RIGHT SPEAK: Attention America: Californians Will Shower Less

Signing far-reaching executive orders seems to have become contagious in American government, at least among Democrats.

Gov. Jerry Brown went on national TV Sunday to explain his newly-announced mandatory water restrictions that will, among other things, require California residents to shower less. And if you've ever visited France, you know what that means.

Last week Brown, now in his fourth term as chief executive of the nation's most populous state, said California has not properly prepared for the kind of long-term drought it appears to face now. Brown, who turns 77 Tuesday, did not blame George W. Bush, but instead global warming.

His wide-ranging 31-point plan, announced during a photo-op in a snow-free mountain field, imposes a 25% water reduction on California cities and towns, empowering water boards to encourage conservation with higher household rates and fines on individuals for liquid disobedience.

It also prohibits new residential construction from using potable water for traditional landscape irrigation, bans watering much public property and curbs water use by campuses, golf courses and cemeteries.

Additionally, the governor warned private property owners of the kinds of broad behavioral changes he expects from his unprecedented order. "The idea of your nice little green grass getting water every day," Brown vowed sarcastically, "that's going to be a thing of the past."

Of course, Democrat Brown's plan also involves -- wait for it! -- increased and expedited government spending. Last month the governor signed "emergency legislation" involving $1 billion in projects, including food aid, wildlife tracking and flood prevention, which might not seem an urgent spending concern in a four-year drought.

Republicans, who are enduring their own political drought controlling anything in Barack Obama's favorite ATM state, prefer long-term drought relief such as construction of reservoirs, part of a $2.7 billion water bond issue approved last year. But none of those GOP priorities are scheduled before 2017 at the earliest.

And apparently the coastal state never heard of desalination plants that operate wonderfully elsewhere in the world.

Had reservoir expansion been inaugurated by previous state administrations such as, say, Gov. Jerry Brown's other 12 years in office (1975-83 and 2011-15), the water scarcity in the so-called Golden State would be much improved today.