OPINION:
“Please sir, I want some more,” is no longer a sentiment just for Oliver Twist in the orphanage. A new law in California limits how much water can be used by each household. Now their showers, how many flushes, and how often they can do their laundry will be under the watchful eye of the state government.
This from politicians who have pushed policies creating homeless and drug abuse crises throughout the state. They have now decided to clamp down on the use of the most basic needs of civilized living.
As the blog Zero Hedge put it, “it’s now against the law to do laundry and shower on the same day in the Sunshine State,” and they’re not exaggerating. Under the guise of addressing “climate change,” the new bill rations water to a degree that makes it impossible to maintain a healthy home environment.
Perhaps the state wants everyone to feel like the drug addicts living in California’s ever-expanding homeless tent cities?
Zero Hedge reported, “Assembly Bill 1668 is where it gets personal. This establishes limits on indoor water usage for every person in California and the amount allowed will decrease even further over the next 12 years. ’The bill, until January 1, 2025, would establish 55 gallons per capita daily as the standard for indoor residential water use, beginning January 1, 2025, would establish the greater of 52.5 gallons per capita daily or a standard recommended by the department and the board as the standard for indoor residential water use, and beginning January 1, 2030, would establish the greater of 50 gallons per capita daily or a standard recommended by the department and the board as the standard for indoor residential water use …’”
How do families feel about the rationing of water? CBS-13 in Sacramento asked a few: “’With a child and every day having to wash clothes, that’s, just my opinion, not feasible. But I get it and I understand that we’re trying to preserve … but 55 gallons a day?” said Tanya Allen, who has a 4-year-old daughter.”
To give you perspective on how much water basic chores require, the station noted an eight-minute shower uses about 17 gallons of water, a load of laundry up to 40, and a bathtub can hold 80 to 100 gallons of water.
Felicia Marcus, chair of the State Water Resources Control Board, explained this is happening, “So that everyone in California is at least integrating efficiency into our preparations for climate change.” That’s nice. This same bureaucrat then noted to CBS-13, “Right now we lose up to 30 percent of urban water just to leaks in the system.”
As the state rations the water of the average of family, making it impossible for everyone to shower and wash clothes, let alone use water to wash the dishes, and perform any myriad of other efforts to keep a home clean and a family healthy, it’s the state itself and its crumbling infrastructure that is the biggest waster of water.
In 2014, during the drought, Californians found out what happens when policy focuses on controlling people, which is much easier than actually governing and maintaining infrastructure.
The Pasadena Star-News reported, “As 20 million gallons of drinking water rushed down Sunset Boulevard and flooded the UCLA campus this summer, drought-conscious residents threw up their hands. How are three-minute showers going to make a difference, they asked, when the city’s pipes are bursting? Turns out the UCLA flood was just a drop in the sea of potable water that leaks or blows out of underground pipes. California’s water distribution systems lose up to 228 billion gallons a year, the state Department of Water Resources estimates — more than enough to supply the entire city of Los Angeles for a year.”
The wasted water isn’t relegated to local areas in Southern California. The San Jose Mercury News reported about the Bay Area at the time, “Aging and broken pipes, usually underground and out of sight, have leaked enough water annually to submerge the whole of Manhattan by 5 feet — enough to meet the needs of 71,000 families for an entire year.”
No wonder people are fleeing the state. This week Fox News reported, “A whopping 46 percent of California Bay Area residents fed up with the region’s high cost of living and soaring home prices are planning to pack their bags and move out in the next few years, a poll has found.”
The report indicated homelessness and traffic were key reasons why residents wanted to flee. And this is while they can still shower, bathe their child and do laundry on the same day without being fined.
“Ron and Elizabeth Haines, who have lived in the city of Pleasanton, say they are moving to Idaho this summer and are among the residents who believe living in the Bay Area is getting too expensive,” Fox News said.
“We are excited,” Elizabeth Haines told the station. “I have tons of friends and family here. It’s going to be hard, but I have a feeling we’re going to have lots of visitors.”
They sure will, but forget about that BBQ and table-tennis. Little do they know their friends will be bringing their laundry and want to soak in their bathtub. And then they’ll ask about the neighborhood and school system.
• Tammy Bruce, president of Independent Women’s Voice, author and Fox News contributor, is a radio talk show host.
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