In statements so tone-deaf they would make Marie Antoinette wince, a few vocal residents of Rancho Santa Fe, California, spoke with The Washington Post about the horrors of having to reduce their water consumption during the drought.
Steve Yuhas, a conservative radio talk show host, was aghast at the idea of being "forced to live on property with brown lawns [and] golf on brown courses." Rancho Santa Fe uses five times more water per capita than the statewide average, and in April, after Gov. Jerry Brown (D) called for a 25 percent reduction in water use, usage actually went up by 9 percent. "We pay significant property taxes based on where we live, and no, we're not all equal when it comes to water," Yuhas said.
Although everyone in California is being asked to rally together to save water for the good of the state, it really irritates the people of Rancho Santa Fe that they can't keep their sprinklers on 24/7, drain their pools every day, take 3-hour showers, and leave their faucets on until the pipes run dry. "I think we're being overly penalized, and we're certainly being over scrutinized by the world," interior designer Gay Butler told the Post, as she rode on her show horse, Bear. "It angers me because people aren't looking a the overall picture. What are we supposed to do, just have dirt around our house on four acres?"
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
That's basically what the article's lone voice of reason, Holly Manion, has done. A real estate agent, she has changed her landscape to include drought-resistant plants, and it bothers her to know that not everyone in her neighborhood is taking the drought seriously. "There are people, they aren't being responsible," Manion said. "They're just thinking of their own lives."
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstancesSpeed Read
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2Speed Read
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governorSpeed Read
-
Los Angeles city workers stage 1-day walkout over labor conditionsSpeed Read
-
Mega Millions jackpot climbs to an estimated $1.55 billionSpeed Read
-
Bangladesh dealing with worst dengue fever outbreak on recordSpeed Read
-
Glacial outburst flooding in Juneau destroys homesSpeed Read
-
Scotland seeking 'monster hunters' to search for fabled Loch Ness creatureSpeed Read
