Tom Selleck 'stole water for ranch'

[Timsup2nothin]

The Central Valley when supplied with water is an absolutely phenomenal place to grow produce

Basically a 22,000 square mile greenhouse.

 

[Formaldehyde]

You need to move, or you are misunderstanding your water bill.

I was wrong. It is a bit over 3,000 gallons per month.

Those figures don't include the absurd waste disposal fee which is directly proportional to your water usage, and is twice as much as the water.

Of course, buying from you would eliminate it. Want to drive her with 3,000 gallons for $15? I'll take that much every month.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Those figures doesn't include the absurd waste disposal fee which is directly proportional to your water usage.

I live in a flat rate sewer district, so filling Tom's truck would only show on the water bill.

I can't seem to find anyplace where sewer rates are four times higher than water rates, which is what it seems it would take to get to your $50 for 2000 gallons. Was that, perchance, a hyperbolic off the top of your head that you are now regretting?

EDIT: Ah, I see now. You are counting the monthly service fees for both water and sewer, PLUS the use rates for the amount that you use and getting to your fifty dollar water bill for about 3000 gallons. I'm talking about an additional 2000 gallons at the top tier rate added to an existing bill.


And no, but if you bring a 3000 gallon truck to my gf's house I will happily fill it for $30 since it will only cost her about $15...if she is already at the top tier, which she usually is.

 

[Formaldehyde]

They would still charge me about $30 for the additional 2000 gallons. $10 for the water and $20 to presumably remove it from the sewer system.

Florida is so flat with such a high water table we need pump stations to transport waste. In my case it is literally uphill to the treatment plant, as it is with many other nearby areas.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

They would still charge me about $30 for the additional 2000 gallons.

You still need to move then.

IF we had sewer rates that were based on water usage AND were double the price of the water it would still take five bucks per thousand gallons. That is very close to top tier price. If you are only using 3000 gallons a month you shouldn't be anywhere even CLOSE to top tier price. The only tier structure that I'm actually familiar with is my gf's, and it is based on a single family home with four residents. She doesn't hit the top tier until some absurd number like 25 CCF, but I suppose it would be possible...if maybe you are living alone in a studio apartment or something.

Back at the matter at hand...if Tommy boy just ran an extra few thousand gallons on his bill, even at the highest possible rate, I can't see it breaking him, or making it worth sending a water truck off to my house, or a hydrant.

 

[Formaldehyde]

Florida used to have plentiful fresh water due to the incredible limestone caverns and natural springs. But agriculture seriously depleted it by using water to keep citrus trees from freezing in the winter.

We have been rationing water for decades now. I am only allowed to water my lawn one day a week for 2 hours. Not to mention it would be extremely expensive to do so.

Tampa recently tried to implement a desalination plant to help. But algae keeps clogging the filters making it much more expensive than originally planned.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Florida used to have plentiful fresh water due to the incredible limestone caverns and natural springs. But agriculture seriously depleted it by using water to keep citrus trees from freezing in the winter.

We have been rationing water for decades now. I am only allowed to water my lawn one day a week for 2 hours. Not to mention it would be extremely expensive to do so.

Tampa recently tried to implement a desalination plant to help. But algae keeps clogging the filters making it much more expensive than originally planned.

When I lived in Florida my apartment building didn't even HAVE sprinklers. Other than constant mowing the lawn pretty much took care of itself. The base where I was stationed had sprinklers that sprayed reclaimed water...which was so poorly processed that they may have been spraying it for its quality as fertilizer since watering hardly seemed necessary. Perhaps you live in the wrong part of Florida?

 

[Zkribbler]

To me, this new explanation sounds even worse that the original situation:

Official: Water Tom Selleck accused of stealing was paid for

Water from a public hydrant that Tom Selleck has been accused of stealing from in dry California was legally purchased, an official said.

The Calleguas Municipal Water District in Ventura County sued the "Magnum, P.I." star, alleging that a tanker truck filled up at the hydrant and took it to Selleck's 60-acre ranch more than a dozen times in the past two years.

The district announced a tentative settlement with Selleck on Thursday.

Jay Spurgin, public works director for Thousand Oaks, said a construction company paid a fee to secure the rights to draw water from the city hydrant two years ago. About 1.4 million gallons of water were taken from the hydrant during that period.

"There was water used during that time, and it was paid for," he said.

Construction firms and contractors can obtain special meters that allow them to haul water from hydrants for large projects. Companies can draw as much water as they need or sell it to a third party as long as they pay the monthly service charge and water bill, Spurgin said.

The water meter in question was removed in June.

It's unclear if Selleck or his employees bought the water from the company or another source. A representative for Selleck didn't immediately return a request for comment on Friday.

The water district said it spent nearly $22,000 for a private detective to investigate.

District officials declined to provide details of the tentative settlement, which has to be approved by the water board next week.

California is grappling with a persistent drought, and the community where Selleck has his land is under mandatory cutbacks as high as 36 percent.

What this is saying is that, despite draconian water rationing, the law allows any construction company to grant exceptions to anyone it wants for whatever reason it wants. What better way to have one set of laws for the rich and another for the poor!

I'm moving back to California and founding the Zkribbler Pseudo-Construction and All-You-Can-Guzzle Water Supply Company. I'll be fabulously wealthy within a week!

 

[FriendlyFire]

O_o How many avocado trees dose he own ?
5.3 Mil Liters ..... when you switching to metric America ?

About 1.4 million gallons of water were taken

 

[Timsup2nothin]

O_o How many avocado trees dose he own ?
5.3 Mil Liters ..... when you switching to metric America ?

That's the total that was drawn by the construction company over the two year period. The unfortunate part being that the primary use a construction company draws water for is dust control or compaction...in other words, just spewing it onto the ground.

 

[Kyriakos]

Seems to me like the U.S. is going to be importing that produce from elsewhere in the not so far future, instead of growing it in the desert. Eventually the economics are going to catch up with this.

As for Tom Selleck, I say they make an example of him and throw him in jail.

They did throw Tom Selleck in jail once. He fought back and in the end got Sledge Hammer to be revealed to be a crooked cop.

 

[amadeus]

Charge market price for water, no subsidies and no restrictions.

Bam, problem solved.

Thanks, markets!

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Charge market price for water, no subsidies and no restrictions.

Bam, problem solved.

Thanks, markets!

Other than being totally idiotic, this is a brilliant idea.

Who, exactly, are you proposing as the owner of the water?

 

[Formaldehyde]

What could possibly go wrong with a scheme that deprives the poor of water while making it plentiful for the rich?

 

[Timsup2nothin]

What could possibly go wrong with a scheme that deprives the poor of water while making it plentiful for the rich?

I could make a list, but we would need to enlarge the internet to hold it.

 

[Berzerker]

so the dude didn't steal the water and the politicians wasted thousands to find out?

 

[Timsup2nothin]

so the dude didn't steal the water and the politicians wasted thousands to find out?

That seems to be the bottom line.

 

[Formaldehyde]

They should have hired Tom Selleck to investigate himself.

 

[Ajidica]

Charge market price for water, no subsidies and no restrictions.

Bam, problem solved.

Thanks, markets!

For someone who is so fond of pointing to Zimbabwe whenever anything vaguely leftist comes up, I'm surprised you aren't familiar with the huge controversy that water privatization has generated in Africa; coupled with both the IMF and World Bank saying that in retrospect the provision of water should not be subject to market rates.

 

[Formaldehyde]

What could possibly go wrong with whites and their corporations owning much of the water in Africa?