
California Wants to Store Water for Farmers, but Struggles Over How to Do It - Futurebot
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/22/science/california-wants-to-store-water-for-farmers-but-struggles-over-how-to-do-it.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience&action=click&contentCollection=science&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=5&pgtype=sectionfront
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quanticle
When something is this difficult to do, maybe the rational thing is to ask
whether you should be doing it at all. Agriculture in California uses more
water than industry and households combined. Yet, when the drought hits,
households are asked to cut back on watering their lawns, while the state is
looking at spending literally billions of dollars to subsidize farmers who
planted water-hungry crops (like almonds, or alfalfa) in the middle of a
desert.

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amalag
It is more a problem with the meat industry. Growing feed for animals and then
eating their flesh instead of just growing food.

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quanticle
It isn't. The problem in California isn't due to grains, which are annual
crops. The problem is due to farmers planting water-hungry perennial tree
crops, like almonds. The problem with perennials is that they take three to
four years of constant reliable water to grow properly and produce crops.
Somehow, in the middle of the largest drought in California history, you have
farmers who believe that it's all right to plant crops that require _years_ of
water before they become profitable. That's the core of California's water
problem, and why I have very little sympathy for California's current plight.

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ScottBurson
No, amalag is right. Meat is a much bigger problem than almonds. [0] [1]

[0] [http://gizmodo.com/seriously-stop-demonizing-
almonds-1696065...](http://gizmodo.com/seriously-stop-demonizing-
almonds-1696065939)

[1] [http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2013/jan/10/how-
muc...](http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2013/jan/10/how-much-water-
food-production-waste)

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pvaldes
I find really curious to tag almonds (we talk about Prunus dulcis, isn't?) as
hungry-water crops. They are just the opposite. One of the ancient fruit trees
that need less water to trive. They are famous because can survive and growth
with just two deep watering episodes each twelve months. Even if you need to
wait some years, you will not spend so many water in fact as with other crops.

Alfalfa on the other side needs to be watered constantly, day after day.

This is probably just another local war for the territory. When the best water
containers (forests) are burned year after year by delinquents, millions of
dollars in free water literally evaporate.

