Yeah - who is paying for/profitting from CA’s “cheap” agricultural water. How much would produce cost if growers paid a more realistic cost for water, or if the produce were grown elsewhere?
Last I saw, the figures were more like 80%. As in, we could get the same amount of agricultural produce with only a fifth of the water. But we don’t, because… wait, why is it that we don’t, again?
Really dumb and archaic water laws for California.
I agree.
This really deserves more study and discussion, especially exports, which are highly profitable. Exports do not put food on our tables, but depend on the same water that comes out of our taps. If publicly-funded water projects are primarily benefitting producers of exports that privatize the profit, that ISTM is a problem. If the export market were somehow curtailed, how much water would be made available? [rhetorical]
Btw, if anyone is interested enough in this topic to read a whole book about it, I’d recommend
Where the Water Goes: Life and Death Along the Colorado by David Owen
Also, Cadillac Desert by Marc Reisner.
No one suggests that. But a few crops- Almonds being the worst- are huge water wasters. We need food, yes. But we do not need almonds, and they can be grown elsewhere.
Exactly.
They would just stop growing stuff that uses a lot of water, like almonds.
I have relatives in the Phoenix area, and especially in the 1970s, trying to grow a green-grass lawn was a big fad, and they were one of the families who tried it, with predictable results.
Good grief. If you tried to grow a saguaro cactus here in the upper Midwest, that wouldn’t work so well either.
Las Vegas claims to recycle 99% of their water. Even if the actual number is “only” in the mid-90’s that still damn impressive. Nor does Las Vegas suck up the tremendous amounts used by agriculture in desert regions like California’s Central Valley. Average daily consumption of water per resident has fallen from 314 gallons (1188 liters) in 2003 to 205 gallons (776 liters) in 2015. They spent a billion and a half dollars on a pipeline to ensure the city has drinking water. Las Vegas is not the problem here, and indeed in some ways they’re a model for other places. Far from perfect, but they at least they recognize they live in a freakin’ desert and have to think about water use.
Although even with their impressive conservation of water they might still need to cut back even more, but I’m less worried about them than some other places that have completely ignored this looming problem for decades. Like agricultural practices that are extremely wasteful of water and degrade the land by draining aquifers, promoting sinkholes, causing salt build up in soil, and on and on.
Las Vegas got its start due to some natural springs that encouraged travelers to stop while going from point A to point B. It has, of course, long since grown past the point that native local water sources can support, but there are reasons why there is a city there. Entertainment for travelers started early, and boomed when the Hoover Dam was being built which is when “entertainment” really took off in the local economy. It wasn’t just tax breaks, although I’m sure they’re currently a factor.
The biggest problem with water out west is the resistance to admitting it’s a serious problem and getting worse. As I said, Las Vegas at least admits it exists in a desert and isn’t attempting to maintain almond orchards. The casinos and such look like they use tons of water (and on a certain level they do) but the amount they use is completely dwarfed by agriculture.
Ag is definitely the problem despite the decades of ridiculous propaganda blaming Southern California for “stealing” Northern California water. There isn’t enough incentive for the farms to economize.
Santa Barbara, by the way, is completely water independent. We have the Cachuma reservoir and our own desal plant. We need a lot more desal on the coast. Thanks to that big storm a couple of weeks ago, the reservoir is over 98% full and will spill for the first time since 2011. It was 31% full on January 1st.
Somewhere I read once that farmers are afraid that if they don’t use all the water allotted to them, it will taken away. So they have every incentive to waste it. Only cure is to take it away anyway.
Cadillac Desert is a classic, and it still holds true 35 years after it was published. “The book concludes that the development-driven policies, formed when settling the West was the country’s main concern, have had serious long-term negative effects on the environment and water quantity.”
There’s no doubt water is going to get much more expensive, fairly soon. Which stake holders will win? Are almond orchards worth more than golf courses or swimming pools? How much is my water bill going to be. I can always move somewhere where it rains more. (Crap, you have hurricanes here?). Let the water wars begin.
Here’s a gift link to the original NYT article if anyone needs it.
I’m not sure I’d buy into the notion that growing FOOD is a problematic use of water.
It depends on what food. Almonds are a crop that notoriously needs a lot of water, for example; it takes roughly a gallon of water to grow one almond. (Almond orchards in California use about three times as much water as all of the homes and businesses in Los Angeles.) Maybe that’s not the best crop to grow in a desert.
I read this article. Thanks for posting it. I don’t agree with this quote from the article: “The crisis over the Colorado River is the latest example of how climate change is overwhelming the foundations of American life — not only physical infrastructure, like dams and reservoirs, but also the legal underpinnings that have made those systems work”.
I think this quote is misleading because the Colorado river, and existing ground water in central CA, wouldn’t have been able to keep up with the increasing demand anyway (urban, agriculture), even with average precipitation and snowpack. Buying an electric car won’t fix this.
Cachuma is now tied in to the state water project and does take water from that system. You can see that before our big storm, we were still taking in water (a small amount, yes) from elsewhere.
On top of that the vast majority of California’s almond crop is exported. Put Blue Diamond out of business and Robert’s your mother’s brother.
Rest stop? Near me? I assume you mean peeing by the side of the road. 
Ehh, you get used to it. Summers, as short as they are, are just wonderful. Some people live for the snow and skiing and such. I live for the fabulous summers at elevation.
Seriously though, the Colorado Rockies are basically a sponge that feeds other areas water. I do worry that they may be wrung dry.