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United States Politics

Gov. Newsom Asks Californians To Cut Water Use By 15% Amid Drought (axios.com) 173

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday asked state residents to voluntarily reduce household water usage by 15% due to worsening drought conditions. From a report: Newsom is yet to issue a California-wide state of emergency or mandate any water use restrictions. However, on Thursday, he expanded his regional drought state of emergency to apply to 50 of the state's 58 counties, which includes about 42% of the population, Newsom said. Newsom encouraged residents to take shorter showers, run dishwashers only when completely full and refrain from watering lawns.
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Gov. Newsom Asks Californians To Cut Water Use By 15% Amid Drought

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  • Cali Tips (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 08, 2021 @04:49PM (#61563477)

    Every time you flush it uses 1.28 gallons of water. San Francisco is already saving water by defecating on the street.

  • by Krishnoid ( 984597 ) on Thursday July 08, 2021 @04:50PM (#61563483) Journal
    For example, do our dishes by hand while showering over the lawn.
    • by tlhIngan ( 30335 ) <slashdot.worf@net> on Thursday July 08, 2021 @06:23PM (#61563773)

      do our dishes by hand while showering over the lawn.

      Actually, surprisingly, a full dishwasher will use less water cleaning than washing by hand. Sure, for one or two plates, it's more efficient to wash by hand, but a full load of dishes will use more water if washed by hand than by dishwasher.

      Same goes with washing your car - a car wash will often use less water than washing at home, and not because of leaky hoses.

      Showering over your lawn is practiced by a few places as well - those that separate their greywater from blackwater do it because the greywater can often be reused for irrigation.

      It is, after all, a sin to water the lawn with clean drinkable water, after all. (And as for plants - you really should wash them - with clean water - before you eat them, because they're covered in dirt and environmental "deposits" or "droppings".)

      • The water out of the garden hose I'm pretty sure is the exact same water coming out of the tap in the kitchen. So are you suggesting it is a sin to water the grass? I suppose during a drought it is but if you have enough grass and a lot more trees, the canopy cover can really make a noticeable difference in cooling the area.

        Not to mention, if we don't water anything, stuff will get even drier and we are already at high fire risk.

        Sounds like we are really screwed truth be told.

        • Or you could landscape with plants suited for a dry environment instead of blasting a crapload of water to sustain regular green grass. Or at the very least install an under-soil "drip" type system instead of spraying water through the air where a significant portion simply evaporates.
        • So are you suggesting it is a sin to water the grass?

          Yes. Restrictions on outdoor watering is usually the first thing to come in during times of water scarcity. It's a vanity project. No having green grass does not contribute to cooling in any meaningful way. Trees do, but they also don't magically just die (and honestly I don't think I've ever seen a person water a tree, and if your tree needs watering then you planted the wrong tree).

      • A dishwasher is only more economical with water and energy for things like plates, cups, and utensils. Compared to most people's style of washing up; you can beat the 20 liters of a dishwasher by hand, but it's not easy.

        It's not so clear-cut for cooking pots and pans and big items like serving bowls because you can't fit those efficiently and especially cooking pots/pans need a program that runs hotter and uses more water.

        • by Cederic ( 9623 )

          A dishwasher is only more economical with water and energy for things like plates, cups, and utensils. Compared to most people's style of washing up; you can beat the 20 liters of a dishwasher by hand, but it's not easy.

          Fill bowl with water. Wash things.

          That's, what, 8 litres?

      • Its about time there was a bigger move to saving, storing and filtering all the grey water from the house (showers, dishwashers etc) so it can be recycled back into the house for use in the toilet, washing machine, lawn etc
  • by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 08, 2021 @04:50PM (#61563485)

    Otherwise, my lawn stays nice and green.

    PS: Almond and alfalfa farmers can go to hell too.

    • by geekmux ( 1040042 ) on Thursday July 08, 2021 @04:52PM (#61563489)

      PS: Almond and alfalfa farmers can go to hell too.

      Yes, it's amazing how donor Greed doesn't count when it comes to conservation.

      • by Ogive17 ( 691899 )
        I have seen that some almond farms have allowed 40% of their trees to die so I don't want it to be assumed that farmers have not also taken a hit by the drought.
        • by geekmux ( 1040042 ) on Thursday July 08, 2021 @05:19PM (#61563575)

          I have seen that some almond farms have allowed 40% of their trees to die so I don't want it to be assumed that farmers have not also taken a hit by the drought.

          I have seen no real increase in price or decrease in availability of product.

          Given that California for some odd reason supplies the planet with almonds, I'll believe your statement when almond prices are $20/pound.

          • Actually, the pricing of almonds seems to be swinging the other way. [merlofarminggroup.com]

            As high as US$4 per pound in 2015, over $2.50 per pound in 2019, and trading as low as $1.47 this year.

            • I've heard of fake honey before, but fake almonds would be interesting to say the least. Would be neat if they could use a fuckton less water too.

              Then again, wouldn't be surprised if they received some serious COVID money to help subsidize those prices. Any organization that can consume that much water and not give a shit about any petty restrictions, has the manipulative power to ask for bailout billions and get it.

        • Well it's not like Californians need the jobs or anything even if the product goes elsewhere.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by magarity ( 164372 )

      Otherwise, my lawn stays nice and green.

      If your lawn does not stay green then your HOA will fine you by the day, and they don't care if the state officials are asking people to conserve.

      • Does Gov Newsom's order prevent (with legal force) HOAs or other authorities from requiring anyone to water a lawn?

        If not, there's an obvious problem here.

        • Does Gov Newsom's order prevent (with legal force) HOAs or other authorities from requiring anyone to water a lawn?

          No need. Homeowners already have the right to remove their grass. HOAs can't require lawns.

          If not, there's an obvious problem here.

          California has many obvious problems, but this isn't one of them.

          • Good to hear that HOAs can't require grass.

            If you have grass, can the HOA require you to keep it green by watering it, or can you let it go brown in the dry season? Expecting homeowners to remove their lawn when there's a drought isn't going to happen very quickly, and lawns that live on water from the sky are somewhere between harmless and beneficial (helps to regulate water flow in the landscape when it does rain).

        • Does Gov Newsom's order prevent (with legal force) HOAs or other authorities from requiring anyone to water a lawn?

          I would assume that an HOA can't require you to violate the law, so yes.

          • They can require you âoeto do X or pay fineâ and if X is illegal, you have the pay fine optionâ¦. Itâ(TM)s no different from a contract that just saysâto pay fineâ. There are weirdly (to me) few things (like signing away certain civil liberties) that are actually illegal to require in contract.

        • by ksw_92 ( 5249207 )

          I guess you missed "voluntarily" in the sentence. There's no law about this yet so nothing new (aside from the existing 100 million other laws and EOs that we seem to break by our simple existence) to worry about.

      • Otherwise, my lawn stays nice and green.

        If your lawn does not stay green then your HOA will fine you by the day, and they don't care if the state officials are asking people to conserve.

        Really? Time to bust the Karens in the HOA who are secretly out watering at 3AM, as if their lawns stay green because of fucking leprechauns.

        • As a Californian, what we need to do to fix the issue is to tax the shit out of things like growing almonds and tap-to-bottle operations like Nestle.
          Make it a progressive tax that increases every year, so the farmers growing almonds have some time to transition to something more sustainable, if they're small operations.
          If the price of a pound of almonds goes to $60, maybe the aggressive HOA Karens will stop buying almond milk for their lattes.

      • by ShanghaiBill ( 739463 ) on Thursday July 08, 2021 @05:31PM (#61563615)

        If your lawn does not stay green then your HOA will fine you by the day

        Nope. Under California law, homeowners have a right to remove their grass [surfrider.org].

        I am a California homeowner, and my "lawn" is gravel, rocks, and drought-tolerant plants.

        Now, get off my cacti.

      • Maybe some nice fake plastic grass. My HOA said my lawn couldnt be more than 8in high. It did not say what it had to be made of. So I replaced it with Ajuga in the front yard. Its like a ground ivy without the vines and creep. They couldnt do shit.
        • by Cederic ( 9623 )

          My HOA said my lawn couldnt be more than 8in high

          "It's not a lawn. It's a wild bird refuge."

          One of my neighbours has an entirely untouched 4x5 metre block in his back garden for that. I think my neighbours would all be happy if his entire garden was like that, long grasses and wild flowers, somewhere safe for squirrels, birds and rodents.

          Instead we have to listen to his gardener using loud whining mechanical devices three days a week.

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Otherwise, my lawn stays nice and green.

      PS: Almond and alfalfa farmers can go to hell too.

      The amount of water used to grow almond is absurd. 2 trillion gallons a year, just in California. Nobody will starve or die if we don't have almonds. We are literally wasting 2 trillion gallons of water just so a handful of big companies can make money from almonds.

      I'll cut them some slack on alfalfa because it is used for cattle feed so it is actually useful.

    • by Solandri ( 704621 ) on Thursday July 08, 2021 @05:26PM (#61563603)
      Reducing urban water use (which includes golf courses) by 90% will only save as much water as reducing agricultural use by 25% [ppic.org].
      • 8% urban use * 90% = 7.2% overall reduction
      • 29% agricultural use * 25% = 7.25% overall reduction.
      • Don't forget Nestle's bottled water production.

        • That hopefully isnt the same water supply. Bottled water and spring water, not the same thing. Bottled water is distilled, purified, filtered, to do mineral replacement. You could literally distill sea water and then partner off the brine to a company selling sea salt.
          • It is the same supply. Thatâ(TM)s the recent controversy about Nestle bottled water â" itâ(TM)s the same as tap, but marketed to imply (but never say) it is different.

          • by Pascoea ( 968200 )
            Best info I could find, most of the bottled water produced (where I am, Minnesota) is just filtered, not distilled. Distillation requires a shit ton of energy, then you have to replace the minerals. Easier to filter it, shove it in a bottle, and sell it to idiots that don't understand it's the same thing* as tap water. *fluoride being a major difference.
    • Otherwise, my lawn stays nice and green.

      PS: Almond and alfalfa farmers can go to hell too.

      It's interesting not only where water is used in California but also how that usage changes in wet versus dry years. According to the Public Policy Institute of California, the water usage [ca.gov] in wet versus dry years looks like the following:
      (absolute numbers in millions of acre-feet)
      Environmental: Wet=62%=64.48 Dry=28%=17.08
      Agriculture: Wet=29%=30.16 Dry=61%=37.21
      Urban: Wet=8%=8.32 Dry11%=6.71
      Total: Wet=104 Dry=61

      It's interesting that environmental (i.e., "water in rivers protected as “wild and scen

    • The good ol' "that guy is doing something bad so why shouldn't I" argument. Honestly that's also why I simply kill Ubereats delivery people rather than paying them a tip. I hear other people murdering senselessly so why shouldn't I.

  • by rsilvergun ( 571051 ) on Thursday July 08, 2021 @05:00PM (#61563513)
    that bring 50-100 jobs each while using millions of gallons of water a month.

    The ruling elites aren't going to give up profit, and they're not going to pay taxes so we can have water. They're gonna make us all stop taking showers and washing our cloths every week (or month).

    The only question is are you gonna let them do it? So far the answer has been: yes.
    • Are you just trying to stir up trouble or something?

      You don't even live here. I do.

      Agriculture is by far the largest water user in the state (by an order of magnitude), and when you drive through the "central valley" (which you can do at highway speeds for a number of hours before you reach the other end) you'll see that in the midst of a desert wasteland there are endless fields of fruit and nut trees, all supported by water piped in from elsewhere. It's really an insane use of resources, and it makes data

      • so it can be forgiven for using water. Data centers are a tougher sell because they don't produce food, don't bring jobs (50-100 for 1-2 million gallons of water a month, and that includes the janitor and security). Worse, data centers have plenty of alternatives for cooling (such as not building in drought stricken Southwest states).

        It's a lose / lose for all involved except a handful of billionaires and the politicians they bought off.

        As for why I care, it effects everyone. As the ruling elites fo
        • Agriculture produces food so it can be forgiven for using water

          Bullshit. You don't build a solar farm in the arctic circle, and you shouldn't be building [or maintaining] extremely water-intensive operations in a place where water is scarce---agriculture included! It's just stupidity.

          data centers have plenty of alternatives for cooling (such as not building in drought stricken Southwest states).

          Funny, I would say the same thing about agriculture... something that, you know, depends on having a lot of water. As I pointed out earlier, though, agriculture is the much bigger offender here. Surely by 2-4 orders of magnitude when talking about datacenters.

          They'll flood my cities driving up rents and driving down wages.

          Aren't you in the UK? You thin

    • Data centers can also recycle their water, while boutique crops no one needs for survival use trillions of gallons.

      Farmers should not be sacred cows. The US is enormous and there is plenty of OTHER arable land left fallow.

      https://www.mashed.com/225543/... [mashed.com]

      The water footprint of a single California almond is 3.2 gallons (equal to 1 million gallons per acre per year), meaning that, per year, almonds guzzle enough H20 to supply all of the households in the Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco Bay areas (vi

  • California has been stealing water from the rest of the Southwest for decades to quench their southern cities. Then there are the farms, many of whom export their product to other countries because they are owned by foreign companies.
    • Yes the "cycle of life" is stealing. Nature, thieving since the beginning.

      • I think the parent post is referring to the water supply contracts that California âoenegotiatedâ or âoestrong armedâ (depending on who you ask) that make it illegal, for example, for some Colorado residents to have rain barrels on their own lawns because that water runs downstream and belongs to CA.

        • illegal, for example, for some Colorado residents to have rain barrels on their own lawns because that water runs downstream and belongs to CA.

          Probably makes taking a leak outdoors more enjoyable though.

  • by ChangeOnInstall ( 589099 ) on Thursday July 08, 2021 @05:07PM (#61563529)

    Statewide, average water use is roughly 50% environmental, 40% agricultural, and 10% urban, although the percentage of water use by sector varies dramatically across regions and between wet and dry years.

    https://www.ppic.org/publicati... [ppic.org]

    Reducing usage by 1.5% is a good thing. But I'm not taking shorter showers until I at least see a single blade of brown grass on Newport Beach city property.

    • This year, there is a polite request to reduce usage by 15%.

      Next year, when things don't get better, there will be a legal mandate to reduce your usage by 15% based on what it was the year before.

      So, those who do their part this year will be punished with excessive water use restrictions next year, whereas the selfish holdouts this year will have a more reasonable legal reduction next year.

      • In other drought places, they measured the reduction req against the year before the drought started to account for this. The same can be done here.

        • by Cederic ( 9623 )

          Yes, but this is Newsome trying to punish the people that voted to recall him.

          Which is why the 50 of 58 counties only include 42% of the population.

    • by Ichijo ( 607641 )

      But I'm not taking shorter showers until I at least see a single blade of brown grass on Newport Beach city property.

      Ok but as long as the city parks stay green, will you at least stop watering your useless lawn with drinking water?

  • great suggestion (Score:3, Insightful)

    by laktech ( 998064 ) on Thursday July 08, 2021 @05:08PM (#61563533)
    typical blame shifting to the individual. you can help achieve this target by eliminating 15% of your shits by eating less taco bell. this is just like recycling. It's YOUR fault for not hauling the plastic bag 10 miles to a specialty recyling facility.
  • by FudRucker ( 866063 ) on Thursday July 08, 2021 @05:10PM (#61563543)
    make those two items illegal to water until further notice would do a lot, all car washes need to filter and recycle their own water too
    • make those two items illegal to water until further notice would do a lot, all car washes need to filter and recycle their own water too

      Golf courses are a corruptly established business; not going anywhere no matter the environmental impact. Kind of like almonds.

      Make green grass illegal if you want to really make an impact. That hits everywhere, not merely on golf courses. Sadly, we'll be fighting the Lawn Maintenance Industry alongside Big Oil when it comes down to it.

    • by Known Nutter ( 988758 ) on Thursday July 08, 2021 @05:40PM (#61563643)

      all car washes need to filter and recycle their own water too

      They pretty much already do this. Notable exceptions in that industry include self-serve "wand" car washes and those crappy little drive thru car washes at gas stations. Larger tunnel washes have reclaim water systems. Fresh water use is limited to the rinse arch. That water is collected and supplements the reclaim water system.

      • Notable exceptions in that industry include self-serve "wand" car washes and those crappy little drive thru car washes at gas stations.

        Wait really? Why don't they? They do in many other parts of the world.

  • I'll be switching to 8 glasses of whiskey per day.

  • California could truly be the land of milk and honey again, with multiple nuclear and desalination plants. California could pump water inland to serve even desert areas beyond California...

    Now that with be technological utopia.

  • Lets see, my house has:
    Low flow toilets, faucets, showers
    high efficiency appliances
    no sprinklers and minimal plants (no grass) inside the fences
    reclaimed water use for landscape outside the fences
    leaking toilets or faucets are fixed asap

    No one takes long showers or wastes water. All of this has added up to a lot less water use on a continual basis. This is our everyday, not just during a drought. Cutting back really means going without, like skipping flushes for pee and skipping showers. I'm not going to

  • by triffid_98 ( 899609 ) on Thursday July 08, 2021 @06:20PM (#61563763)
    I mean I can only assume the Olympic sized swimming pool, mansion and 8 acre estate with lush green lawns he was "gifted" and paid no taxes on does use some amount of water.
    • You are suppose to listen and obey. Kings aren't like us little people. Do as I say, not as I do.

    • I'll take whataboutism for $10.
      Or He's an arsehole so therefore I need to be an arsehole too for $100.

      I mean is America one big contest of who can be the biggest and most selfish cunt?

  • by schwit1 ( 797399 ) on Thursday July 08, 2021 @06:42PM (#61563831)

    https://californiaglobe.com/se... [californiaglobe.com]

  • We can all line up and piss in Newsom’s Olympic sized swimming pool.
  • 1. Stop rinsing your recyclables.
    2. Stop washing your vegetables.
    3. This is not a good time to start washing all that hair.

  • by MacMann ( 7518492 ) on Thursday July 08, 2021 @07:47PM (#61564023)

    As seen at the bottom of the pages of Slashdot today...

    We are each entitled to our own opinion, but no one is entitled to his own facts. -- Patrick Moynihan

    California needs water, fresh water. They can get that from the sea from desalination. To power this reliably and keep CO2 emissions low they will need nuclear fission power. There may be people with differing opinions on this but some very real fact make any other opinion difficult to defend.

    Offshore wind power costs more than nuclear fission. Rooftop solar PV costs more than nuclear fission. Given the land use requirements for onshore wind power and for utility scale solar (thermal or PV) California may not have enough land to produce the energy they need without fossil fuels, nuclear fission, or importing energy from other states. I don't know what importing energy means for the economy in California but it seems that importing energy from other states carries problems other than money leaving the state.

    Bringing in electricity over long distances, such as from another state, means long overhead power lines. In dry periods these power lines become fire hazards. Poor maintenance increases the threat of fires started from sparking wires but even the best of these wires will spark from something or other. Nuclear fission power plants along the coast would mean short runs of power lines to population centers, the lines not traveling over large dry forested areas, having plenty of water for cooling the power plant and fighting fires, and being on the coast would be a near necessity for producing desalinated water along with the energy they need.

    Dr. Patrick Moore recognized the need for nuclear power in California nearly a decade ago.
    http://ecosense.me/2017/01/18/... [ecosense.me]

    Dr. Ripu Malhotra made his case for nuclear power in California years ago.
    https://cmo-ripu.blogspot.com/... [blogspot.com]

    California is not likely to hold out against nuclear power and new water desalination capacity forever. I doubt they will be able to hold out for five years before construction starts on a nuclear powered desalination plant. California politicians may have their own opinions on this but they can't have their own facts. Given the facts in California what other options do they have but new nuclear power, and sooner rather than later?

    I'll see ignoramuses that will say it will take too long to build a nuclear power plant so it's best to not bother. If California started on building nuclear power plants a long time ago then they would not have had this problem. The problem will not be solved until they build nuclear power plants. They can start now, or they can start in 20 years, they need to start at some point because the water shortage will not be solved any other way. What should they do until they finish the first of many nuclear power plants they will need? Electing politicians that take their energy, water, and economic issues seriously would be a good start. They can build some natural gas power plants. They can launch some wildfire prevention efforts. They can reverse the stupid ban on residential natural gas service to new homes. If electricity service is going to get cut as a fire prevention scheme then people will need a means to power backup generators as a matter of public safety. The other option is diesel and gasoline generators, and that comes with greater CO2 and air pollution problems than natural gas. Rooftop solar panels and batteries are an option too but that will have issues of costs and runtime limits.

    There's a lot of opinions on what California needs to do. People are welcome to their opinion. What they can't do is create their own facts. Facts will limit their options.

    • Generating nuclear power is cheap. Dealing with the waste products is very expensive.

      • Dealing with radioactive waste in the USA is expensive because Democrats decided to make it expensive. The radioactive waste processing facility at Yucca Mountain was supposed to be taking in waste in the 1990s but the Democrats kept delaying it, creating legal challenges, and denying funding. Biden and the Democrat heads of the energy committees in both houses of Congress all support nuclear power. Yucca Mountain will need a lot of money to take in waste because it's been unfunded and rusting for the la

    • by drwho ( 4190 )

      This is true. But to hold up the best of nuclear and desalinization, I give you the Molten Chloride Salt Fast Reactor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ou_xswB2b0&ab_channel=gordonmcdowell and Temperature Swing Solvent Extraction: https://yiplab-h2o-e-env.eee.columbia.edu/research-projects/temperature-swing-solvent-extraction-membrane-less-and-non-evaporative

      The main problem isn't technology; or money, it's politics, Which means people are the problem.

      • The molten chloride salt fast reactor will take a decade of testing to bring to a commercial prototype, and another decade of prototype operation to prove safety and economic viability, then another decade to built the first operational reactor.

        On the other hand an experienced builder can bring a known working and very safe 3rd generation light water reactor online in about five years. We can, should, and almost certainly will build molten salt reactors. We can't, or at least should not, wait that long.

  • So I'm guessing California doesn't go in for hosepipe bans like they have in the UK. At the first sign of water shortages, everyone knows to stop watering their gardens. No big deal. They just slowly turn brown. Alternatively, in the UK you can get subsidised water butts at your nearest garden centre to collect rainwater during the wetter months for your garden. Also, how about cultivating gardens that are more suited to the local climate so you don't need so much water? There's plenty of feasible solutions
    • There's plenty of feasible solutions when you think about it.

      There sure are. For many developed nations with coastal cities water desalination is a common solution to a water shortage. These shortages are happening with troubling regularity in California. The politicians there may not like the idea but they will have to build desalination facilities. As I recall these things get debated on where they need to be, how to pay for it, and so on until there is some rain. Then once the immediate problem is gone the politicians pretend that there never was a water shor

  • by raind ( 174356 ) on Thursday July 08, 2021 @09:36PM (#61564283) Journal
    I predict major conflicts due to lack of water or to much of it, the question is how soon.
  • This must be that "great weather" I was hearing about in the later Slashdot story about how nobody wants to leave CA.
  • The Governor is an idiot, or a shill for big farms, or both.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]

  • by drwho ( 4190 ) on Friday July 09, 2021 @02:57AM (#61564895) Homepage Journal

    Use Brawndo of water, it has what plants crave. It's not the solution California needs, but it's the one California deserves.

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