SFGate reports on California progress in water conservation:
Whether driven by threats or an abiding virtue, Bay Area residents are showing a knack for saving water, meeting and even exceeding new state conservation targets that carry big fines for communities that fall short.
The region’s widespread reductions in water use in June, which were as high as 40 percent in the Contra Costa Water District when compared to the same month in 2013, marked a vast improvement over previous months for most of the area’s big water suppliers.
Water experts say indifference toward the drought has evolved into a deep understanding of the problem, prompting most homes and businesses to cut back. …
California’s 400 largest urban suppliers are required to decrease their monthly water use between 8 and 36 percent over 2013 levels, with the depth of the cut based on how much they saved in the past. Those that don’t hit the new goals face penalties of $500 for each day of noncompliance as well as a cease-and-desist order that carries $10,000-a-day penalties for violations.
citisven @ The Daily Kos reports that the end of civilization is not yet in sight. Indeed:
So, I am doing my part to spread the positive encouragement and news. However, it’s worth spreading not only to my neighbors but to people across the country and the world (especially rich developed nations), for this news serves as a great reminder that we humans are perfectly capable of living more modestly and still be perfectly functioning and happy.
Perhaps citisven is a little optimistic in that last line, but humans are quite adaptable: sometimes we change our environment to fit our needs, and sometimes we change ourselves to fit the environment.
