IN DRY CALIFORNIA, WATER FETCHING RECORD PRICES

Associated Press ^ | Jul. 2, 2014 1:32 AM EDT | GARANCE BURKE

[blueplum]

Home » California » In dry California, water fetching record prices

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Throughout California's desperately dry Central Valley, those with water to spare are cashing in.

As a third parched summer forces farmers to fallow fields and lay off workers, two water districts and a pair of landowners in the heart of the state's farmland are making millions of dollars by auctioning off their private caches.

Nearly 40 others also are seeking to sell their surplus water this year, according to state and federal records.

Economists say it's been decades since the water market has been this hot. In the last five years alone, the price has grown tenfold to as much as $2,200 an acre-foot — enough to cover a football field with a foot of water.

Unlike the previous drought in 2009, the state has been hands-off, letting the market set the price even though severe shortages prompted a statewide drought emergency declaration this year.

"This year the market is unbelievable," said Thomas Greci, the general manager of the Madera Irrigation District, which recently made nearly $7 million from selling about 3,200 acre-feet. "And this is a way to pay our bills."

All of the district's water went to farms; the city of Santa Barbara, which has its own water shortages, was outbid.

The prices are so high in some rural pockets that water auctions have become...

[blueplum]

Cities filled with envirowackos outbid for water by farmers and ranchers. It's poetic justice, it is.

[CitizenUSA]

Yeah, I’m not real sympathetic for the envirowackos on the left coast.

[momincombatboots]

I bet it is still unnaturally green in LA. I am not thrilled about the prospect of even higher prices for food. Tomatoes costing more than steak perhaps? Good thing I am a carnivore.

[blueplum]

I checked the local Stater Brothers (grocery) ad for this week, and slicing tomatoes are $2/lb; the cheapest ground beef (27%fat) is $2.29/lb.

[FreedomPoster]

>>an acre-foot — enough to cover a football field with a foot of water.

I just did the math - a football field is almost exactly 1-1/3 acres. So an acre-foot would only cover a field with about 9” of water.

Blatant innumeracy. This isn’t that hard, it’s about 6th grade level math, less for home schoolers.

[rodguy911]

Someone should explain to them what desalt plants are all about. We used desalinization water here in the Keys for years. They even have small plants on charter boats these days. How bout’ the 21st century Kallyfornuch.
Nahhh....just give the dam place beack to maaayyheeecoo.

[junta]

But the illegal immigrant lobby says “the crops are rotting in the field without cheap labor who end up needing an expensive welfare state coincidently.”

[bray]

Those same enviroterrorists stopped the building of reservoirs that would have stored plenty of water for the drought.

Pray America wakes up

[stormer]

Just a little uptight, are we? If you ask most people how big a football field is, they will probably say, “100 yards by 50 yards”. They will ignore the endzones and guess about the width, and arrive at an area that is about 3% larger than an acre. This isn’t “blatant innumeracy”, it’s an estimate used to help the reader visualize. I’m glad you had the chance to be absolutely correct at least once today, it’s just too bad it was that important to you...

[FreedomPoster]

LOL, friends with the author, are we?

We see blatant innumeracy in journalism continually, and excusing it doesn’t help the situation. And if it were a Jeopardy question, I assure you “What is 100 yards, Alex” would get you nothing for “The length of a football field.”

[stormer]

Thanks for making my point...