As California’s drought stretches into its fourth year, the right’s finger-pointing has taken a ridiculous turn. Conservatives have placed most of the blame on the blue state’s politics; they blame it on God’s retribution for state laws on abortion and gay marriage. Sometimes it’s immigrants’ fault. The rest of the time, they point to environmentalists trying to save animals from extinction. There's never any mention that climate change will utlimately determine California's water problems for the next century.

One Republican state politician recently pointed to Texas as a state that saved itself from drought, by passing restrictive abortion laws. In remarks highlighted by RH Reality Check, Republican assemblywoman Shannon Grove told anti-abortion activists in June that “it rained that night” when Texas passed restrictions against abortion clinics and limiting abortion for women who are pregnant over 20 weeks. “Now God has His hold on California,” she said. Grove explained further, “we do know for sure that California’s water shortage crisis has been compounded by liberal politicians’ poor decisions – not properly managing our water resources and refusing to build water storage for decades.” (Grove later denied she ever made these comments.)

In May, Bill Koenig of the right-wing website World Watch Daily added gay marriage to the list of reasons why God is punishing California. "We've got a state that, over and over again, will go against the word of God, that will continually take positions on marriage and abortion and on a lot of things that are just completely opposed to the Scriptures. Unfortunately, a lot of times when it starts in California, it spreads to the rest of the country and even spreads to the rest of the world. So there very likely could be a drought component to this judgment."

The anti-immigration group Californians for Population Stabilization has run a 30-second spot that links the drought to immigration. A boy in the ad asks, “If Californians are having fewer children, why is it so crowded? If Californians are having fewer children, why are there so many cars? If Californians are having fewer children, why isn’t there enough water?” The announcer adds, “Let’s slow immigration, and save some California for tomorrow.” Grist’s Ben Adler noted that this group is not alone in blaming immigration either. A National Review writer said California’s population growth, “due to massive and recent immigration,” has strained limited water supplies.

Adler thoroughly debunked this. Residential use is responsible for 14 percent of California’s water consumption, and its rich neighborhoods—where single-family homes have vast green yards—hog a disproportionate amount of water. Even so, maybe it’s unfair to blame rich Californians for wanting nice lawns when it’s the agriculture industry that’s responsible for 80 percent of the state’s water consumption.