DID YOU KNOW That Pleasanton, Dublin and Santa Cruz Already Have Mandatory Water Rationing?

Mandatory water rationing is just around the corner for Redwood City.  The reality is that some local regional cities have already enacted mandatory rationing.  Cities like Pleasanton, Dublin and Santa Cruz have enacted mandatory rationing programs which means they have already had to grapple with the how part of the question.  As a part of the San Francisco Public Utilities  Commission, Redwood City is currently under a voluntary 10% goal program but given that Federal climatalogists last week deemed California to be under severe drought conditions this may not last for long.

The reality is that there are a lot of ways to ration.  We can ration based on past usage.  We can ration based on size of household.  We can ration on businesses or only residences.  Each option has its advantages and disadvantages and obviously ends up affecting different residents in different ways.

The other thing we can do is learn more about the problem.  For those interested in learning more, I strongly recommend watching the YouTube video The Cycle of Insanity - The Real Story of Water produced by the The Surfrider Foundation. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=espNKMCZ1kU

Although a bit long at just under twenty minutes it gives one the information necessary to really understand not only the problem but some potential solutions to the problem.  One of the most logical solutions: local grey water recapture and reuse becomes self-evident once the fundamental distinction between grey water and black water or sewage is understood.  They are not one and the same and should not be treated as one and the same. 

As an example should anyone really be watering their lawn with drinking water?

Isn't it time to start requiring existing homes to have their plumbing and sewage infrastructure upgraded?