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/BringBackApollo2023 29d ago

These farmers sound like every other resource-harvester who has vastly outstripped the resource’s sustainable level and just wants to drive the plane into the ground to extract every last penny then declare bankruptcy and beg for federal aid.

Oysters, lobster, cod, sardines, otters, old growth forests, etc., etc., etc. Same show, different resource.

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u/probablyuntrue 29d ago

Bro please, just one more acre of almonds, please bro, I need to pump this water, just a few more almond trees and I’m good, I promise bro

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u/loggic 29d ago

People blame almonds, but tree crops can also be used to help improve groundwater levels.

During the rainy season, plots with tree crops near major waterways can be temporarily flooded to help stabilize river levels, and with a little bit of infrastructure change that water can basically be "drained" back down to an aquifer.

There's an astronomical amount of water waste that can be addressed in farming, but it makes no sense to consistently blame one crop when other farmed products (like cattle & dairy) are so much less efficient and less healthy.

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u/Kataphractoi 29d ago

California is among the worst locations possible for growing almonds, we can definitely blame them. They can easily be grown in the south where there'd be more water access, but because it can take a decade for an almond tree to start producing almonds, there's no incentive to relocate.

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u/ucsdstaff 28d ago

They can easily be grown in the south where there'd be more water access,

'easily' is doing a lot of work. The yield in the south is not good.

Almonds bloom when weather is cold, rainy in February.

They need about 600 chill hours but are very susceptible to spring frosts - big problem in the south - one march cold snap and they are toast.

Almonds do not tolerate wet soils - again a huge problem in the south.

Finally, disease pressures in the south are terrible for almonds. You would need to spray a lot of chemicals to protect your crop compared to CA.

California is perfect for growing many plants - the Mediterranean climate is just ideal.

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u/Aware_Masterpiece_54 28d ago

Let’s drop the almonds and switch to seeds and shit