The New York Times examined a familiar topic over the weekend: The effect that the drought is having on development.
The story gave a broader statewide look to a story we wrote a couple of weeks ago. In San Diego, the Water Department is requiring some large new developments to offset the project’s increased water demand.
Others across the state are taking similar steps. The Times says:
Water authorities and other government agencies scattered throughout the state, including here in sprawling Riverside County, east of Los Angeles, have begun denying, delaying or challenging authorization for dozens of housing tracts and other developments under a state law that requires a 20-year water supply as a condition for building.
California officials suggested that the actions were only the beginning, and they worry about the impact on a state that has grown into an economic powerhouse over the last several decades.
The state law was enacted in 2001, but until statewide water shortages, it had not been invoked to hold up projects.