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Rich Californians balk at limits: 'We're not all equal when it comes to water'
RANCHO SANTA FE, Calif. — Drought or no drought, Steve Yuhas resents the idea that it is somehow shameful to be a water hog. If you can pay for it, he argues, you should get your water.
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. “And no, we’re not all equal when it comes to water.”
Yuhas lives in the ultra-wealthy enclave of Rancho Santa Fe, a bucolic Southern California hamlet of ranches, gated communities and country clubs that guzzles five times more water per capita than the statewide average. In April, after Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown called for a 25 percent reduction in water use, consumption in Rancho Santa Fe went up by 9 percent.
But a moment of truth is at hand for Yuhas and his neighbours, and all of California will be watching: On July 1, for the first time in its 92-year history, Rancho Santa Fe will be subject to water rationing.
“It’s no longer a ‘You can only water on these days’ ” situation, said Jessica Parks, spokesperson for the Santa Fe Irrigation District, which provides water service to Rancho Santa Fe and other parts of San Diego County. “It’s now more of a ‘This is the amount of water you get within this billing period. And if you go over that, there will be high penalties.’ ”
– – –
So far, the community’s 3,100 residents have not felt the wrath of the water police. Authorities have issued only three citations for violating a first round of rather mild water restrictions announced last fall. In a place where the median income is $189,000, where PGA legend Phil Mickelson once requested a separate water meter for his chipping greens, where financier Ralph Whitworth last month paid the Rolling Stones $2 million to play a local bar, the fine, at $100, was less than intimidating
All that is about to change, however. Under the new rules, each household will be assigned an essential allotment for basic indoor needs. Any additional usage — sprinklers, fountains, swimming pools — must be slashed by nearly half for the district to meet state-mandated targets.
Residents who exceed their allotment could see their already sky-high water bills triple. And for ultra-wealthy customers undeterred by financial penalties, the district reserves the right to install flow restrictors — quarter-size disks that make it difficult to, say, shower and do a load of laundry at the same time.
In extreme cases, the district could shut off the tap altogether.
The restrictions are among the toughest in the state, and residents of Rancho Santa Fe are feeling aggrieved.
“I think we’re being overly penalized, and we’re certainly being overly scrutinized by the world,” said Gay Butler, an interior designer out for a trail ride on her show horse, Bear. She said her water bill averages around $800 a month.
“It angers me because people aren’t looking at the overall picture,” Butler said. “What are we supposed to do, just have dirt around our house on four acres?”
Rancho Santa Fe residents are hardly the only Californians facing a water crackdown. On Friday, the state said it would impose sharp cutbacks on senior water rights dating back to the Gold Rush for the first time in four decades, a move that primarily hits farmers. And starting this month, all of California’s 400-plus water districts are under orders to reduce flow by at least 8 percent from 2013 levels.
Top water wasters such as Rancho Santa Fe are required to cut consumption by 36 per cent. Other areas in the 36 per cent crosshairs include much of the Central Valley, a farming region that runs up the middle of the state, and Orange County, a ritzy Republican stronghold between San Diego and Los Angeles.
“I call it the war on suburbia,” said Brett Barbre, who lives in the Orange County community of Yorba City, another exceptionally wealthy Zip code.
Barbre sits on the 37-member board of directors of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, a huge water wholesaler serving 17 million customers. He is fond of referring to his watering hose with Charlton Heston’s famous quote about guns: “They’ll have to pry it from my cold, dead hands.”
“California used to be the land of opportunity and freedom,” Barbre said. “It’s slowly becoming the land of one group telling everybody else how they think everybody should live their lives.”
Jurgen Gramckow, a sod farmer north of Los Angeles in Ventura County, agrees. He likens the freedom to buy water to the freedom to buy gasoline.
“Some people have a Prius, others have a Suburban,” Gramckow said. “Once the water goes through the meter, it’s yours.”
Yuhas, a gay, disabled Marine veteran who hosts a conservative talk-radio show, abhors the culture of “drought-shaming” that has developed here since the drought began four years ago, especially the aerial shots of lavish lawns targeted for derision on the local TV news.
“I’m a conservative, so this is strange, but I defend Barbra Streisand’s right to have a green lawn,” said Yuhas, who splits his time between Rancho Santa Fe and Los Angeles. “When we bought, we didn’t plan on getting a place that looks like we’re living in an African savanna.”
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. “And no, we’re not all equal when it comes to water.”
Yuhas lives in the ultra-wealthy enclave of Rancho Santa Fe, a bucolic Southern California hamlet of ranches, gated communities and country clubs that guzzles five times more water per capita than the statewide average. In April, after Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown called for a 25 percent reduction in water use, consumption in Rancho Santa Fe went up by 9 percent.
But a moment of truth is at hand for Yuhas and his neighbours, and all of California will be watching: On July 1, for the first time in its 92-year history, Rancho Santa Fe will be subject to water rationing.
“It’s no longer a ‘You can only water on these days’ ” situation, said Jessica Parks, spokesperson for the Santa Fe Irrigation District, which provides water service to Rancho Santa Fe and other parts of San Diego County. “It’s now more of a ‘This is the amount of water you get within this billing period. And if you go over that, there will be high penalties.’ ”
– – –
So far, the community’s 3,100 residents have not felt the wrath of the water police. Authorities have issued only three citations for violating a first round of rather mild water restrictions announced last fall. In a place where the median income is $189,000, where PGA legend Phil Mickelson once requested a separate water meter for his chipping greens, where financier Ralph Whitworth last month paid the Rolling Stones $2 million to play a local bar, the fine, at $100, was less than intimidating
All that is about to change, however. Under the new rules, each household will be assigned an essential allotment for basic indoor needs. Any additional usage — sprinklers, fountains, swimming pools — must be slashed by nearly half for the district to meet state-mandated targets.
Residents who exceed their allotment could see their already sky-high water bills triple. And for ultra-wealthy customers undeterred by financial penalties, the district reserves the right to install flow restrictors — quarter-size disks that make it difficult to, say, shower and do a load of laundry at the same time.
In extreme cases, the district could shut off the tap altogether.
The restrictions are among the toughest in the state, and residents of Rancho Santa Fe are feeling aggrieved.
“I think we’re being overly penalized, and we’re certainly being overly scrutinized by the world,” said Gay Butler, an interior designer out for a trail ride on her show horse, Bear. She said her water bill averages around $800 a month.
“It angers me because people aren’t looking at the overall picture,” Butler said. “What are we supposed to do, just have dirt around our house on four acres?”
Rancho Santa Fe residents are hardly the only Californians facing a water crackdown. On Friday, the state said it would impose sharp cutbacks on senior water rights dating back to the Gold Rush for the first time in four decades, a move that primarily hits farmers. And starting this month, all of California’s 400-plus water districts are under orders to reduce flow by at least 8 percent from 2013 levels.
Top water wasters such as Rancho Santa Fe are required to cut consumption by 36 per cent. Other areas in the 36 per cent crosshairs include much of the Central Valley, a farming region that runs up the middle of the state, and Orange County, a ritzy Republican stronghold between San Diego and Los Angeles.
“I call it the war on suburbia,” said Brett Barbre, who lives in the Orange County community of Yorba City, another exceptionally wealthy Zip code.
Barbre sits on the 37-member board of directors of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, a huge water wholesaler serving 17 million customers. He is fond of referring to his watering hose with Charlton Heston’s famous quote about guns: “They’ll have to pry it from my cold, dead hands.”
“California used to be the land of opportunity and freedom,” Barbre said. “It’s slowly becoming the land of one group telling everybody else how they think everybody should live their lives.”
Jurgen Gramckow, a sod farmer north of Los Angeles in Ventura County, agrees. He likens the freedom to buy water to the freedom to buy gasoline.
“Some people have a Prius, others have a Suburban,” Gramckow said. “Once the water goes through the meter, it’s yours.”
Yuhas, a gay, disabled Marine veteran who hosts a conservative talk-radio show, abhors the culture of “drought-shaming” that has developed here since the drought began four years ago, especially the aerial shots of lavish lawns targeted for derision on the local TV news.
“I’m a conservative, so this is strange, but I defend Barbra Streisand’s right to have a green lawn,” said Yuhas, who splits his time between Rancho Santa Fe and Los Angeles. “When we bought, we didn’t plan on getting a place that looks like we’re living in an African savanna.”
Of course I know the legal definition of the state, I was referring to the difference in the weather, topography, amount of rainfall etc, especially when someone assumes all of California looks like L.A.
The arid west is no place for golf courses but while we, in California quibble about who is wasting water, nobody in government talks about the huge amounts of water used in fracking.
The arid west is no place for golf courses but while we, in California quibble about who is wasting water, nobody in government talks about the huge amounts of water used in fracking.
We're so glad to have you back, I'll read a few words of explanation (not considered whining in your case - yet... lol)... Actually, I'm a licensed water treatment operator, but I also spent a lot of time in wasterwater treatment, as well, because as you know, the 2 are often entwined.
The "reclaimed" water I was referring to is actually treated wastewater that's used for irrigation. It's treated to actual drinking water standards before it's put onto the golf courses, playgrounds, etc - you know, those rich people are just like the rest of us; they touch their golf balls, then might put their hands near their mouths and kids are a special consideration, so you can't have any fecal content in the irrigation water... Many of our large cities use reclaimed water (treated wastewater) for these purposes.
There's even been consideration of using it for drinking, which when you stop to think about it, we do all the time, when wastewater is treated and the effluent goes out into ponds or drain fields and goes back to the aquifer. It's treated at the wastewater facility, then further treated as it moves down through the layers of earth until it reaches the aquifer and merges with the rest of the water there. Happens all over the country and people don't even realize it, even when they have their own septic system, that's what happens... It's the same thing that happens to rain water that soaks into the ground and goes into an aquifer. It just so happens that our main aquifer (the Floridan) is pretty deep in most places, so the water gets pretty clean by the time it gets there.
Really grosses people out then they think they might have drink treated poop water... I'm retired now, so not into so much, but we always found that was definitely a conservation point.... lol
The "reclaimed" water I was referring to is actually treated wastewater that's used for irrigation. It's treated to actual drinking water standards before it's put onto the golf courses, playgrounds, etc - you know, those rich people are just like the rest of us; they touch their golf balls, then might put their hands near their mouths and kids are a special consideration, so you can't have any fecal content in the irrigation water... Many of our large cities use reclaimed water (treated wastewater) for these purposes.
There's even been consideration of using it for drinking, which when you stop to think about it, we do all the time, when wastewater is treated and the effluent goes out into ponds or drain fields and goes back to the aquifer. It's treated at the wastewater facility, then further treated as it moves down through the layers of earth until it reaches the aquifer and merges with the rest of the water there. Happens all over the country and people don't even realize it, even when they have their own septic system, that's what happens... It's the same thing that happens to rain water that soaks into the ground and goes into an aquifer. It just so happens that our main aquifer (the Floridan) is pretty deep in most places, so the water gets pretty clean by the time it gets there.
Really grosses people out then they think they might have drink treated poop water... I'm retired now, so not into so much, but we always found that was definitely a conservation point.... lol
I’m getting in late in this discussion and my vision will only allow so much reading before it gives up, so I apologize if this has already been covered. (I’ll stop whining now) I know it wasn’t wastewater treatment that you specialized in, but could the run off from wastewater treatment plants be used for irrigation? If so, the run off from 3,100 residents should go along way. Since they claim to have so much money, let them eat the cost of building the plant and running the pipes,
So rich Democrats and all of the celebrities known to be quite liberal have brown lawns, landscape and golf courses they play on in the areas you speak of the Right wing idiots?
Why do idiots have just a right wing? What happened to the other one? And the left wings lost their right wing? It sure makes sense to have both in order to be whole.
Just thinking out loud. I really want people to get along no matter what wing they have --- it would be a nicer world if people could understand those with an opposite wing and grow a little nub where their own other wing once was . . . so there is a bit more peace and understanding.
I'll never give up hope!
Why do idiots have just a right wing? What happened to the other one? And the left wings lost their right wing? It sure makes sense to have both in order to be whole.
Just thinking out loud. I really want people to get along no matter what wing they have --- it would be a nicer world if people could understand those with an opposite wing and grow a little nub where their own other wing once was . . . so there is a bit more peace and understanding.
I'll never give up hope!
The trouble with the new statewide regulations, as you point out, is that the water sources where you and I live have absolutely nothing to do with Sierra snow pack. You and I can conserve or waste water all day long and it will have no effect on farming in the Central Valley or the right wing idiots in Rancho Santa Fe and Orange county who want to water their golf courses, fill their pools, and in other ways have the taxpayers subsidize their property values. Likewise whether they come to a reasonable allocation of water to agriculture, commercial and residential or not will have no effect on availability of water for us. I'm almost ready to agree with our wingnut, redneck, county Board of Supervisors and join the Jefferson Movement.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_(proposed_Pacific_state)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_(proposed_Pacific_state)
Respectfully, California is one state. Maps prove it. California is also a democrat run state and Jerry Brown proves that.
California is actually two states~ the south is a desert or was before it drained the Colorado river and Mono Lake for it's water usage. The resources including water are in the north.
Where I live in Northern California, we've had a close to normal rainfall year.
What irked me was that guy comparing gasoline to water. Water is essential to life, gasoline is not.
Brice, Rancho Santa Fe is in Orange County, a renown Republican strong hold~ think the John Birch society and Richard Nixon.
Where I live in Northern California, we've had a close to normal rainfall year.
What irked me was that guy comparing gasoline to water. Water is essential to life, gasoline is not.
Brice, Rancho Santa Fe is in Orange County, a renown Republican strong hold~ think the John Birch society and Richard Nixon.
Long pipes! :>)) I hear what you are saying Barb.
Be careful about your "water of plenty"... the county I live in, in FL used to have plenty, as well, then counties along the coast started having shortages, due to overuse, which cause salt water intrusion... it wasn't long until they started looking at the plentiful water resources in my county and they decided that we had too much and it work nicely for them to pipe it to their county to water their lawns, golf courses, etc... There was a big deal over it for some time, until we finally started have drought conditions in my county and we no longer have plentiful water supply. Now some of our wells even have salt water intrusion when they are 50-60 miles from salt water.
We're now using reclaimed water for golf courses, playgrounds and other non-potable uses... Someday, in the not too distant future, the rich Californians may be thinking to pipe your plentiful fresh water to CA for their lawn and golf courses!!
We're now using reclaimed water for golf courses, playgrounds and other non-potable uses... Someday, in the not too distant future, the rich Californians may be thinking to pipe your plentiful fresh water to CA for their lawn and golf courses!!
I'm rich. I'm better than you. I'll do what I want. All of this coming out of the mouths of a Californian? A state governed by democrats? Is this guy a democrat? Anyone? Hope not.... Democrats can't be rich.
You have to wonder about someone that is on a mission to be difficult. Not a very likable quality. There are people that look for ways to connect with others. And there are people that just don't and like conflict.
I'm happy when someone I don't always agree with posts something that I can find common ground with. That I can say "yes, I agree with that." WE AGREE. This is good.
So, I do feel badly that water is such an issue in California. What is their long term plan? Hard for me to relate to--- I live very near a flood plain where 'too' much water is an issue. We've had rain here for days now. And in periods where we don't--- people run their sprinklers and water. I imagine running my sprinkler on my grass while thinking whole areas didn't have water to drink. It's different than haves and have nots as it is a resource that there is only so much of in California. So, they have to think of how they use it. That's different than there is plenty and only the rich can afford it. There isn't enough to go around so residents should use it wisely thinking of others.
I'm happy when someone I don't always agree with posts something that I can find common ground with. That I can say "yes, I agree with that." WE AGREE. This is good.
So, I do feel badly that water is such an issue in California. What is their long term plan? Hard for me to relate to--- I live very near a flood plain where 'too' much water is an issue. We've had rain here for days now. And in periods where we don't--- people run their sprinklers and water. I imagine running my sprinkler on my grass while thinking whole areas didn't have water to drink. It's different than haves and have nots as it is a resource that there is only so much of in California. So, they have to think of how they use it. That's different than there is plenty and only the rich can afford it. There isn't enough to go around so residents should use it wisely thinking of others.
Yep, guess so... I'm backing out of this one...
On second thought Mike, you're right.
Water restrictions - government action?
You sure sound like a democrat to me.
Really, why not let the free market sort this out?
Isn't that the way it's supposed to work?
You sure sound like a democrat to me.
Really, why not let the free market sort this out?
Isn't that the way it's supposed to work?
Having spent 20 yrs in the water and wastewater treatment field and having watched some of our "inland" aquifers become contaminated by salt water intrusion because of overuse, I fully understand the need to restrict water use.
Watering restrictions are in effect in many counties in Central FL and have been for many years. Some counties allow watering only one - two days/week for only one hour/zone and established lawns can not be watered between the hours of 10:00 am and 4:00 pm. Your watering day(s) depend on whether you have an even or odd numbered address.
Of course, we have a lot of rich people who don't like it, either and they think that because they have money, they should be able to have the lush landscaping and heaven forbid the golf course, turns brown, but it is what it is. This year is a prime example - most summers, we mow our lawn at least once a week; this year it's so dry, we're waiting at least 1.5 weeks and sometimes 2 weeks between mowings because it's all turning brown.
IMO, water should first go for drinking and other essential use, then to farmers raising food crops, but that must within reason, as well, since it's already been established that some people are trying to grow crops in places they shouldn't be trying to grow them - the almond crop comes to mind.
Watering restrictions are in effect in many counties in Central FL and have been for many years. Some counties allow watering only one - two days/week for only one hour/zone and established lawns can not be watered between the hours of 10:00 am and 4:00 pm. Your watering day(s) depend on whether you have an even or odd numbered address.
Of course, we have a lot of rich people who don't like it, either and they think that because they have money, they should be able to have the lush landscaping and heaven forbid the golf course, turns brown, but it is what it is. This year is a prime example - most summers, we mow our lawn at least once a week; this year it's so dry, we're waiting at least 1.5 weeks and sometimes 2 weeks between mowings because it's all turning brown.
IMO, water should first go for drinking and other essential use, then to farmers raising food crops, but that must within reason, as well, since it's already been established that some people are trying to grow crops in places they shouldn't be trying to grow them - the almond crop comes to mind.
I do agree that water is a basic need and if the restrictions are in place so that residents of the state can have running water to drink and use for essential things, it is a must do.
But it sure sounds horrible there. I'm not a West Coast kind of girl any way but it almost sounds uninhabitable. Give me the Mid West with our drenching rains, Great Lakes, and water for a parched tree if it needs it.
That is really too bad about the farmers too.
But it sure sounds horrible there. I'm not a West Coast kind of girl any way but it almost sounds uninhabitable. Give me the Mid West with our drenching rains, Great Lakes, and water for a parched tree if it needs it.
That is really too bad about the farmers too.
So Yulas is rich and can pay for water, so he thinks he's entitled to waste it on landscaping, fountains, swimming pools, etc so people who need it for essentials like drinking, cooking, bathing - things we can't do without - don't have water? That's about the height up arrogance... we won't even talk about caring for your fellow man or anything else, because obviously doesn't.
It doesn't matter whether he, or anyone else, can afford to pay for water (of course, they don't realize that money isn't the only commodity in the world), they can't just use water like there's a never ending supply simply because they have money...
I can't imagine a water bill of $800/month... These people obviously have more money than brains...
It doesn't matter whether he, or anyone else, can afford to pay for water (of course, they don't realize that money isn't the only commodity in the world), they can't just use water like there's a never ending supply simply because they have money...
I can't imagine a water bill of $800/month... These people obviously have more money than brains...
Other are embarrassed by such defiance. Parks of the Sante Fe Irrigation District said she was mortified when the report came out earlier this month showing that Rancho Santa Fe had increased its water use — the only community in the region to do so.
“I kind of take it personally,” she said last week as she toured the community in an SUV bearing the water district’s logo.
Parks said she doesn’t know exactly what happened, but she has heard rumors that some people jacked up their water use in a misguided attempt to increase their baseline before rationing kicks in. With sprinkler restrictions already in place, she said the dynamic between local gardeners and her small team of enforcers is getting interesting.
“Everyone seems now to know what our cars look like,” she said. In Fairbanks Ranch, a gated community, “whenever one of our trucks go in, the gardeners all seem to call each other — text message each other — to let them know that we’ve arrived. So then all of a sudden we see water kind of draining off the property, but no sprinklers on.”
Because the restrictions that took effect in September didn’t register, the district further tightened the screws this month. Sprinkler days were reduced from three a week to two, while car-washing and garden fountains were banned altogether.
Holly Manion, a real estate agent who has lived on the Ranch, as it’s often called, for most of her 62 years, supports the restrictions. While Manion cherishes the landscape of manicured lawns and burbling fountains that have long defined the Ranch, she believes the drought requires a new way of life that emphasizes water conservation.
“Just take a drive around the area. You’ll see lakes low, rivers dry and hillsides parched,” Manion said, adding that she is appalled by people who tolerate leaking sprinklers and the resulting cascades of wasted water.
“There are people, they aren’t being responsible,” she said. “They’re just thinking of their own lives.”
Ann Boon, president of the Rancho Santa Fe Association, insists that most residents are taking the drought seriously. She said she was shocked by the reported 9 percent increase, arguing that it “must be some anomaly.”
Everybody has been trying to cut back,” she said.
For example, many Rancho Santa Fe residents have enthusiastically embraced drought-tolerant landscaping. Manion took advantage of a rebate to rip out much of the turf on her three-acre property and replace it with succulents and decomposed-granite pathways. She left only a small patch of grass for her two dogs to play on.
“It makes me happy when I look at it, because it’s thriving,” she said.
Butler said she, too, is replacing grass with drought-friendly native landscaping on her four acres, at a cost of nearly $80,000. (She’ll get a rebate for about $12,000.) But she came to the decision grudgingly, she said. And she defends the amount of water she and her neighbors need for their vast estates.
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,” Butler said. So “they’d be using a hell of a lot more water than we’re using.”
Rancho Santa Fe resident Randy Woods was feeling burdened by his lush landscape and opted to downsize. The 60-something chief executive of a biotech company moved a year ago from a two-acre estate — replete with two waterfalls, two Jacuzzis, a swimming pool and an orchard — to a condo in the tiny core of town known as “the Village.”
Woods said some of his friends would like to do the same, largely to cut down on their bloated water bills. But they have encountered an unforeseen obstacle, he said: The drought has dampened demand for large estates in San Diego County.
Woods said his girlfriend is among those struggling to sell. Her home boasts a yard designed by Kate Sessions, a well-known landscape architect and botanist who died in 1940. But now, the rare palm tree specimens, the secret garden and the turret-shaped hedges are a liability rather than a selling point.
Another friend, Woods said, has seen the value of his nine-acre plot plummet from $30 million to $22 million.
As for Woods, his monthly water bill has shriveled from $500 to around $50.
“My friends,” he said, “are all jealous.”
http://news.nationalpost.com/news/world/the-water-wars-begin-in-parched-california-as-the-rich-fight-drought-restrictions-were-not-all-equal-when-it-comes-to-water
“I kind of take it personally,” she said last week as she toured the community in an SUV bearing the water district’s logo.
Parks said she doesn’t know exactly what happened, but she has heard rumors that some people jacked up their water use in a misguided attempt to increase their baseline before rationing kicks in. With sprinkler restrictions already in place, she said the dynamic between local gardeners and her small team of enforcers is getting interesting.
“Everyone seems now to know what our cars look like,” she said. In Fairbanks Ranch, a gated community, “whenever one of our trucks go in, the gardeners all seem to call each other — text message each other — to let them know that we’ve arrived. So then all of a sudden we see water kind of draining off the property, but no sprinklers on.”
Because the restrictions that took effect in September didn’t register, the district further tightened the screws this month. Sprinkler days were reduced from three a week to two, while car-washing and garden fountains were banned altogether.
Holly Manion, a real estate agent who has lived on the Ranch, as it’s often called, for most of her 62 years, supports the restrictions. While Manion cherishes the landscape of manicured lawns and burbling fountains that have long defined the Ranch, she believes the drought requires a new way of life that emphasizes water conservation.
“Just take a drive around the area. You’ll see lakes low, rivers dry and hillsides parched,” Manion said, adding that she is appalled by people who tolerate leaking sprinklers and the resulting cascades of wasted water.
“There are people, they aren’t being responsible,” she said. “They’re just thinking of their own lives.”
Ann Boon, president of the Rancho Santa Fe Association, insists that most residents are taking the drought seriously. She said she was shocked by the reported 9 percent increase, arguing that it “must be some anomaly.”
Everybody has been trying to cut back,” she said.
For example, many Rancho Santa Fe residents have enthusiastically embraced drought-tolerant landscaping. Manion took advantage of a rebate to rip out much of the turf on her three-acre property and replace it with succulents and decomposed-granite pathways. She left only a small patch of grass for her two dogs to play on.
“It makes me happy when I look at it, because it’s thriving,” she said.
Butler said she, too, is replacing grass with drought-friendly native landscaping on her four acres, at a cost of nearly $80,000. (She’ll get a rebate for about $12,000.) But she came to the decision grudgingly, she said. And she defends the amount of water she and her neighbors need for their vast estates.
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,” Butler said. So “they’d be using a hell of a lot more water than we’re using.”
Rancho Santa Fe resident Randy Woods was feeling burdened by his lush landscape and opted to downsize. The 60-something chief executive of a biotech company moved a year ago from a two-acre estate — replete with two waterfalls, two Jacuzzis, a swimming pool and an orchard — to a condo in the tiny core of town known as “the Village.”
Woods said some of his friends would like to do the same, largely to cut down on their bloated water bills. But they have encountered an unforeseen obstacle, he said: The drought has dampened demand for large estates in San Diego County.
Woods said his girlfriend is among those struggling to sell. Her home boasts a yard designed by Kate Sessions, a well-known landscape architect and botanist who died in 1940. But now, the rare palm tree specimens, the secret garden and the turret-shaped hedges are a liability rather than a selling point.
Another friend, Woods said, has seen the value of his nine-acre plot plummet from $30 million to $22 million.
As for Woods, his monthly water bill has shriveled from $500 to around $50.
“My friends,” he said, “are all jealous.”
http://news.nationalpost.com/news/world/the-water-wars-begin-in-parched-california-as-the-rich-fight-drought-restrictions-were-not-all-equal-when-it-comes-to-water
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A list of national and international resources and hotlines to help connect you to needed health and medical services.
Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.
Herpes spreads by oral, vaginal and anal sex.
STIs are the most common cause of genital sores.
Condoms are the most effective way to prevent HIV and STDs.
PrEP is used by people with high risk to prevent HIV infection.
