http://gty.im/465639979
Wednesday, California Gov. Jerry Brown finally realized California is quickly running out of water and ordered mandatory restrictions to reduce water usage by 25%.
So what kind of restrictions are we talking about? Here are the main points, via LA Times:
- Require golf courses, cemeteries and other large landscaped spaces to reduce water consumption.
- Replace 50 million square feet of lawn statewide with drought-tolerant landscaping as part of a partnership with local governments.
- Create a statewide rebate program to replace old appliances with more water- and energy-efficient ones.
- Require new homes to have water-efficient drip irrigation if developers want to use potable water for landscaping.
- Ban the watering of ornamental grass on public street medians.
- Call on water agencies to implement new pricing models that discourage excessive water use.
- Require agricultural to report more water usage information to the state so that regulators can better find waste and improper activities.
- Create a mechanism to enforce requirements that water districts report usage numbers to the state.
Twitter, of course, immediately hated everything about the announcement:
If golf courses and cemeteries can still use water, then this drought is still not being taken as seriously as it should.
— ????????️???? ♿️✡️ Amadi (@amaditalks) April 1, 2015
Given historic CA drought, how incongruous is Larry Ellison's golf course in the desert? pic.twitter.com/tfuVEHJRCn
— David Shorr (@David_Shorr) April 1, 2015
Good to see California doing something about the drought, but to make a real dent we need to talk agriculture. #drought
— Gregory Wieber (@dreamwieber) April 1, 2015
https://twitter.com/siik/status/583361732136955904
So these 50 million sqft of California lawns to be replaced by drought-resistant landscaping… that's just 1.8 square miles, right?
— Eric Fischer (@enf) April 1, 2015
Golf courses in CA should've been banned when this drought started ffs golf is ridiculous
— cinderella (@ellakpauly) April 1, 2015
Lawns and golf courses make sense, but 80% of California water goes to agriculture (I'm looking at you, almonds…) http://t.co/VA548OgfRv
— Lauren Hepler (@LAHepler) April 1, 2015
https://twitter.com/reconnoitreLA/status/583339914302881792
California is freaking out because it's in a drought. I don't wanna hear it.
— Walker Northcutt (@WalkerNorthcutt) April 1, 2015
It is going to be a very long Summer.
