We are human beings and we take it to the limit, constantly testing boundaries and how far we can take it. Is it not always smart but it is part of our differentiation properties to find new beneficial paths. There may be some good innovation that comes out of this but right now it is a problem.

So far the relied on voluntary reductions, which has worked well in some areas and less well in others. It's not like they just woke up to the drought now, but they considered restrictions to be a measure of last (or later) resort.

I was kind of surprised by that too. Even down here in Tea Party HQ (TX), at least Austin and San Antonio have had water restrictions for years if not decades.

Well, Texas is probably drier on average than California. California has wide swings between very wet winters and very dry winters. See this chart of Fresno, which is pretty dry on average, but ranges from a high of 22" in a year to a low of 4" over the last 80 years or so. http://www.bytemuse.com/post/drought-historical-rainfall-cal...

Alaska is slowly melting away and people are still arguing about whether global warming is real. Inaction is kind of the order of the day.

>...near the beginning of all of this?

It's hard to know you're in a multi-year drought until multiple years have passed.

It was already done done mostly in the state/county level. For example, in my part of the bay area, they have raised rates especially if you have disproportionate usage. Also you cannot water your lawn more than once per week.

That would require somebody with intelligence and conviction to lead the push for change.

We don't have those people in politics in America any more.

Remind me, is change compatible with re-election?