it is not citizens watering their gardens or drinking 8 glasses of water a day or taking long showers: https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/2022/02/24/california-wate...

Now, I recognize that the industries who ARE consuming virtually all the water bring in tax revenues, but when there's no water, perhaps time to think about incentivizing other industries.

Pretty typical for the US these days to treat systemic problems as solvable by individual choices. See e.g. covid, global warming, recycling, privacy, and misinformation.

it will help when we start seeing the universe not as objects but as processes with feedback loops. nothing is fixed in time and space.

Yes. Pushing problems around, or as they say in business, externalities.

It’s an extraordinarily tough position for today’s elected officials, as they are bound by legalities from predecessor governments decades ago. Lots of stakeholders have firmly established rights (in some cases even by international treaty, the top tier of legal force in the U.S. Constitution).

Officials may find themselves desperately cracking down on people showering a bit long, while powerless to affect bulk use... for example by allowing market forces to work out a price where supply meets demand.

This won't be because they are bad people or stupid, nor will it be the fault of whichever political party each group officials belongs to... and it's not clear how to get out of this situation.

concur. we are our own barnacles.

This is like blaming lawnmowers for high gas prices.

Everybody knows agriculture is using the lion's share of water and it's unsustainable. Drinking less water and reusing laundry water isn't the answer.

Gov. Newsom Still Agitating for Urban Water Restrictions While Ignoring 50% State’s Water Sent to the Pacific

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31496174

Ya, because we need to water these useless water hogging almond trees....

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