This item at The Economist’s Daily Chart feature and the graphic below that was pulled from it detail the dire state of affairs in California these days, water-wise.
They’ve reportedly got the budget under control (thanks in large part to the combination of yet another real estate boom/bubble and yet another technology boom/bubble), but what’s being called the worst drought in 500 years may be a more difficult problem to solve.
I remember that early-1990s dry spell – people were painting their lawns green in Santa Barbara and harassing neighbors who chose to wash their cars in their driveway. The thing is, the population has grown by about 8 million or so since then and by about 20 million since the late-1960s, the last time that reservoir levels were this low.
Also see this AP story about how California’s water problems (and last winter’s Polar Vortex problems) are both probably a result of the world’s climate change problems.
