How An Environmentalist Juggernaut Undermines the Abundance Choice

The good news is, if you want to build more water infrastructure in California, you don't have to argue the intricacies of climate science.

In the story, headlined "California could shrink water use in cities by 30% or more, study finds," environmentalist spokespersons are quoted with no tough questions asked or balancing perspective solicited.

The study found that a host of existing technologies and standard practices could improve efficiency to reduce total urban use between 30% and 48%. These efficiency measures include fixing leaks in water pipes, replacing inefficient washing machines and toilets, and replacing lawns with plants suited to California's dry climate, among other things.

James' article is worth examining in some depth, because it reveals additional claims from the Pacific Institute study, "Waste Not, Want Not: The Potential for Urban Conservation in California," that belie the need to curtail urban water use so drastically.

Funding runoff capture and funding wastewater recycling were among the centerpieces of our proposed water initiative! And we left it up to the water commission to decide which project applications to fund, only stipulating that funding would not dry up until 5 million acre-feet of new water could be supplied each year.

How is abundant water a threat to public health? If having a reliable water supply is a prerequisite for building new homes, how does our initiative threaten affordable housing? If climate change is causing less snow and more severe but erratic rainstorms, don't we need new infrastructure to capture and store the runoff? And if we build infrastructure that makes more water available for farms and cities, then wouldn't we also have more water available to manage ecosystems? As for "Powerful multinational corporations" supposedly behind our effort; which ones? When? Where? Who?

Finally, we left final decisions as to which projects would receive funding under our initiative up to the California Water Commission.

https://amgreatness.com/2022/05/27/how-an-environmentalist-juggernaut-undermines-the-abundance-choice/