“Wait a second, Dad! Where are you going with our front yard??!”

If you had very little water, what would you spend it on—your thirsty body or your thirsty lawn? A fierce drought has been sucking water from the land in California for four whole years. And it’s only getting worse. Some water companies even pay customers to replace their yards with bushes that need less to drink.

Early in the drought, companies said, “Please use less water if you can.” But now things have grown more serious. Water is running out. Now companies say, “You can use this much water, and no more!”

Think of California as the farmer’s market to the rest of the United States. You would run out of breath before you could mention all the tasty foods that grow there: plums, artichokes, celery, garlic, walnuts, cauliflower, carrots…and on and on it goes! California produces more of those items (and many others) than any other U.S. state! Without water, the crops can’t grow. So the California drought doesn’t just hurt Californians. It hurts the rest of the nation too.

State regulators want people to use a third less water than they use now. People will have to take shorter showers and do less laundry. In Los Angeles, those who overuse water may have to pay $10,000 dollars a day! Some cities have enough water stored to make it through the drought. Others may start to ration water out. Some countries do that with food during wartime when it runs low.

Who or what deserves blame for the drought? Is it people who spend too much water on their lawns? Is it water companies, or government rules? Is it farmers? Is it thirsty cows, or the almond crop? No one seems to agree! But one thing is sure. God can bring good out of the worst shortages. How will He do it this time?