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The Caliifornia drought has turned the lawn
outside the Capitol brown, but what
about the lush lawns of some of the state's rich? |
Well, I gotta hand it to him, a guy named Steve Yuhas in Rancho Santa Fe, California sure was blunt about it.
Here's him in a
recent Washington Post article:
"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,' Yuhas fumed recently on social media. 'We pay significant property taxes based on where we live,' he added in an interview. 'A no, we're not all equal when it comes to water."
Oh, the humanity! Living on a property with brown lawns! What torture!
Talk about First World problems, jeesh!
Rancho Santa Fe is a rich enclave. When California Gov. Jerry Brown called on everyone in the state to reduce their water use by 25 percent, consumption in Rancho Santa Fe went up by 9 percent, says the Washington Post.
Take
THAT, Jerry!
However. There's always a however.
Next week, on July 1, Rancho Santa Fe is going to be subject to water rationing.
As Jessica Parks of the Santa Fe Irrigation District says, it's no longer a matter of, "You can't water on these days," but it's going to be "this is the amount of water you get during a billing period, and we're going to impose high penalties if you go over those limits.
Water bills are already high, and if, for instance, outdoor use of water for swimming pools, fountains etc. are not cut by half, bills will triple.
And if rich people have no trouble paying the fines and still use tons of water, the irrigation district will install flow restrictors on the property,
says the Washington Post.
If one is installed, then it would be hard, to say, shower and do a load of laundry at the same time, says The Post. Officials have even floated the idea of shutting off the taps altogether for the worst offenders.
Some of the wealthy folks around Rancho Sante Fe are OUTRAGED!
"It angers me because people aren't looking at the overall picture....What are we supposed to do, just have dirt around our house on four acres,?" the Post quoted an interior designer named Gay Butler.
Well, maybe having dirt around your house is better than cutting off water to people with less income than you.
People are so used to always getting what they want that they become adrift when something threatenes to hinder that supply.
I also get it that it's easy for me to call out water wasters in California while I sit here in soggy Vermont, with more water than I know how to deal with.
But let's face it. Some, but not all, people who are very rich expect everyone to jump and give them what they want. If they don't, boy there's hell to pay!
Turning off our taps! Brown lawns! Life is so HARD!!
Let's just hope the California drought ends before the water hogs drain the reservoirs dry.
