Lawmaker that voted for mandatory water conservation, used enough for 8 households

[Liberal_in_LA]

quote from interview played on radio - he said "I need to keep my property values up" or something close to that.



RIVERSIDE – Mike Soubirous is a prodigious water user, pumping more than 1 million gallons per year at his lushly landscaped home on a hot, windy, Southern California hilltop.

Soubirous also is a member of the Riverside City Council, and one of his jobs in that position is to make decisions for the Riverside’s water utility. In July, Soubirous voted with the rest of his council colleagues to impose tough new water conservation rules in this desert city of 317,000.

Yet as California’s drought worsened from 2012 to 2013, Soubirous consumed enough water to supply eight California households — more than any other water official in the state.

Soubirous knows he should cut his water use to set a good example, he told The Center for Investigative Reporting. But he has a one-acre lot with cascades of flowering shrubs and a weeping willow tree, and summer temperatures hit 100 degrees. Conservation isn’t that simple, he said.

“Do I have to sell my house to set that example, or do I have to just abolish all my shrubs?” Soubirous asked. “I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how I can reduce my water rate.”

http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2014/10/06/california-water-officials-arent-following-own-call-for-conservation/

[BlueJazz]

1. "or do I have to just abolish all my shrubs"

Bingo Mike!..you just thought of the normal thing to do.

[jollyreaper2112]

2. ugh

Xeriscape, motherfucker.

[Shrike47]

3. First thing, get rid of the lawn. A-hole.

[PeoViejo]

4. Willows need a lot of Water.

That Tree probably uses a third of it.

This guy is a Dolt Extraordinaire.

Perhaps some Desert Plants or Date Palms, then he can sell it to some wealthy Middle Easterner.

[Warpy]

5. Well, everybody else is staring at brown lawns

and barely alive shrubs so maybe he needs to do that, too.

Well established shrubs and trees will probably come through it if the rains are back over the winter. Stuff that's totally out of place will likely die off and need to be replaced by stuff that is more drought tolerant.

I'm so used to xeriscape gardening here in NM that the broad expanse of green punctuated by a few trees looks really odd, a little bleak, downright ugly. The flag placement makes it look like a post office or boarding school.

I wonder if the interior is as devoid of character as the exterior is.

[customerserviceguy]

6. Eight households?

The average person uses about fifty gallons per day, and a million gallons per year works out to 54-55 people per year of regular domestic usage. Those households would consist of about 7-8 family members, a bit larger than the average household.

Of course, I'm not factoring in a household's use for a pool (probably common in California), car washing or even a modest sized lawn, but maybe the writers of this news story are.