What California can learn from Saudi Arabia’s water mystery (Los Angeles: sales, 2015)

[HappyinCali]

https://www.revealnews.org/article/w...water-mystery/

Pretty spot on. I continue to argue that the drought in CA is solely manufactured by agriculture. With 40 million people and countless businesses, yes including golf courses, water parks etc., we still use 20% of the water. Agriculture uses the rest.

But what about food?? Well, we will import - from other states and other countries. It is really not that hard. Most of the world imports food items, we can, too. States and countries, whose climates are better suited for raising food. They will benefit from increased investments and we will benefit from food that is less disastrous to the environment.

Or we can continue raising alfa alfa in the desert.

[sourdough]

"I continue to argue that the drought in CA is solely manufactured by agriculture." I've never been a fan of big business but really.
Scientists say California hasn’t been this dry in 500 years - The Washington Post

[DinsdalePirahna]

Sole manufactured by Agriculture? MAybe you haven't noticed but we haven't had a steady rainy season in over 2 years.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by sourdough

"I continue to argue that the drought in CA is solely manufactured by agriculture." I've never been a fan of big business but really.
Scientists say California hasn’t been this dry in 500 years - The Washington Post

I can't help but wonder if the drought hasn't been deliberately created. For those who think the weather can't be manipulated, think again.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2O-DVgcvWQ

[owl6969]

stop growing almonds

[GoldenZephyr]

Originally Posted by DinsdalePirahna

Sole manufactured by Agriculture? MAybe you haven't noticed but we haven't had a steady rainy season in over 2 years.

Well it is solely manufactured by agriculture, why?

People and businesses use 20% of the water, that's 1/5th. If we had less wasteful agriculture (read no almonds, no alfalfa alone), we would have more than enough water, even in the dry years for everyone in the state.

All the cuts are being asked of residential users which is a pittance. Almonds, which most of which go to China, alone consume more water than the entire cities of Los Angeles and San Francisco. Ridiculous.

It will rain again, it will be dry again, that is the cycle of weather in CA. Ever think about how if it is most recently been the driest, we could be in for a wettest? Doesn't fit the narrative though.

Frightening people with apocalyptic visions of the Sahara in San Francisco is far more effective to bully people into behavior that suits an agenda, but yields little benefit.

[Bluefox]

Originally Posted by owl6969

stop growing almonds

This. There's no reason why Americans (or Chinese) can't live without almonds. Not the best use of the land considering the conditions.

[DriveNotCommute]

Originally Posted by owl6969

stop growing almonds

While it'd be great to have fewer water-intense industries in the dry parts of California I'm not convinced yet that this is at a point where anyone should outright dictate a ban.

Really, they don't have to stop growing almonds. All they need is to have to pay more for their water and then raise prices on their almonds as a result. The state should regulate [figure out how to measure] water that comes from aquifers. No telling what geological side effect in this earthquake prone state could come out of that too.

- If almond demand drops by a lot and the growers do not adapt to improve sales at the higher price point, they would use less water in the future selling and growing fewer almonds.

- If almond demand initially drops by a lot and the growers adapt with a good marketing campaign to improve sales at the higher price point, they bring in much higher revenue for the same or slightly lesser output in almonds. That added revenue could then go toward paying for new water sources [pipelines for import, desalination, other?]. If they are stingy and try to get away with not developing more water sources themselves, they could then be generously taxed so that the State or County could then build the infrastructure needed to support the orchards and the communities affected by them.

It's only if they refuse to take infrastructure action themselves or support a government-organized infrastructure project to sustain their water usage that a ban on almond growing should be considered.

[LoriBee62]

Originally Posted by DinsdalePirahna

Sole manufactured by Agriculture? MAybe you haven't noticed but we haven't had a steady rainy season in over 2 years.

I think the point is that you don't bring agriculture--high water dependent agriculture especially--to an area that does not historically have consistent rainfall to support it.

[Gunluvver2]

California get what percentage of its water from the Colorado River?