Being a fellow resident of CA, I agree with you and I have noticed that every time we are at normal, or slightly below normal rainfall, the CA politicians scream drought and try to tax the hell out of us plus they like the control they have over people by telling them to buy low flush toilets, slow leak shower heads and the like. We are not in a drought in CA and haven’t been since the one back in the 80s.
The goal is to create a usable supply for more development. The projections are for a California population of over 50 million.