California could smell a lot worse in coming years–thanks to a new environmental law that could prevent residents from showering every day.
Gov. Jerry Brown (D-Calif.) signed two new bills on Thursday that would forces state water districts to adopt aggressive water rationing levels, claiming that the draconian laws were necessary to “help California be better prepared for future droughts and the effects of climate change.”
Under the new law, Californians would only be allowed to use 55 gallons of water indoors per day. That number would drop to 50 gallons by 2030.
The problem with such severe restrictions is that it doesn’t actually leave enough water for daily chores. An 8-minute shower uses about 17 gallons of water, while a load of laundry uses 40.
That comes to 57 gallons… meaning that, under the new laws in California, a person would not actually be able to do a load of laundry and take a shower in the same day. Meaning that, in order to wash their clothes, California residents would have to go at least one day without showering.
Baths, which require about 80 gallons of water, would also be de facto illegal under the new laws–which could cause problems for families with small children.
Water districts, rather than residents themselves, would face state fines of up to $10,000 per day. But water districts could levy their own fines and costs on residents.
California, which hasn’t built a major new reservoir or dam since the 1970s despite massive population increases, faces chronic water shortages, especially in times of drought, including the most recent one, which ended in 2017.
