Early Settlers in the Town of Dry Gulch Drilled Wells

Early settlers in the town of Dry Gulch drilled wells to pump as much water as they wanted from the single aquifer beneath the town. (An aquifer is an underground body of water.) As more people settled in Dry Gulch, the aquifer level fell and new wells had to be drilled deeper at higher cost. The town council has proposed putting a meter on each household's pump, and charging residents for each gallon of water used. This would:

A) have no effect on water use.
B) discourage residents from using too much water.
C) convert private property to public property.
D) reduce total economic surplus.