California: The Parched State

"The fierce drought that is gripping the West — and the imminent prospect of rationing and steep water price increases in California — is sharpening the deep economic divide in this state, illustrating parallel worlds in which wealthy communities guzzle water as poorer neighbors conserve by necessity. The daily water consumption rate was 572.4 gallons per person in Cowan Heights from July through September 2014, the hot and dry summer months California used to calculate community-by-community water rationing orders; it was 63.6 gallons per person in Compton during that same period.

Now, California is trying to turn that dynamic on its head, forcing the state’s biggest water users, which include some of the wealthiest communities, to bear the brunt of the statewide 25 percent cut in urban water consumption ordered by Gov. Jerry Brown. Cowan Heights is facing a 36 percent cut in its water use, compared with 8 percent for Compton."

    This drought is causing Water Companies to implement rationing devices and limits on the public and on commercial businesses. Local fountains have been turned off, Family pools have been drained, Koi ponds are emptied. California has talked about fining excessive use of water up to 500 dollars a day.

 http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/27/us/drought-widens-economic-divide-for-californians.html?_r=0








Compton yards are almost entirely unwatered, and dead.