Tag: Rationing

California suffers from droughts, but the state’s government is an endless well of bad ideas. According to the San Jose Mercury News, the new laws will “require cities, water districts and large agricultural water districts to set strict annual water budgets, face fines of $1,000 per day if they don’t meet them, and $10,000 a day during drought emergencies.” As some have noted, the restriction could make it difficult for some California citizens to do laundry and take a shower on the same day without going over the limit. According to The Sacramento Bee, the State Water Resources Control Board estimates California residents used an average of 90 gallons of indoor and outdoor water per day in 2017, down from 109 gallons in 2013. In addition to this legislation, the state is also considering a new tax on drinking water to pay for new infrastructure projects. That California, the richest state in the union and one which in no way suffers for lack of tax revenue, cannot find a way to manage its water resources without cracking down with burdensome regulation is telling. Droughts are nothing new in California, especially in the desert south, but the increasing inability to deal with them is. It’s roads, it’s schools, it’s an unwillingness to invest in the future because we spend all our money in government paying the pensions of employees.” And through this crisis, California has spent enormous resources to protect the delta smelt, a 3-inch fish that appears to be going extinct despite enormously wasteful environmental projects. “That would have been enough to sustain 6.4 million Californians for six years. The state may be recovering from a drought, but more are sure to come. Instead of nickel-and-diming taxpayers and creating onerous restrictions, the state should focus on getting its finances in order and prioritizing basic infrastructure needs over fruitless left-wing welfare schemes.