Robert Reich
16 mins ·
The drought here has prompted a number of wealthy Californians to demand that scarce water be allocated by price – that is, by ability to pay -- rather than be rationed. So far, their arguments aren’t getting anywhere. Ultra-rich Rancho Santa Fe, for example, which now guzzles five times more water per capita than the statewide average, will be subject to water rationing starting July 1st: Each household will be assigned an essential allotment for basic indoor needs. That’s prompted residents like Steve Yuhas to complain to the Washington Post that people “should not be forced to live on property with brown lawns, golf on brown courses or apologize for wanting their gardens to be beautiful. We pay significant property taxes based on where we live. And, no, we’re not all equal when it comes to water. I’m a conservative, but I defend Barbra Streisand’s right to have a green lawn.”
Another resident justifies the large amount of water she and her neighbors need for their vast estates by arguing that they’re using less water per acre than do poorer people who occupy far less space. “You could put 20 houses on my property, and they’d have families of at least four. In my house, there is only two of us,” she says. So “they’d be using a hell of a lot more water than we’re using.”
The real test will come if wealthy Californians use more water than they’re allotted, and are then fined. Will they consider the fine the cost of additional water?
16 mins ·
The drought here has prompted a number of wealthy Californians to demand that scarce water be allocated by price – that is, by ability to pay -- rather than be rationed. So far, their arguments aren’t getting anywhere. Ultra-rich Rancho Santa Fe, for example, which now guzzles five times more water per capita than the statewide average, will be subject to water rationing starting July 1st: Each household will be assigned an essential allotment for basic indoor needs. That’s prompted residents like Steve Yuhas to complain to the Washington Post that people “should not be forced to live on property with brown lawns, golf on brown courses or apologize for wanting their gardens to be beautiful. We pay significant property taxes based on where we live. And, no, we’re not all equal when it comes to water. I’m a conservative, but I defend Barbra Streisand’s right to have a green lawn.”
Another resident justifies the large amount of water she and her neighbors need for their vast estates by arguing that they’re using less water per acre than do poorer people who occupy far less space. “You could put 20 houses on my property, and they’d have families of at least four. In my house, there is only two of us,” she says. So “they’d be using a hell of a lot more water than we’re using.”
The real test will come if wealthy Californians use more water than they’re allotted, and are then fined. Will they consider the fine the cost of additional water?
