Posted on 04/05/2015 12:27:56 PM PDT by artichokegrower
As the rest of California comes to grips with the state’s historic new water mandates, there’s an elephant in the room. And it’s wearing a farmer’s hat
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
I live right in the heart of California Farm Land (Madera County). A person can only eat so many pistachios and almonds (Cash Crops), which are earmarked mostly for export anyway. These orchards are pumping water from deep wells (2000 feet+) 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Just another reason for the Socialist, Liberal, Leftist, EcoLoony, neoFascist Kalifornicators to hate Israel with unbridled passion.
if you price it below market clearing levels, you will have shortages.
If you allow market prices, shortages disappear. When you have market prices, incentive is provided for development of new sources of water and the price acts as a disciplinary force against “waste.”
Most officials in government jurisdictions through out the globe fail to get this and will attempt to impose rationing when their below market price schemes on various commodities result in major shortages.
California made a desert bloom better, and it is still blooming.
7.2%, still a small number.
Yes, the farmers grow lots of food. But, they could use water more efficiently, and save a lot more than installing more low-flow showerheads.
Totally agree with this.
Israel made a desert bloom.
Yes, but they are famous for coming up with brilliant ways to use water more efficiently.
The Governor of California and his fellow global-warming fanatics have believed for decades that California would turn into a desert. So what did they expect except the increasingly dire drought conditions California is experiencing now?
Yet the Governor never expanded California’s reservoir system, let alone built desalinization plants, to help his constituents adapt to the new apocalyptic global-warming dystopia he claimed to know was upon us.
Global-warming fanatics also believe that conditions will inevitably get worse, so how will simply cutting down on water use, as the Governor has directed, do anything but create a downward spiral of fewer and fewer showers and toilet-flushings allowed until Californians leave the state in droves so they can begin to practice personal hygiene like civilized people again?
Government should just charge the same rate to all comers.
Let the market sort it out.
[But, they could use water more efficiently, and save a lot more than installing more low-flow showerheads.]
Farmers will need as much water as they can muster to keep ahead of the marijuana growers in California...
Your exactly right 10% of ALL water in California is used to grow one single crop almonds.
Why ? because it is so profitable. Vegetables, not so much and so these crops will lie fallow this year.
I read that 10% of the water used goes to growing Almonds. I don’t know if that is true, and I am not anti-almonds they are good. But I don’t know if they represent the true cost when you factor in what everyone else has to do to subsidize them. If we need to cut 20% of usage, almond growers would account for half of the savings.
And that is always a problem - government mandates always end up distorting markets often in ways that are not obvious. If instead of making everyone change out their toilets they just charged the market price for water then the cost of Almonds would reflect that consumption.
Big sucker of water here are the Grape Farmers, and that is a luxury not a necessity as food is.
I don’t know, but if farming is using up 80% of California water, then I would sure like to learn more about how they got there, and what keeps them there, and if it is all being done legitimately and without corruption and subsidies, and such.
The difference is, Israel will continue to bloom and Kalifornia will succumb to the Liberal plan for self destruction and will revert to desert.
No it won’t.
California is facing problems and is deteriorating, but it isn’t facing the apocalypse.
And also stop developers from building in arid areas.
Here is a great analysis of California’s water problem.
http://www.city-journal.org/2015/cjc0402vdh.html
Amen
I wonder how many are aware that California Agriculture feeds the nation.
Dams should have been built in the 70’s and 80’s.
Yeah...that was MY first thought. Idiots.
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