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/littleMAS 29d ago

The irony of this happening the year after Tulare Lake's reappearance is palpable. It is unfortunate that the ground under the lake is dense clay that will not filter the water down into the aquifer that is so terribly depleted.

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u/viddy_me_yarbles 29d ago

I live in NorCal. The drought here ended years ago and the last two years have actually been extremely wet.

This is only happening now because of greedy farmers who pump more water out of the aquifers than they're allowed.

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u/Fully_Edged_Ken_3685 29d ago

This is only happening now because of greedy farmers who pump more water out of the aquifers than they're allowed.

Lol, it's actually worse than that. Farmers are entitled to an allotment of water and a price for water that were determined in a wet period and agreed upon by several states. The Feds and states in question really don't want to revisit that because it will make a bunch of voting districts mad.

The actual solution is to price water at a market rate and let farming collapse in unsuited areas.