About the Bee’s water use map

Big Brother Bee has expanded its water waster coverage from its original “spy on your neighbors” approach to this Google maps mashup showing the biggest water users and whether they have increased or decreased use since 2006.
I’m still not sure I understand the point. An increase in water use does not imply any water is being wasted. The population of our city keeps growing, and if energy producers are going to meet increased demand — and manufacturers are going to come out of this economic downturn — that’s going to mean more resources are used up. Can’t the benefit of the doubt be on water users and the onus be on the city to find ways to provide the water people need? There is more data that would be needed for this map to actually indicate any wastefulness. For example how do I know the Alsco linen plant isn’t doing 33.16% more businesses since 2006? And on the flipside, does anyone think Land Park has almost 20% more grass and water fountains than it did in 2006?
I think the most important issue here is that the City has not done anything to officially restrict its own water use, but is helping the Bee (by providing data) highlight private businesses who are increasing their use. As the data shows, many of the city parks are among the top users and show big 2-year increases. I’m glad the Bee appears to be backing off its original approach of asking neighbors to turn each other in for watering on Sunday. That’s not the issue. The issue is that if there is a water shortage there are better ways to combat it — metering, efficiency, incentives for conservation, increased supply — than by putting all the responsibility on homeowners.