California Agriculture Water Use

Water use in California is mostly agriculture. Almond, rice, and hay production in California is going to stop. Rice and hay can come from elsewhere. Almonds are almost entirely from California, and they come from trees, so no place else can pick up the demand quickly.

Regarding California in particular, there is actually plenty of water for the residents. About 80-90% of usable water is used for agriculture, and the majority of that produce is exported from California to other countries and states. For example, all around the capital of Sacramento there are 1000's of acres of rice fields. About half the rice is exported to Asia. Appx 8% or so of California water is used in and around homes, including landscaping.It takes a gallon of water to grow a si

Your concern is spot on, and it's not even specific to California. Nevada and Arizona also consume far more water with farming than all urban uses combined. Cutting back on swimming pools or lawns or whatever is fine, but it's literally a rounding error compared to the water consumed by farming. Nothing else will matter if we keep growing water intensive crops in the desert.

YepHere's some statshttps://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/specialsections/these-...

I wouldnt say drying up but not refilling up but, yeah, otherwise, california is the garden, fruit, non-wheat bread basket of most the country. This water was being used to build wealth among a small group of farmers that sent the food out of state. I say cut it off.

Here's an alternative idea: stop growing crap in the desert. The number #1 water usage in Cali is agriculture. I think we could survive without baby spinach during the winter.

california has plenty of water for the people here, we do not have plenty of water to grow almonds and alfalfa in millions of acres in the central valley. Agriculture is like 80% of all CA water usage. If you include golf courses and lawns in that, it bumps it up to ~95%.

Probably not. Agriculture in the western US relies on irrigation due to water scarcity, but places like Iowa have the opposite problem. They actually shunt water off of their fields. Also, losses of agricultural water due to evapotranspiration are higher in CA than in a state like WA due to the hotter, drier climate in CA.

It's not inane. Look up how much of California's water is exported to other countries in the form of agriculture products.See: China's consumption of the California almond crop.

Efficient by what metric? Calories? Weight? Profitability?The problem is that due to the system of water rights and allocations, California is effectively subsidizing Saudi Arabia by selling water to local farmers at below market rates. Thus we have a water shortage which impacts everyone while benefiting only a tiny number of farmers.<a href="https://www.desertsun.com/story/opinion/contributors/valley-voice/2023/02/05/growing-alfalfa-in-im