California Sets Fines for Waste as Record Drought Deepens - Bloomberg

California Sets Fines for Waste as Record Drought Deepens - Bloomberg: "California regulators approved emergency statewide rules that for the first time allow fines against water-wasters after a call for voluntary reductions failed to curb enough use as a three-year drought worsens.

The California State Water Resources Control Board passed an emergency measure that sets fines of as much as $500 a day on residential and business property owners if they overwater lawns to the point that runoff flows onto streets or sidewalks. Residents washing cars without shutoff nozzles on hoses would also face penalties.

After three years of record low rainfall, 80 percent of the most populous U.S. state is now experiencing extreme drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, a federal website. Reservoirs are 45 percent below normal levels, and farmers have left fallow an estimated half-million acres in the nation’s most productive agricultural region. The dry spell is likely to boost the prices of food nationwide, and farm and shipping interests stand to lose billions in revenue.

“This is an historic action because of the historic nature of this drought,” said Water Resources board Chairwoman Felicia Marcus."



'via Blog this'