
Saudi Arabia Using 140-Year-Old Loophole to Soak Up California's Scarce Water - Jerry2
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/mar/25/california-water-drought-scarce-saudi-arabia
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adrianmonk
How is it a loophole?

Is the loophole that you can export food? California exports a lot of food,
apparently $20 billion/year worth of it (see
[https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/statistics/](https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/statistics/)).
Is there a reason why this food should be different?

Is the loophole that a foreign company owns the farms? There's a lot of
foreign investment in other industries in California (and everywhere). Is
there a reason why this industry should be different?

I'm just not seeing what is unique about this.

~~~
dragonwriter
> How is it a loophole?

The “140-year-old loophole” is the free-of-charge 1877 federal unquantified
water rights grant in Blythe, which they (among others) are exploiting.

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mc32
In this case SA isn’t doing anything unlawful. Heck, other international
companies grow in California too, what’s the big deal?

If they want to disallow water to be diverted to farming, that’s one thing,
but singling one entity in this whole deal seems to be odd.

~~~
dragonwriter
> In this case SA isn’t doing anything unlawful.

That's why the article is calling attention to the “140-year-old loophole”
that is being exploited.

> If they want to disallow water to be diverted to farming, that’s one thing,
> but singling one entity in this whole deal seems to be odd.

They are singling out a federal grant from when the part of California
involved was essentially uninhabited and the Colorado River wasn't heavily
used that gives unlimited, no-usage-charge water to users in the particular
locality where the Saudi farm is located.

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anigbrowl
_The town is home to 21,000 people – 6,000 of whom are incarcerated in one of
the town’s two state prisons. “The prisons were supposed to bring economic
development to the city,” Echard told me on our way back from the dam as we
sped alongside one of the primary canals. “But it hasn’t done much at all.”_

Side note, but while prisons don't generate all that much economic activity
they count for congressional apportionment while the residents can't vote, so
that's 6000 fewer people you need to worry about on election day if you're a
politician.

