--- title: California Drought: How Technology Can Help Shame Water Wasters description: Using tech to shame water-wasters, punishing NFL teams that hire domestic abusers, disrupting remittances with Bitcoin and more. canonical: https://time.com/3896113/california-drought-technology/ author: TIME article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-05-26T16:01:55.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:03:20.738Z article:section: Ideas og:title: How Technology Can Help Shame Water Wasters in California og:description: These are today's best ideas og:url: https://time.com/3896113/california-drought-technology/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt779830e6f8b20319/69885192e53aba93d14dddd4/468830826.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Bay Area Water Inspectors Monitor Water Usage og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How Technology Can Help Shame Water Wasters in California twitter:description: These are today's best ideas twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt779830e6f8b20319/69885192e53aba93d14dddd4/468830826.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How Technology Can Help Shame Water Wasters in California by [The Aspen Institute](https://time.com/author/the-aspen-institute/) ## The Aspen Institute May 26, 2015 4:01 PM UTC  WALNUT CREEK, CA - APRIL 07: A sprinkler waters a lawn on April 7, 2015 in Walnut Creek, California. As California enters its fourth year of severe drought, EBMUD and water districts throughout the state are assisting customers with finding ways to reduce water use at their homes. California residents are facing a mandatory 25 percent reduction in water use. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) WALNUT CREEK, CA - APRIL 07: A sprinkler waters a lawn on April 7, 2015 in Walnut Creek, California. As California enters its fourth year of severe drought, EBMUD and water districts throughout the state are assisting customers with finding ways to reduce water use at their homes. California residents are facing a mandatory 25 percent reduction in water use. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)Justin Sullivan—Getty Images by [The Aspen Institute](https://time.com/author/the-aspen-institute/) ## The Aspen Institute May 26, 2015 4:01 PM UTC **1\.** [**To fight water waste, apps are helping Californians “droughtshame” their neighbors.**](http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/05/25/409522056/in-california-technology-makes-droughtshaming-easier-than-ever) By Sam Sanders at NPR **2\.** [**Punish NFL teams when they sign domestic abusers.**](http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2015/05/25/ray-mcdonald-arrest-chicago-bears-domestic-abuse/27923539/) By Nancy Armour in USA Today **3\.** [**Bitcoin might be a massive game-changer in the half trillion dollar remittances market.**](http://techcrunch.com/2015/05/25/bitcoin-might-be-the-next-big-thing-in-the-remittance-market/?ncid=rss) By Florian Graillot at TechCrunch **4\.** [**Want to defeat ISIS? Break up Iraq.**](http://www.theglobalist.com/the-u-s-strategy-on-is-in-iraq-has-it-backwards/) By David Apgar in the Globalist **5\.** [**Crowdsourcing help for depression could save lives.**](http://newsoffice.mit.edu/2015/crowdsourced-depression-tool-0330) By Larry Hardesty at the MIT News Office  [_The Aspen Institute_](http://www.aspeninstitute.org/) _is an educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, D.C._ ### See How California Is Using Its Diminishing Water Resources  The Los Angeles Aqueduct Cascades, which bring water 223 miles from the Owens River in the eastern Sierra Nevada mountains, and 137 miles from the Haiwee Reservoir, are a major source of water for Los Angeles. Seen here in Sylmar, Calif. on May 4, 2015. Lucy Nicholson—Reuters  The Los Angeles Aqueduct Cascades are seen in Sylmar, Calif. on May 4, 2015\. California's snowpack, which generally provides about a third of the state's water, is at its lowest level on record. Lucy Nicholson—Reuters  With the country's most populous state entering the fourth year of a devastating drought, Governor Jerry Brown has ordered an overall 25 percent cut in urban water use though the first statewide mandatory reductions in California's history. The suppliers with the highest per capita water use would have to accept a 36 percent cut. Lucy Nicholson—Reuters  A tractor ploughs a field next to a canal in Los Banos, Calif. on May 5, 2015\. California water regulators on Tuesday adopted the state's first rules for mandatory cutbacks in urban water use as the region's catastrophic drought enters its fourth year. However, the state's massive agricultural sector, which the Public Policy Institute of California says uses 80 percent of human-related consumption, has been exempted from cutbacks. Lucy Nicholson—Reuters  A worker walks through farm fields in Los Banos, Calif. on May 5, 2015\. Urban users will be hardest hit, even though they account for only 20 percent of state water consumption. Lucy Nicholson—Reuters  Approximately 9 million acres of farmland in California are irrigated, representing roughly 80% of all human water use. But, farm production and food processing only generate about 2% of California’s gross state product, down from about 5% in the early 1960s. Lucy Nicholson—Reuters  "In the Central Valley, where most agricultural water use occurs, the failure to manage groundwater sustainably limits its availability as a drought reserve. The increase in perennial crops—which need to be watered every year—has made the region even more vulnerable," the Public Policy Institute of California states. Lucy Nicholson—Reuters  Central Valley farmers have witnessed land sinking by as much as 3 feet, San Francisco Gate reports, as water agencies tap underground reservoirs at unprecedented depths. Water pours into a canal in Los Banos, Calif., May 5, 2015. Lucy Nicholson—Reuters  Livestock products, including meat, dairy and eggs, account for more than a quarter of California's agricultural sector, a $12.5 billion industry, according to the USDA. Cattle are among the most water-hungry livestock, consuming an average of106 gallons per pound of beef. Cattle are seen at Harris Ranch in Coalinga, Calif. on May 5, 2015. Lucy Nicholson—Reuters  California's planting of staple crops such as cotton, corn, oats, barley, wheat, rice, and sunflowers will total 1.72 million acres in 2015, down from 1.90 million acres in 2014, according to data from the National Drought Mitigation Center. A wheat field is seen in Los Banos, Calif. May 5, 2015. Lucy Nicholson—Reuters  A water protest sign is seen in Los Banos, California, United States May 5, 2015\. Central Valley counties suffer some of the highest unemployment rates in the state, topping out at more than 20% in Colusa County, according to the state's Legislative Analyst's Office. Lucy Nicholson—Reuters ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3896113/california-drought-technology/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3896113/california-drought-technology/"},"headline":"How Technology Can Help Shame Water Wasters in California","datePublished":"2015-05-26T16:01:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:03:20.738Z","description":"These are today's best ideas","url":"https://time.com/3896113/california-drought-technology/","keywords":["Innovation","Depression","Bitcoin","NFL","Drought","ISIS"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt779830e6f8b20319/69885192e53aba93d14dddd4/468830826.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"The Aspen Institute","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/the-aspen-institute/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt779830e6f8b20319/69885192e53aba93d14dddd4/468830826.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Bay Area Water Inspectors Monitor Water Usage","caption":"Bay Area Water Inspectors Monitor Water Usage","creditText":"Justin Sullivan—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/innovation/","name":"Innovation"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3896113/california-drought-technology/","name":"How Technology Can Help Shame Water Wasters in California"}}]}] ```