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You're right. That said the perennial attempts of the state's farmers to invest in political lobbying to maximize their share of what is there rather than in using the scarce stuff more efficiently makes a situation that has always been bad worse. In a time of crisis they are doubling down on that tactic and it's kind of sad looking in from the outside and I'm sure residents driving past that sight are more than mildly perturbed.
I don't know if that's the case, but laws that say residents cant water their lawns while farms get more water is not a unfair law. Farms produce food, so they get priority over lawns.
In the pictures The gated area is flooded and around it is dry. I am inclined to assume from the pictures that the crop they are growing there requires to flood the filed.
I hear raising cows also uses up a lot of water. Perhaps not as much as almonds.
One hamburger requires more water than 1000 almonds. It's not even close. Honestly, this whole almond thing smell like it has been spewed by the beef industry.
1000 almonds provides 250 grams of protein, a hamburger provides 28 grams. There are 460 calories in a burger and 7000 calories in a 1000 almonds. Almonds are a way more efficient way of feeding people.
Part of the problem is WHERE these farms are located. I come from Jersey - the soil there is amazing. You poke seeds into the ground, and harvest a couple months later. That's all there is to it. Even when there's a drought, it's not THAT big of a deal. Places like California and Colorado (where I live now) are not optimal places for farming, yet they are huge farming areas, with farming operations that require intensive amounts of water. Meanwhile, almost all the farms are gone from Jersey because of development. This country didn't protect farming as an occupation or for the sake of the nation's food security, and that was tremendously stupid. Now food is farmed in less-than-optimal places just because the land is cheap. It's an environmental disaster.
Almond Milk is cheaper than quality cow's milk yet the cow does not require as much water.
If we have less water for almonds, the price goes up due to less almonds being harvested. Inflation is knocking hard and will hit people hard. Beef and milk haver risen a lot. Wait til' oil finds its way back.
A major problem is, under western Water Law, if a farmer does not use all of his allotted share of the water they can loose that share to others. I suggest replacing this law with state ownership of all the water and distribution according to economic and social value.
Another is choice of crops. Growing rice, a wet monsoon plant, in a semi-arid climate is a environmental absurdity that can only make sense under man made irrigation. It does make sense to grow grass in California and rice in Alabama but not the other way around.
Another thing is to use less wasteful irrigation such as drip feed and low spray only at night. The first would cost a lot of money but the latter is really simple.
So the water intensive farmers get economically damaged by the drought. Everybody else is as well so they should share the pain.
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