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California orders large water cuts for farmers

8 Comments
By FENIT NIRAPPIL and SCOTT SMITH

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Environmentalist in California would rather save some insignificant fish than provide water for farmers.The wealthy in California would rather have a green lawn and a swimming pool that is used ONCE a month rather than provide water for farmers. Sportsmen and women would rather have a green golf course between holes, green grass for soccer, football, and baseball rather than provide water to farmers. Las Vegas, Nevada, and Palm Springs people have the same attitude. Get the picture? It is all about ME in California.There isn't a shortage of water in California, there is a shortage of storage. The environmentalist would rather protect an insignificant insect, mouse, or fish than provide water for farmers. They did all this through the courts of law.

-3 ( +3 / -6 )

California needs to build more desalination plants in the areas near the major cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles. The water shortage will be a long term problem. The Carlsbad desalination plant that is located near San Diego is under construction and will be in operation later this year. The total project cost is near $1 billion. Upon completion, it will be the largest desalination plant in the U.S. and expected to produce 50 million gallons of water per day. It's a good start for alternative ways to get water.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Actually both of you are right. We do need to build more desalination, but at the same time, you have to admit that the liberal Democratic policies are exactly what is destroying the State and killing the livelihood of these farmers. The liberal affluent consume and waste so much and the people that provide and grow the produce that a lot of is exported internationally it is extremely vital that these farmers get whatever water they need, but as long as the Unions and the EPA gets stronger, you will see the rights of the average Californian dwindle into obscurity and as a breadbasket state, that is the worst case scenario.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

They do recycle gray water. Have been for 25 years or more.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

The sad reality is that agriculture consumes well over 70% of California's water supplies ( http://www.environment.ucla.edu/media/images/water-fig1-lrg.jpg ) while producing less than 2% of the state's GDP ( https://goldenstateoutlook.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/1-sector-shares-of-gdp-21.jpg )

Caveats abound, of course: ancillary business would also collapse along with the agricultural sector, not to mention entire communities in the San Joaquin valley.

But seriously: for example, "California milk producers had just under 1.8 million head of dairy cattle... with total production of 3,624 million pounds, up 4.7 ...Wisconsin is ranked second, ... 2,305 million pounds... New York is the country’s number three state for milk, with ... 1,135 million pounds."

So California tops the other two milk producing states combined despite that fact that IT IS A DESERT. And let's not get started on desalinization - it is a good fallback, but its cost per water acre makes it only feasible for places like San Diego, which have no other options.

Reality will have to be faced sooner or later: California, while it has plenty of water for its urban areas, due to its climate, has no business feeding the world.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

In the land of the free water is no longer free. Water management has been mismanaged for a long time. Overhead watering of crops should have been regulated long ago, replaced by more effective, less wasteful techniques. But you know what they say, "after the horse has bolted . . ." Unfortunately regulators still can't regulate.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

The idea of constructing a pipeline and pumping system from Oregon or Washington state might become a reality if conditions in California get worse. California now has 38 million people, nearly double the population from 1980. The population of cities could probably cope by adopting severe conservation measures and paying much more for the water still available, but California agriculture would disappear because the price of irrigation would be more than the crops would bring. Sending Northwest water south would be a stretch, but if it's technically feasible, it may indeed be attempted some day.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

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