This story is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.

On Monday afternoon, the mayor of Los Angeles found a ballsy way to fight California’s unprecedented drought:

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There are now 96 million “shade balls” floating on the surface of the L.A. Reservoir. They’re made of plastic, the same kind of polyethylene that gallon-sized milk jugs are made of, so they don’t pose a threat to the drinking water, according to the LA Times. They’re designed to keep water from evaporating and are expected to conserve 300 million gallons per year. And at a cost of $35 million, they’re about $250 million cheaper than the alternative, a tarp-like covering.

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So, saving California from the drought just takes leadership from someone with a pair of … sorry I’ll just stop now.

#shadeballs.