Gov. Brown & Agricultural Water
The Sacramento Bee reports Governor Brown has responded to complaints of California agriculture using 80% of the state's water. He acknowledges that if the drought continues the historic water rights that give agriculture so much water are "...probably going to be examined".
In the meantime, he's standing by his current policy. As he points out, "The farmers have fallowed hundreds of thousands of acres of land,” Brown said. “They’re pulling up vines and trees. Farmworkers who are at the very low end of the economic scale here are out of work.”.
Agreed. The farmers have taken a hit already. As for the water still being allocated to agriculture, he says, "Yeah, you bet it’s true. But by the way, they’re not watering their lawn or taking longer showers. They’re providing most of the fruits and vegetables of America.”
I'm no fan of Governor Brown, but I'm with him on this one.
posted by Fred Mangels @ 2:25 PM
7 comments
7 Comments:
Hardcore conservatives should come out against any form of government subsidized business. That includes farmers in the valley.
But isn't he telling you what to do? What is the difference between this and last week?
Isn't it just that you agree with one and don't with the other? Should libertarian's motto simply be, "you are not the boss of me"? Or "I do what I want.".
Perhaps the Gov should require all tourists to bring their own water with them when they enter the state.
Water is a public asset. I see no problem with government trying to allocate it properly when water runs short. Certainly it could get ugly as many, especially those on The Left, feel business is getting an unfair advantage.
But business means jobs, and people's livelihoods. There's nothing wrong with taking that into consideration. After all, as the Governor said, the big farms aren't taking long showers or watering big lawns. They're feeding the country.
It may come to the point we'll have to cut back even more on agriculture in this state. I don't have a problem with his approach so far.
On the other hand, Fred, they may be watering with overhead sprinklers rather than drip irrigation. That's something like taking long hot showers isn't it.
Eugene has a point. As long as Ag water is cheap, there is no incentive to improve practices. It might cist consumers more if they implemented water saving improvements but it would also level the playing field with organic farmers who typically are more circumspect about water usage.
My understanding is the industry as a whole is switching to more efficient watering, although it will certainly take time for everyone to do it. Time and lots of money. After all, some farmers aren't getting any water at all anymore.
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