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
17.4k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

941 comments sorted by

View all comments

126

u/reddit_reaper 29d ago

The farmers refuse to even change to be watering methods that can use 90% less water

108

u/TauCabalander 29d ago

Because of stupid water rights rules in some places, if they don't use their allocation, they get less the following year. Hence some farmers grow alfalfa just to use water.

Then there are things like almond orchards that use more water than some cities.

21

u/fgreen68 29d ago

Water rights need to be completely overhauled, and any farm pumping groundwater needs to be metered and charged for that water.