CA Politicians Threaten You with Water Fines - But You're Not the Problem

Warning: you may be fined if you water your lawn today. If you wash your car at home, that will cost you a big penalty too!

California’s Democrat politicians say you are to blame for the state not having enough water. You are a selfish “water hog” and if you don’t comply with new water use restrictions, you face financial penalties!

Don’t feel bad - when it comes to your water use, you’ve done nothing wrong! In fact, you are doing a lot of things right.

In fact, state and local water data overwhelmingly shows Californians are more water efficient than ever. Californians today have the lowest per-capita water consumption since the state started recording the data!

So why doesn’t California have enough water?

Carl DeMaio, Chairman of Reform California, says the problem isn’t consumption by California residents. He says the problem is negligent mismanagement of our existing water supply - which contrary to the rhetoric of politicians and their friends in the media is sufficient to meet our needs and then some.  

DeMaio points out that residential, retail and commercial consumption of water is a “drop in the bucket” when looking at water usage. Data demonstrates only 5% of California’s water is used for residential, retail and commercial consumption. 40-45% is used by agriculture. 50-55% of water is directed out to the ocean.

But even within that 5% bucket of water used by humans everyday, significant water conservation has already been achieved by state residents.

According to state data Per capita water use had declined significantly—from 231 gallons per day in 1990 to 180 gallons per day in 2010. For the past several years in San Diego county, per capita water usage has dropped to under 50 gallons per day.

DeMaio credits advancement in technologies and building approaches - as well as thoughtful use by residents. “We should be congratulating state residents, not threatening them with water fines,” DeMaio said.

The same conservation trend is seen in the 40-45% used by agriculture - with water use by agriculture dropping by 20% since 1980 despite food output increasing by 32% during the same time.

“The real problem continue to be the 50-55% of our water that state politicians are allowing to be wasted each year - literally flushed out to the ocean,” DeMaio lamented.

The real truth about water use hasn’t stopped Governor Gavin Newsom from blaming residents for being water hogs and threatening them with fines. Newsom is demanding local water agencies enact mandatory water restrictions on Californians — and meet a target of a 15% decrease in water use.

“Newsom is blaming 5% of water use for our shortages - because he doesn’t want to admit that he’s wasting 50-55% of our water each year by not properly managing it,” DeMaio noted.

DeMaio argues that California has always had a “feast-famine” cycle of drought and abundance of water - but California politicians have refused to manage that cycle to ensure we always have ample supply of water.

“Our real problem is that we don’t properly store water in the good years, and we don’t properly manage the flow from our rivers in ways that make sense,” explained DeMaio. “We have more than enough water — we just don’t use it right because Sacramento politicians have embraced extreme and unsustainable environmental restrictions over the needs of residents,” he continued.

When California receives rain, there is not adequate infrastructure to capture it and store it. In 2019, more than 80% of rainwater was wasted and went straight into the Pacific Ocean. If there was more rainwater capture infrastructure, it would provide adequate water for California’s needs.

Environmental restrictions have also led to less usage of our rivers. One example of this is the Delta Smelt. The Delta Smelt is a small fish that once lived in the Sacramento Estuary. In the 1980’s the population took a nosedive, and it has not recovered since. In 2015, one smelt was found in the whole estuary - and none have been found since.

California politicians have claimed that excess water pumping is causing the smelt’s extinction. While this may be a cause, the river system is also full of invasive species and excess fertilizer. These factors make it impossible for the smelt to survive. Even if the fish still survives in the river, it is unlikely it will survive for much longer. But California has decided to stop pumping in the river, just to protect a fish that is likely not even there.  

“That fish is long since dead, yet we keep these extreme restrictions on the books,” said DeMaio. “It doesn’t make sense.”

DeMaio says even new technologies to enhance water supplies have been rejected by state politicians.

DeMaio points to one example, where in May, the California Coastal Commission unanimously rejected a plan for a new desalination plant in Huntington Beach. The reasons cited for rejection were fears over killing plankton in the ocean. The plant would have made 50 million gallons of drinkable water per day.

“You can’t have it both ways - you can’t say we need more water and this is a water emergency, but then turn around the same day and cheer on the rejection of a water desalination plant,” says DeMaio.

DeMaio and Reform California are leading the fight to elect reform-minded candidates in November who will support common-sense water policies. Join the campaign today to flip these key seats.

Join the fight: Flip Targets Seats 2022 (reformcalifornia.org)‍