There are shortages because government is in charge of water policies. If there were a free market in water supplies, then people would use it wisely. People would not be attempting to grow crops in places they shouldn’t, and people would learn to conserve water in times of shortages because the price would increase. There would also be an incentive for businesses to find ways to supply more water.
Once again, government screws up everything it touches.
They got a whole damn ocean just to the west. Time to figure out desalination technology and transport.
More than one way to skin a cat...
For those of you spouting off about farming should not be done in California as we do not get much rain, I have news for you. Damn near 2/3 of all the produce consumed in the USA is grown in California. Why? Because of the climate and the soil.
I live in the Coachella Valley, the low desert of Southern California. Along with the Imperial Valley which is just south of us, we are responsible for supplying the vast majority of peppers, table grapes, as well as several other produce items consumed in the USA. Near 100% of all dates consumed in the USA are grown here.
Without California grown produce, every American who eats fruits and vegetables will be paying a huge price at the grocery store thanks to the ineptitude of both California state and Federal officials.
Think about this. Until the end of last year, less than two months ago, not one official in this state was warning residents about the major water shortage. This was not an overnight event. No one came along and drained our reservoirs overnight. All of a sudden, major reservoirs were at 25% of capacity.
Gov. Brown was sitting on his skinny ass for the past two years and never said a thing. Were they all blind? Did no one in a responsible position take a look at the water level in our reservoirs? Now, they are running around like chickens with their heads cut off. What a pile of crap.
Water for smelt but not humans.
Definitely screwed up priorities.