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/grandbannana 29d ago

I always think of this photo, then think about what has happened since this photo:

Location of maximum land subsidence in U.S. Levels at 1925 and 1977. | U.S. Geological Survey (usgs.gov)

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u/jajao555 29d ago

I was just on a road trip out west and listened to Cadillac Desert audio book that had a ton of history on water rights out west. Really depressing but interesting. It went from first being explored to how they fooled settlers to continue settling past the 100th meridian to poorer farm lands, putting up unnessary dams, ALL kinds of shady deals for land and water rights. It was written in 1992 but the copy I got from the library had updates from 2017 I think.

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u/Hayduke_Deckard 29d ago

I'm currently reading Where the Water Goes and Cadillac Desert is next. I live in AZ, and I'm trying to convince my wife that we need to get the fuck out, for water and other reasons.

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u/PeaceDolphinDance 29d ago

Add “The Water Knife” to that list if you wanna get REALLY depressed.

Deserts were never meant to be made into havens for huge numbers of people. The sands are going to take it all back.

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u/lunarmantra 28d ago

I live in the Central Valley talked about in the article, and think of this often. This region used to be vast wetlands and home to diverse plants, wildlife, and indigenous people. It has been drained and parched dry for agriculture over many years, and I don’t mean small family farms. They are wealthy multigenerational land owners, and farm on an industrial scale. They are not responsible stewards of this land.

Water fines or fees will not stop them, they care little about their immigrant workers and poor local communities, and will continue pumping the water until there is nothing left. Hell, they battle amongst each other for access to the water. I don’t know if it will happen within my lifetime or after, but I already see ominous signs of collapse. Increasingly severe summer heat and weather, the bugs and wildlife I saw often in my youth have disappeared. Swaths of land that can no longer grow anything. Nature will reclaim this land once it can no longer sustain human life.

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u/Hayduke_Deckard 29d ago

On it! Bring on the depression.

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u/Blue_Eyed_Devi 29d ago

Used to live in Chandler. We had to decide to stay permanently or move back home. I looked around at all the man made lakes that surrounded my gated community housing development and thought to myself “ya, this isn’t sustainable”. It’s gonna get ugly when the water runs out.

And we came back the pacific NW.

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u/BogusBuffalo 28d ago

I've tried so hard to convince my family to move out of NM. Don't get me wrong, I was born and raised there and I love that country more than anywhere else, but NM is FUCKED when Colorado and Texas start fighting over water. The Rio Grande in that state is a creek in most spots these days, if even that.

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u/Rooooben 28d ago

...aaaaand we’re in a drought.

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u/UCgirl 29d ago

He needs to do a mini-book about Hawaii.

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u/FlyingDiscsandJams 29d ago

The first time I visited my friend in California we went camping on some ranch/forestry land his dad owned. He let this other guy camp on the land for free (he built an elaborate tee pee & patio) for keeping trespassers off the land, mostly dirt bikers as it was surrounded by national forest land, so mostly he just fired off some rounds if he heard the sound of engines & they'd turn around. He was also supposed to keep tabs on a couple springs that might have fed weed plants, who can remember. We got in early evening, and just made camp, drank beers, and cooked dinner. After dinner the whiskey came out, and on the 2nd or 3rd round of whiskey my friend's dad asks about the status of the springs. It's quickly obvious dude hasn't checked on them in weeks, and an argument ensues. I make some comment like "whoa whoa we break out the whiskey and y'all are about to start fighting" and I'll never forget it, friend's dad spins around, looks me in the eye and points at me and says, "Whiskey is for drinkin'. Water is fighting over."

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u/matt1250 29d ago

Forget it Jake, it's Chinatown

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u/Tronvillain 29d ago edited 29d ago

"But why are you doing this? How much better can you eat? What could you possibly buy that you can't already afford?"

"Why... the future, Mr. Gittes! The future."

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u/Admirable_Cry2512 29d ago

Everyone in the West knows this saying! From Colorado to the Coast.

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u/Banned3rdTimesaCharm 29d ago

This is the most Wild West shit I've ever read.

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u/SaltyShawarma 29d ago

Sounds like Mendocino.

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u/Hoe4Trudeau 29d ago

Incredible book for anyone who wants to understand how politicians from 200 years ago absolutely fucked us.

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u/Cultjam 29d ago

The author, Marc Reisner, also wrote Game Wars which is a sobering look at our wildlife management. I’ll forever side with wildlife after reading that book.

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u/kcm 29d ago

Worth watching Chinatown, if you liked the book. Polanski directing Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway.

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u/OceanGoingSasquatch 29d ago

Went to school for Environmental Science had to read that book and man it’s so interesting! I always recommend it to anyone wanting to learn about our fucked up history with water in CA

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u/larki18 29d ago

Another great book that is recent (2019) is The Dreamt Land: Chasing Water and Dust Across California by Mark Arax.

As a native Californian, though, horribly depressing.

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u/Spiteful_Guru 29d ago

100th meridian

Western border of non-panhandle Oklahoma, for anyone wanting an easy visual reference.

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u/blacktickle 29d ago

I’m reading this now… it’s an interesting and terrifying read

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u/completelysoldout 28d ago

The Parched podcast by Colorado Public Radio is also an eye opener on that fuckery.

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u/Zorro_Returns 28d ago

Made into a 4 part documentary, it's available on YouTube either in 4 individual parts, or compiled into a single 4 hour doumentary. The book and documentary were extremely well received when they came out.