
In California, Stingy Water Users Are Fined in Drought, While the Rich Soak - hvo
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/22/us/stingy-water-users-in-fined-in-drought-while-the-rich-soak.html?ref=us
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alooPotato
I thought the solution to this would be simple. Shouldn't we just price water
on an exponential scale. I.e. normally water costs $X/gallon, and under some
threshold, that price is constant. However, once you exceed that threshold,
the price PER GALLON increases at an exponential rate.

If the wealthy want 5 pools + water slide, great! They pay a hefty sum and
that money gets plowed into better water infrastructure.

It would have 1 of 2 effects, the super rich end up using less water (which we
want) or they pay HUGE amounts of money that get plowed back into the
community. If water is that scarce, this seems reasonable.

Why wouldn't this work? We'd have to get some laws passed or we need the 411
different water districts would have to enforce this uniformly?

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fanf2
178 gallons per person per day is a huge amount! That's 673 litres, which is
well over four times the average water consumption in the UK.
[http://www.waterwise.org.uk/data/resources/25/Water_factshee...](http://www.waterwise.org.uk/data/resources/25/Water_factsheet_2012.pdf)

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fallinghawks
In Alameda County, "extreme" conservation is 35 gallons per person per day. I
stopped watering the lawn last season, we have an water-efficient washing
machine and dishwasher, and the shower heads are 1.5gpm. We (two) still flush
every time and one person takes some pretty long showers -- and we're doing
less than 40 gallons per person per day.

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gamesbrainiac
This reminds me of a podcast done by NPR on the "Planet Money" program, where
you stand to gain more if use more water in a drought.
[http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2015/07/22/425392169/episo...](http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2015/07/22/425392169/episode-640-the-
bottom-of-the-well)

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ck2
I'm kind of curious why this hasn't ended in violence against the wealthy that
abuse water. Not that I am encouraging or condoning it, but it is a very
visible and immediate effect.

Every 99% person saving a gallon is literally doing so for the 1% to waste it,
it's not just on paper, you can go and visibly see it.

How exactly does the 1% stay in control like that?

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SQL2219
Install urinals in the houses.

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dalke
If the city is serious about it, look towards Santa Fe, NM, at
[http://savewatersantafe.com/rebates/](http://savewatersantafe.com/rebates/) :

> The City of Santa Fe Water Division offers a variety of rebates to encourage
> customers to conserve water by replacing high use fixtures and appliances
> with efficient technologies.

> Indoor Rebates Include: ( _) High-efficiency clothes washer rebates, (_ )
> High-efficiency toilet (HET) rebates for residential or commercial, (*)
> Water free urinal rebates

Here's the form for the $500 rebate to install water free urinals -
[http://savewatersantafe.com/wp-
content/uploads/2012/10/urina...](http://savewatersantafe.com/wp-
content/uploads/2012/10/urinal_application_2013.pdf) .

As a result of 15-20 years of effort, Santa Fe water consumption is down to
about 50 gal/person/day.

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escherize

        > "Someone has to say, ‘You can’t have five pools — you can have one pool,"
    

Violent solutions should not be the answer to non-violent problems.

