By: Aubrey Bettencourt, executive director, California Water Alliance

California may be running out of enough water to keep its endangered species alive, running out of enough water for cities whose taps have run dry, running what’s left of its precious water out into the Pacific, or running out of water that food producers use to grow crops to feed their neighborhood, our state and the nation.

But there’s one thing in California that shows no evidence of drying up: sports stadiums.

As Norman Chad of the Spokane Spokesman-Review recently observed with his tongue partially in his cheek, “California has more stadiums than Kardashians have stylists.” Too bad he wasn’t talking about drawing boards with plans for new water reservoirs.

Chad provided a partial list of California’s sports stadium largesse. I added a few more:

• Levi’s Stadium (49ers) — Santa Clara
• PETCO Park (Padres) – San Diego
• HP Pavilion (Sharks) – San Jose
• AT&T Park (Giants) – San Francisco
• SubHub Center (LA Galaxy) – Los Angeles
• Honda Center (Ducks) – Anahiem
• Golden 1 Center (Future home of the Sacramento Kings) – Sacramento
• Oracle Stadium – (Golden State Warriors) – Oakland
• Sleep Train Arean (Current home to the Sacramento Kings) – Sacramento
• Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (USC) — Los Angeles
• Coliseum (A’s & Raiders) – Oakland – Alameda
• Qualcomm Stadium (Chargers) — San Diego
• Angels Stadium (Angels) — Anaheim
• Staples Center (Laker & Clippers & Kings) – Los Angeles
• Raley Field (River Cats) – Sacramento
• Aggie Stadium (Aggies) – Davis
• New Carson Stadium (Team to be determined)
• New Inglewood Stadium (Team to be determined)
• Existing stadiums: Rose Bowl, Dodger Stadium, PacBell Park, L.A. Olympic Stadium, Stanford Stadium, UCLA Stadium, Forum,— the list goes on and on.

California is in crisis: running out of water, no new reservoirs since 1978, infrastructure from levees to highways crumbling, housing costing two or three times the national average and with a tax burden that leads the nation, with more on the way.

What do California’s legislative leaders, the Sacramento All Stars, say? Build more stadiums.

As Chad says, “It’s simple – do we want to invest in our children’s future OR do we want to trade up in the draft and ensure a 10-6 season next year?”

No fair. You guessed.