When living in Earthquake country, it's important to have certain supplies on hand. One of the most important supplies is bottled water. You can live without electricity or internet for some time, you can do fine without food for a reasonable number of days, but you really need clean drinking water.
California charges a "Tax" (technically a bottle deposit) on bottled beverages of 5 cents per small bottle or can.
The obvious bottled water to purchase (at least if you're a Costco member) is the Kirkland Signature drinking water, at $4.99 (price may vary) for 40 half-liter bottles of purified water. This comes out to just under 12.5 cents per bottle, which is a perfectly reasonable price for emergency supplies - it means you can buy the recommended 1 gallon (4 liters) per person per day for about a dollar per person per day.
However, that's before CRV. The CRV is effectively a 40% tax on one of the most critical items (if not the most critical) for disaster preparedness. California says it's important to be prepared for a quake, but is taxing critical supplies at 40%.
