经济学人211:加州旱情 把草坪喷绿

 　　Drought in California

　　加州旱情
　　Painting the lawn green
　　把草坪喷绿
　　Californians find novel ways to cope with drought
　　加利福尼亚州居民奇思妙想治旱灾
　　JACK 1 MELLIGAN, a prison guard in Sacramento, was tired of staring at his brown, patchy lawn—a side-effect of the drought that has parched 2 California for the past three years. He thought about replacing it with shop-bought turf, but worried that he might incur 3 hefty fines for watering it, under new statewide water restrictions 4. So he paid someone $180 to spray-paint his lawn a cheery green instead.
　　萨克拉门托（美国加州首府）狱警杰克·梅丽甘盯着自己家干枯斑驳的草坪，厌倦了——这是在过去三年里，干旱炙烤着加州所带来了的一个不良反应。杰克正在考虑用商店买来的草皮代替，但遍布加州的限水令却让他担心，若给草坪浇水，则面临巨额罚款。所以他花了180美元，雇人给自己家的草坪喷漆，喷上一片让人心情愉快的绿色。
　　加州旱情.jpg
　　In a state known for special effects, such fakery is to be expected. If Hollywood can make a green screen look like a terrifying desert on an alien planet, it is only natural that Californians should seek ways to make the terrifying deserts in their front yards look verdant 5. Mr Melligan is not alone; your correspondent has a wardrobe full of green-stained shoes to prove it.
　　因加州以特效而闻名，所以像这样的造假草坪是在意料之中的事。假如好莱坞能制造一个绿色屏幕，看起来像外星球的可怕荒漠，那么加州的居民想方设法让门前荒地变得绿油油，就再自然不过的事情了。
　　The fad 6 for trompe l'oeil gardening has been a boon 7 for lawn-painters such as David Bartlett, the owner of Xtreme Green Grass, whose business has grown 75% this year. Over the same period Jim Power, who runs a lawn-paint supply company called LawnLift, has seen sales triple. “It has become more socially acceptable to paint your lawn,” he says, “especially as it's become more socially shameful 8 to water it.” At the same time, fewer Californians are buying new turf, says Jurgen Gramckow, who grows the stuff and says sales at his farm in Oxnard are down 20% this year.
　　仿真园艺热潮给草坪画家大卫·巴特利特带来了商机，他是Xtreme Green Grass的老板，今年工作量增加了75%。同期，吉姆·鲍尔名下的草坪喷漆供应公司LawnLift销售量翻了两翻。“给你的草坪喷漆已经被大家接受，”吉姆说道，“特别是在这个时候，给你的草坪浇水，是很可耻的一件事。”与此同时，种植草皮的Jurgen Gramckow表示，越来越少的加州居民购买草皮，而且他在奥克斯纳的公司今年销售量下降20%。
　　The drought, one of the worst in a century, has pushed the state to waste a bit less water. In July California banned such things as allowing sprinkler water to run off lawns on to streets and washing cars with hoses that have no shut-off nozzle. And on August 29th the state legislature passed three bills that would allow local agencies, for the first time, to curb 9 excessive pumping of groundwater by landowners.
　　百年一遇的旱灾已经让加州节约用水了。今年七月，加州禁止诸如向草坪浇水和没有自动闭合喷嘴的水管洗车等之类的行为。8月29日，州议会通过了三项法案，首次允许当地机构控制土地所有者过分的使用地下水。
　　Historically, California has resisted groundwater regulation, favouring local property rights even as every other western state embraced state control. But sentiment has shifted with the realisation that the water might run out. By some measures, the state's $45 billion agricultural industry already accounts for 62% of water consumption. And it is getting thirstier, as profitable fruit trees and vines have replaced other crops. As surface reservoirs are depleted 10, farmers are forced to drill deeper. Perhaps 65% of California's water could come from underground this year, up from 40% in average years, according to the California Water Foundation, a green group. Over-use of wells means that salt water can invade coastal 11 aquifers 12, and also that fresh water disappears. A recent study by the California Department of Water Resources found that, in about half of the wells surveyed, water levels had already fallen to their lowest point for a century.
　　有史以来，加州不管制地下水，偏爱当地产权问题，然而在西部的其他州，地下水受到州政府监管。但是随着旱情加重，水资源短缺，加州开始发愁了。加州产值450亿美元的农业已经消耗62%的水。因高利润的果树和葡萄藤已经取代了其他庄稼，天气越来越干旱了。随着地表水库消耗殆尽，农民不得不往地下更深处汲水。据加州一个绿色环保组织California Water Foundation指出，今年，大概有65%的水来源于地下，地下水用量平均增加了40%。过分使用地下水，意味着海水将流入滨海蓄水层，而且淡水也从此消失。加州水利部门最近的一项研究发现，所有考察过的井中，大约有一半井水的水位线降至历史最低。
　　Several cities are trying to conserve 13 water. Earlier this year Santa Cruz began enforcing rationing 14 for every home and a ban on filling hot tubs and jacuzzis, with weighty fines and “Water School” for transgressors. The results are striking: in July citywide water use fell 26% compared with last year. In comparison, statewide water use had declined by only 7.5% from the previous year, despite recent pleas from Governor Jerry Brown to all Californians to cut water use by 20%.
　　有些城市试图蓄水。今年年初，圣鲁克兹开始实行家庭定量配给水资源，并禁止任何形式的浴缸用水，违背者接受巨额罚款，并送至“Water School”进行教育。效果很显著：今年七月，较去年全城用水量减少26%，但全州用水量降低只有7.5%，虽然地方长官杰瑞·布朗最近号召加州居民减少用水量20%。
　　The state's water shortages can be resolved only by putting a sensible price on water. State law will eventually require water metering on all buildings, but not until 2025. “We are finally moving toward a pricing system,” says Barton Thompson, a professor of natural resources at Stanford Law School, “which is really the only way to truly encourage people to conserve.”
　　要解决加州水资源短缺问题，只能通过设定一个合理的水价位。加州的法律最终要求所有的建筑物上按照仪表测量用水，但不是到2025年。“我们最后制定一个定价系统，” 斯坦福大学法学院自然资源教授巴顿·汤普森说道，“而这确实是鼓励人们节约用水的唯一办法。”