As California Limits Water Use, People in Prison Face Punishment for Showering

As droughts, extreme heat, and other climate disasters increasingly plague California, people throughout the state have been subject to water restrictions. For many Californians, this means emergency regulations like limitations on lawn watering. But one group of people has been forced to bear the brunt of the state’s water restrictions: those in prison.

People in California prisons already face an acute vulnerability to extreme heat and cold, wildfires, droughts, and flooding. While steps have been taken in recent years to protect the safety of incarcerated people in California during climate hazards, the lack of state funding, data, and preparation — paired with overincarceration — continue to pose a fatal threat to their health and livelihoods.

And despite this increased vulnerabi