Poll: Little appetite for drought spending
By Bettina Boxall, Los Angeles Times
Most Californians surveyed say the statewide drought has had little or no impact on their daily lives, and a majority oppose the suspension of environmental protections or large-scale public spending to boost water supplies, a new USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll has found.
Although 89 percent characterize the drought as a major problem or crisis, only 16 percent say it has personally affected them to a major degree.
Despite widespread news coverage of the drought — one of the worst in recent decades — the state’s major population centers have largely escaped severe mandatory rationing. Even agriculture, which as California’s thirstiest sector is inevitably hit the hardest by drought, has partially compensated for reduced water delivery by pumping more groundwater.
That has softened the drought’s effect on many, apparently blunting the desire for drastic remedies and big spending on water projects.