

Everything I thought I knew about water in California is wrong - wooster
http://grist.org/food/everything-i-thought-i-knew-about-water-in-california-is-wrong/

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MrTonyD
This article is awful. He ignores that Agriculture drills many wells and
extracts water from rivers and streams - and that water is not metered and
free. There was the recent article about Starbucks getting their bottled water
for free from California wells. And when he praises the ability to buy/sell
water he is praising the very system that allows farmers to take their free
water and monetize it through bottled water sold throughout the USA. I could
go on, but all you really need to do is drive through California and look at
the miles and miles of rice fields - a full immersion crop. It is exported
worldwide by the multi-billionaire "farmers".

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jack9
There's also the subdivision of that pie graph. Crop types are badly optimized
(alfalfa!) leading to lopsided water usage - "It takes $750 worth of retail
water to grow $150 worth of wholesale cotton." Lloyd Carter (Feb. 2009)

Am I supposed to be empathetic toward protecting the Delta Smelt? This is
water for humans. Other creatures get cleared out, that's the nature of our
civilization. Start making the hard decisions (regulate the farms) and if the
smelt go, too bad. Our population is not diminishing.

