Exporting Californina's Water

I like this little creek that flows in the vale behind our house.  No, it's not the prettiest but it provides habitat for a variety of wildlife.  Quail, pheasants, raptors and many other birds make their home here.  Coyotes and bobcats find sustenance from the rabbits and voles that live here.  While the stream is natural, the flow is not.  It is managed to provide irrigation water for the rice fields father west.  Is that a problem?  Maybe, maybe not, it depends on your point of view

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California is in a drought, homeowners are asked to conserve water and many of us do.  I use a minimum  of detergent when I wash clothes or dishes and collect the water to use on the garden.  No lawn for us, much of the landscaping produces fruit and vegetables and that which doesn't gets little water other than rain.

That irrigation water flowing behind my house mostly goes to grow rice and most of that rice is exported.  In fact, most of what California grows is exported.  Farmers choose crops for profit (it just makes economic sense) and not for what is needed here at home.  I'm not sure how I feel about that, the world needs to be fed and it is good that we have a surplus of food but perhaps there are less water intensive crops that can be grown.

Rice is only part of the problem, though.  There are other water intensive crops grown in California that do not feed people.  Alfalfa is a very water intensive crop and much of the alfalfa grown in California is sent to China.

Another water intensive crop, even more problematic is cotton grown in the San Joaquin  Valley.  I don't know whether to laugh or cry each time I see a cotton wagon covered with a sign saying "food grows where water flows".

Water is a complex and controversial subject in the west.  Streams that once flowed abundantly and freely are now diverted to agriculture so little water remains to reach the delta.  Aquifers are being drawn down at an alarming rate to grow almonds and other crops for export.  Our water laws were written for a simpler time, a time when water seemed abundant and few cared about the future of the environment or our ability to feed a growing world population.

Don't think I am maligning the family trying to make a living off the land.  Much of California's farms are owned by large conglomerates or hedge funds.  Unlike traditional farmers they don't take a long view, they will draw down the water table, take their profits and leave a dust bowl behind.

While I don't agree with all of the positions of the California Water Impact Project, they do have a lot of information on their site for those interested in the subject.

More information about water and agriculture can be found here.

My Wet World

After a few early storms last fall, California has seen little rain.  A chart of the water content in the Sierra snow pack has been very like that of the exceptional drought of 1976-77.

Things are looking up, though.

A week of rain, over three inches in my yard, and several feet of snow in the Sierra.

 

It is far less than what we need but with more in the forecast we have hope.

California has some of the nations most productive farmland.  On the back roads of California's central valley one sees mile after mile of orchards, vineyards, corn, rice, tomatoes and cotton.  Farmers have been wondering just how much their water allotment will be cut,  will they have enough water to grow a crop?  This is not dry-land farming, with no summer rains California depends on the Sierra snow pack for water.

For those of us not in agriculture, our big worry is the fire danger brought on by drought.

So we listen avidly to the weather forecast and watch the sky, hoping for at least six more inches of precipitation.

That's the news from my part of our world, to see other views, go to That's Our World, Tuesday, hosted for us by Arija, Gattina, Lady Fi, Sylvia and Sandy.

Whats Wrong with California

Howard Jarvis. That's what's wrong with California!

I know, Howard Jarvis is dead but unfortunately his legacy lives on. Jarvis and his followers managed to convince the good citizens of California that taxes are bad and government is evil. Nothing could be further from the truth. I will admit that in the days of the infamous “prop 13” property taxes had gotten out of hand. The solution was extreme and they continue with the “no new taxes” litany oblivious to the consequences.

We need government.

We need it to build roads and patrol them. We need it to supervise industry and yes even our financial institutions, to protect our water, our air, our food.

We need good schools we can’t all afford to send our children to private schools.

We need a social safety net in case we lose our jobs and health insurance (hard to believe that that could happen). We need Medi-Cal to care for the indigent elderly who have lost their life savings or never earned enough to provide for their old age.

We need CalOSHSA to protect our safety at work.

We need government to license drivers to make sure they are competent and insured.

We need courts to protect our person, our rights and even our wealth and our ability to see it passed to those we choose after our death.

Californians are a caring and generous people who have passed many initiatives for what the majority has believed to be worthwhile programs. Unfortunately, a minority blocks the ability of the state to pay for these programs. No one likes to pay taxes but the alternative is disaster. We are not selfish, we are not greedy, but we have been sold a “bill of goods” by those who are. It is time to tell those who worship at the altar of Howard Jarvis to go away. They are not looking out for the interests of California.

It was never my intention that this be a political blog. I would rather show what is wonderful and beautiful about my home state and even occasionally other parts of this great county. But I am getting increasingly frustrated and I wanted to vent.