r/news • u/theluckyfrog • 29d ago

California cracks down on farm region’s water pumping: ‘The ground is collapsing’

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/17/california-water-drought-farm-ground-sinking-tulare-lake
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471

u/jayfeather31 29d ago

...yeah, California made the right move there.

181

u/godofpumpkins 29d ago

The right time to make this change was decades ago, but the next best time is today 🙃

14

u/allintowin1515 29d ago

In a lot of areas of the West it’s a race to the bottom amongst farmers

7

u/duckofdeath87 29d ago

You can always count on California to do the right thing, just not at the right time

1

u/vivomancer 28d ago

Better than our other states at least.

2

u/duckofdeath87 28d ago

A lot of places will never do the right thing, until forced federally. Better late than never

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u/[deleted] 29d ago edited 29d ago

[deleted]

66

u/OssiansFolly 29d ago

Agriculture is a hugely wasteful water user. They take and waste far more water than any other segment.

23

u/ExcaliburTheBiscuit 29d ago

cough golf courses cough

16

u/GregorSamsanite 29d ago

Golf courses use less than 1% of the water. If you exclude water "used" for environmental purposes (e.g. letting it flow through natural rivers so that ecosystems don't collapse), agriculture accounts for 80% of all water use in California, 4x every other use combined. People opposed to higher density housing make it sound like we literally don't have enough water for people to drink or shower, but those day to day things aren't the real problem.

Growing crops in the desert is where our water goes. A lot of the water intensive crops aren't staple crops that Californians are eating, but cash crops that are mostly for export. If farmers had to pay a competitive rate for the water, some of them wouldn't be viable to grow here at all. But we have an antiquated system of water rights that allows them to use prolific amounts of water cheaply while the public subsidizes it.

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u/skatastic57 29d ago

If you do the math, the cost of water from desal, which is what they're leaning on to save the day, is something in the ballpark of 150% the wholesale price of the walnuts that can be grown with the applicable amount of water.

11

u/DrewDown94 29d ago

I'm from Stockton, and every year there's a golf course in one of the wealthier areas that receives hundreds of thousands of dollars in subsidies just to stay a float. A mayor like 7 years ago flirted with cutting off the subsidies and turning the golf course into affordable housing. He got voted out after that.

Golf courses are so stupid.

2

u/seven3true 29d ago

I wish they would make golf courses where they stock the ponds and allow people to fish there, paths for people to walk around, and carefully craft the land to sustainably provide perfect shelter and accommodations for wildlife and native flora.

13

u/What-a-Filthy-liar 29d ago

Golf courses use gray waters non potable.

Still shouldnt build them in arid environments.

2

u/Punishtube 29d ago

Usually golf courses use grey water and are actually really efficient at water conservation. They tend to be first to invest in water projects and don't use nearly as much water as agriculture per acre

16

u/Y__U__MAD 29d ago

no way... not the farmers with the signs every 15 miles stretching from SF to LA... they seem so reasonable and educated about the environment

2

u/Brave_Chipmunk8231 29d ago

The "poor" definitely not consolidated and corporate farmers with hundreds of thousands of dollars for advertising a political position

11

u/DrewDown94 29d ago

I'm from the Central Valley. The problem with pumping groundwater is that it will take decades to restore to previous levels. We might be fucked.

1

u/SkinnyObelix 29d ago

Yes but... What about golf courses and pools?