Hocus Pocus, these homes need no water?...

Californians, Imagine New Homes That Need No New Water

A bill in California's legislature seeks to take the strain off the water supply and alleviate the housing slump.

By: Doug Linney

Date: May 29, 2009

http://www.alternet.org/water/140354/californians,_imagine_new_homes_that_need_no_new_water/

In February, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a drought emergency in California, citing two successive years of below-average rainfall and dangerously low runoff from the Sierra Nevada snowpack.

Since then, the water-supply crisis has only deepened, and now it coincides with a recession that has severely damaged the state economy. Few sectors of the economy have been as hard hit as the home builders and construction companies.

Enter Assembly Bill 1408, authored by Democratic Assemblyman Paul Krekorian. This unique bill would offer significant dual benefits for improving our water supply and alleviating the housing slump. Imagine new homes that require no additional water supplies but have the same, or better, amenities than the current housing stock. Imagine builders being able to construct these new homes in areas where, without AB 1408, the lack of water would preclude new development.