http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lawater18-2009apr18,0,2991632.story
In this article the LA City Council approved a measure to increase the water bill for anyone who goes above a specific alotted usage per month. Since LA county is currently in a drought they are looking for ways to save water and conserve over time. For those that meet or use less than the alloted amount of water they will see a 15% reduction on their bill. However, those who use more water than allocated will see a 44% increase.
This plan will help LA County to increase funds for the city as well as continue to develop ways to conserve water and increase their sustainability especially in times of a drought. Not everyone has the same limit of water use. The new system will be based on lot size and temperature zone. The council feels that this is a sufficient answer to their dought problems and their budget shortfall as well. Citizens will be informed on their bills how to cut water usage in order to take advantage of rate reduction. The council is working with the Department of Water and Power (DWP) to implement this process smoothly and quickly.
The council also feels that other cities should follow their lead and adopt a similar policy in order to conserve water. This policy is one that has been used over time to reduce pollution by charging companies more that pollute or taxing them more. However, in this situation the citizens have the opportunity to use less water and receieve a benefit from doing so.
Considering that the department of water and power is a large company it does not service all of California. However, if the all of the water companies worked with their local governments in California this could be implemented state wide. Cities could be rewarded for using less water and in turn larger communities could receive more water and increase their sustainability. The extra money could go to help other programs in the state of California become more sustainable and fight other environmental problems. It would be difficult to implement this policy across the state of California with different water companies. But if a system was put in place all cities and water companies could follow, and adapt their program to fit the needs of their community.
This policy will improve environmental quality since it will help decrease water usage and increase funds available for more sustainable planning. For California this is very important since they really could function as their own country. By getting together the local governments and water companies California would be doing a lot of work towards sustainability. But the work would pay off in the long run, and their drought problems could be avoided in the future.
Alicia
So this is my blog...not really sure what I am going to do with it, but I had to create it for two of my classes in my masters program at ASU. Last week I turned in my final paper and I am graduating next week. But I still have this blog. So I guess I will continue to write and see where it takes me. :)
The approach of higher taxation in utilizing limited resources I believe is a great idea. It seems reasonable to reward those residents using their water wisely, and not fulfilling the prophecy of the “tragedy of commons”. I realize by making this statement, I probably already announced my political affiliation. Regardless of politics, taxation on usage can be incredibly effective in deterring overuse of water in areas where this is a concern, i.e. Arizona....? This example of water conservation could be implemented regionally where neighboring states share water resources.
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