State Parks Agency Uses Drought As Excuse to Cut Beach Showers That Benefited Millions

Beach showers across Northern California and throughout the state were closed last week for the first time in history, using the drought as an excuse. A just published expose in the Sonoma Independent here describes how this will cost, not save, water, and how it impacts 15 million park visitors each year. Please read and sign petition, if you agree. comments and feedback most welcome!

State Parks Agency Uses Drought As Excuse to Cut Beach Showers That Benefited Millions

Shower shutdown impacts 15 million park visitors and likely to waste 100 million gallons of water each year

Last week, in the middle of a record hot summer, and for the first time in California history, all the public showers at 44 state-run beach parks across the state were shut down. “California is facing extremely severe drought conditions,” announced California State Parks Director Lisa Mangat. “It is important for all Californians to conserve water at home, at work and even when recreating outdoors.”Without a public hearing, and without any research that this measure would actually save water, California’s State Parks agency is using the drought as an excuse to shut down a vital public water service that was used by 15 million park visitors last year. Incredibly, this ill-conceived, anti-public service move will not even save the relatively small amount of water that the State Parks agency claims it could. That’s because cold beach showers use, on average, just 1.2 gallon, whereas now that people are required to go home to rinse off, they’ll use an average of 17 gallons for a hot home shower. If just half of those impacted by the closing go home or to hotels to shower, then the beach shower shutdowns will waste an additional 100 million gallons of California water annually.

Even if the shutdown did not consume far more water than it purportedly saves, it was still entirely unnecessary to remove a public water service that has improved hygiene and served beach visitors for generations. Before the implementation of the statewide beach shower shutdown, the State Parks agency, mostly through better conservation, had already met Governor Brown’s demand for a 25% reduction of water usage for every state agency. Assuming that the move actually saved the 18 million gallons that the Parks agency stated it “potentially” might, this amounts to just 4% of the total 446 million gallons now consumed at all 270 State Parks each year.And so, the battle over who will shoulder the burden of the worst drought in California history has leeched from politics into public parks. What’s more, the beach shower shutdown may well be the trial water balloon that initiates a flood of deceptive measures by government agencies eager to use water shortages as an excuse to drain important public services.For this reason, the Sonoma Independent just launched a statewide petition (accessible on the right side of this page or by clicking here) to demand the restoration of public beach showers in California.

The article continues here https://www.sonomaindependent.org/st...ited-millions/