Moreover, without proper stormwater management, every gallon of water that escapes as runoff is a gallon that is unavailable for use during subsequent droughts.

In one Instagram video posted in October, Gonzalez stood in front of a gas station in the little desert town of Needles, where a gallon of regular gas cost $5.89.

The disaster happened after routine blasting when thousands of gallons of water flooded a tunnel where seven miners were working - three managed to escape.

Patrick De Haan, a Chicago-based gas prices analyst, estimated that states like Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan could see gas prices rising by up to 75 cents a gallon.

The facility in Carson, called Pure Water Southern California, is projected to cost $8 billion at full build-out and produce 150 million gallons of water daily — enough to supply about half a million homes.