Northern California’s Folsom Lake on January 16, 2014.
“You Can’t Give What You Don’t Got”
Way back in February of 2014, the Federal and State governments that control access to CA water supplies off the Sierra Nevada Mountains told the 3300 state water distributors that there would be now water this year. (It was since modified to a 5%allocation.) This was a first and broke a 54-year contract. You can read about it (here).
Since then the Central Valley Farmers have lost billions and mass tracts of farm fields have gone fallow, farmers are being put out of business, food prices in May went up the greatest percentage ever (1.7%) and a state bond will be issued after November elections dedicating some $11 Billion of our dollars to build two huge new reservoirs in N. CA and Central CA. to capture more water because the state has presold over 30% of water we had already to customers through contract guarantees.
Meanwhile, for the entire summer and into fall, Governor Brown has called for “voluntary” cuts in general for all while golf courses are fully watered, lawns in the ‘burbs look great, car washes still going strong and water is served without request at most restaurants even though we are in, as Brown declares, “The Greatest Drought in the History of California”.
Why? Why did he not make rationing mandatory in Spring time, like was done during the drought in CA in 1976?
Meanwhile, last May, Cerebus Capital Management, a mega-private corporation in Connecticut bought all Safeway Supermarkets for some $9 Billion. They already owned all the Albertson Supermarkets as well as owning the Freedom Group, the largest owners of guns and ammo in the country. They were also the ones who said they would be divesting out of the gun business after the faked Sandy Hook Shootings.
Cerebus Capital Management has bigger revenue than Coca-Cola and has on its Board of Directors one Donald Rumsfeld, as well as other military brass. Cerebus is known as the mythological three headed dog guarding Hades, or Gates of Hell. You can read about them (here)
Since the State has known for months and months that the water is not showing up, yet until this week have refused to seriously enforce water conservation, we must assume it is by design. So two weeks previous, CA state legislatures passed two laws to control and regulate all groundwater in CA, claiming we are the only state to not monitor groundwater. Read http://www.ksbw.com/news/central-california/salinas/things-to-know-about-california-groundwater-law/28094860.
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Now, this week, we see the teeth come out on the Hades dog with mandatory water cuts of 50% per person per day with really big fines for non-compliance.
Additionally, they will be using GPS and Google Earth to spy down on our homes to determine compliance and water restriction amounts!
Water rationing hits California: limit of 50 gallons per person per day or face fines of $500
“In July, the State Water Resources Control Board passed stage one emergency regulations, giving powers to all local water agencies to fine $500 per violation,” reports the San Gabriel Valley Tribune. [1]
Keep in mind that these are only “stage one” emergency regulations. Stages two and three have yet to be invoked and will only become more severe.
The amount of water each household is allowed by water districts will be determined by government employees viewing satellite imagery of private properties, then calculating how much water that property should be allowed to use.
“Using census records, aerial photography and satellite imagery, an agency can determine a property’s efficient water usage,” says the SGVT.
50 gallons per person, per day
In some districts, water rationing allocation is also based on the number of persons who are known to be living at each address based on U.S. Census data. The Irvine Ranch Water District allows 50 gallons of “indoor” water consumption per person in the home. As explained on the IRWD website: [3]
The indoor water allocation is 50 gallons per person per day and depends upon the number of residents in a home. Water allocated for landscape irrigation depends upon the type of home.
As the IRWD website explains, those water consumers who the government deems to be “wasteful” will be charged 160% or higher rates for water consumption. This is on top of the $500 fines for each violation, as has now been approved by the state.
The 50 gallons per person per day is the maximum allocated amount for all indoor water use, including laundry, showering, toilet flushing, drinking, washing dishes and hand washing for hygienic purposes.
According to the EPA, the average U.S. citizen currently uses 100 gallons per day, with 70 of those gallons consumed indoors. [4] The largest users of indoor water are toilets, showers and clothes washers.
Not yet called “rationing” because the word isn’t socially acceptable
Interestingly, the water rationing that’s about to be enforced in California isn’t being called rationing. Instead, California’s doublespeak wordsmiths have decided to call it an “allocation-based rate structure” (which simply means that after you hit your ration limit, you are harshly penalized for any additional consumption).
In explaining why California citizens will be heavily penalized with fines if they exceed their water rationing allocation, all sorts of elaborate doublespeak terms are now being used such as “strong price signals” and “conservation response.”
Here’s how the IRWD explains water rationing to its customers without using the term “rationing“:
Allocation-based rate structures are the foundation of IRWD’s Water Shortage Contingency Plan. This rate structure allows IRWD to quickly respond to limited supplies through strong price signals, which result in the greatest conservation response from our customers.
Translation: If we aggressively penalize people for exceeding their water allocation, they will seek to stay within the limits for the same reason that people try to avoid speeding tickets — nobody wants to pay the fines!
TABU; Towards A Better Understanding 