Written by Lev Finzi
Certain green areas in our state of California are going to be experiencing a halt in water due to a ban placed by the State Water Resources Control Board. The ban is a part of Governor Gavin Newsom’s proposal to cut back on California’s overuse of water.
With that, local water districts enforce a much stronger conservation method in an attempt to cut back on water waste. This new ban will be responsible for plenty of unhappy business owners, colleges, and industrial plants because one of the first things on the agenda is to put a limit as to how much one can water their greenery. The Governor has been trying to bring up how much of a concern this issue is.
Due to California being in its 3rd year of an acute drought, this has caused panic among its citizens and government. E. Joaquin Esquivel, the Chairman of the Water Board states that “The governor made very clear yesterday that there is a sense of urgency here,”.
As a state, we also need to consider the almost 2-decade-long mega-drought that has been affecting the western side of the United States. Scientists say that this mega-drought is by far the worst one humanity has seen since 1,200 years ago. January through March was hailed as one of the driest seasons in a century.
June 10th marks the day when the ban will be put into place. Businesses, industrial plants, hospitals, government facilities, colleges, and places owned by the HOA shall no longer be able to water the grass in their own outside areas. Violators of this ban can be fined up to $500 per day. Any grass that is used for decoration and is not used for daily events shall no longer be permitted to be watered. The ban does not apply to parks, sports fields, watering trees, or people’s own private residence.
It is said that many water districts have already managed to cut back on water usage, and major changes have been made. Santa Cruz has made it so a daily limit of 45 gallons per person, per day. A 10-minute shower uses approximately 10 gallons of water. The seaside city is already very low on water usage and has a total population of 65,000.
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