Dear Future President,

First off, congratulations! This is an amazing accomplishment that you have achieved. However, this is not a celebratory letter. In fact it is the opposite of celebratory. I am a concerned citizen of the United States. I am writing you to express my concerns over the drought taking place in California. I would like to know what plan, if any, you have in place to resolve this often overlooked issue.

According to a Los Angeles News article, families of four in southern California are only allowed to use 150 gallons of water a day. To show how fast this can be used, on average an 8 minute shower uses 17.1 gallons of water alone. If everyone in that family showered, that would be 68.4 gallons in a single day. The average toilet uses anywhere from 3.6 gallons per flush. My cousins who live in California must take 5 minute showers. If they go over the water usage allowed per family they have to pay serious fines.

Most Americans are completely unaware of how much water they use in a day, some of which even believe that our water supply is unlimited. However, this shortage of water in California is also causing problems for growing crops. This leads to less income for farmers and less food for Americans (and we all know how much Americans love food).

We need to give a often wasted drink of water to the once fertile land of California. You as chief executive officer need to make sure this problem is dealt with, starting with the people at home. For example, tell the people of our entire country to shorten their showers, turn off the sink when they brush their teeth, and my personal favorite, pertaining to the bathroom, “if it's yellow let it mellow”. These are simple tasks that every citizen should do, especially those in California.

To conclude, you need to initiate plans and tell the world of this crisis! Do something useful with your presidency PLEASE. Change America and the way this country runs for the better.

Best of luck with your new job,

-Michael Gussert 

image from blsmwc.com (blue lake springs mutual water company)