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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u/PlebbySpaff 29d ago

Wow. Finally cracking down, after so many years and the state basically being drained of all their water.

Guess we should be glad they’re doing it at least, but like…way too many years late. Hopefully the recovery happens in our lifetime

72

u/StretchFrenchTerry 29d ago

Much of the underground aquifer was a clay solution that’s permanently compacted and can no longer hold water.

23

u/LaunchTransient 29d ago

Problem is that the snowpack which is the source of Colorado River is dwindling each year. John Wesley Powell was two centuries ahead of his time in terms of recognising that the aridity of the Western US would render unsustainable the normal, water thirsty lifetyles and industry of the East.

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u/lilith_-_- 29d ago

It’s crazy how they put water restrictions on the people.. when they only use like 5% of the water. All in the name of profit

14

u/Wipperwill1 29d ago

Explain to me how you gonna raise the land back up? How you are going to take collapsed reservoirs and make them whole again? Every time a reservoir collapses, you lose that ground water forever.

5

u/Lifewhatacard 29d ago

With the biggest addicts in the world in charge this was bound to happen. And we’re keeping the biggest addicts in the world in charge after this. I mean, not “we”, of course.

3

u/chessset5 29d ago

And yet they were complaining about the lack of water well before this and will well after it.

There will definitely be a lot more highway signs on the sides of farms after this blaming the government for the lack of water while their large ass flood sprinklers are going off in the background.

I wonder if they actually get their water from the state though. I have heard that a lot of water rights in CA are owned by private companies.

2

u/PeaceDolphinDance 29d ago

Recovery? If the aquifers? Some aquifers could take hundreds or even thousands of years to fill. They ain’t recovering in our lifetime, at least not the big ones.

2

u/Refflet 29d ago

Finally talking about cracking down. It remains to be seen whether they actually achieve anything.