As California imposed its first-ever statewide rules to
punish water wasters, a new survey showed why state officials say the drastic
measures are needed: Californians actually increased their water use amid the
worst drought in decades.
The new rules, approved by the State Water Resources
Control Board on a 4-0 vote, impose new restrictions on outdoor water use
starting Aug. 1 that could result in fines of up to $500 per violation.
Gov. Jerry Brown in January asked Californians to slash
their water use by 20 percent. But a new state survey released Tuesday showed
that water use in May rose by 1 percent this year, compared with a 2011-2013
May average.
The survey of 267 water providers by the water board
found that water consumption in the Bay Area dropped 5 percent. But in coastal
California, south of Santa Barbara, consumption rose 8 percent.
"California is in the worst drought we've seen in
our grandparents' generation or beyond," said Felicia Marcus, the water
board's chairwoman. "Fields are going fallow. Thousands of people are
going to be out of work. There are communities that are out of water -- they're
bathing out of buckets and water trucks are coming in to help them.
"But many parts of California don't seem to realize
how bad it is," she said, "because they are so far away from their
source of water. We are all in this together, and this is not a time to waste
water."
The new rules ban washing cars without a nozzle on a hose;
watering driveways or sidewalks; using potable water in ornamental fountains;
and over-watering landscaping so that water runs off into roads and adjacent
properties. Recycled water is exempt.
Under the new statewide rules, any agency that does not
impose mandatory conservation measures could be subject to state fines of up to
$10,000 a day. But it remained unclear Tuesday whether local agencies will be
able to keep in place rules that don't include enforcement or penalties.
More than 60 percent of a regular
residential home's water usage goes to lawns, in order to fight the drought
effectively, changing real lawns to artificial grass or other low water
requiring plantation becomes almost imminent. Synthetic grass company,Global
Syn-Turf, Inc. offers more than 50 different type of artificial grass products
with distribution centers throughout California: From Sacramento to Fresno to
San Francisco Bay Area to Greater Los Angeles, you will be able to find their
wonderful product to fit your preference.
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