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by andsoitis·4y ago·view on hn ↗
Worth knowing how California water is used and which sectors consume the most.

Hint: it is not citizens watering their gardens or drinking 8 glasses of water a day or taking long showers: https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/2022/02/24/california-wate...

Now, I recognize that the industries who ARE consuming virtually all the water bring in tax revenues, but when there's no water, perhaps time to think about incentivizing other industries.

2 comments
It’s an extraordinarily tough position for today’s elected officials, as they are bound by legalities from predecessor governments decades ago. Lots of stakeholders have firmly established rights (in some cases even by international treaty, the top tier of legal force in the U.S. Constitution).

Officials may find themselves desperately cracking down on people showering a bit long, while powerless to affect bulk use... for example by allowing market forces to work out a price where supply meets demand.

This won't be because they are bad people or stupid, nor will it be the fault of whichever political party each group officials belongs to... and it's not clear how to get out of this situation.

concur. we are our own barnacles.
Pretty typical for the US these days to treat systemic problems as solvable by individual choices. See e.g. covid, global warming, recycling, privacy, and misinformation.
it will help when we start seeing the universe not as objects but as processes with feedback loops. nothing is fixed in time and space.
Yes. Pushing problems around, or as they say in business, externalities.