The California Water Shortage
From
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2015/04/03/agriculture-is-80-percent-of-water-use-in-california-why-arent-farmers-being-forced-to-cut-back/
with
https://gvwire.com/2022/04/26/drought-ravaged-farmers-pay-up-to-2000-an-acre-foot-for-water/
and
https://www.kqed.org/science/1976510/central-valley-farmers-weigh-in-on-californias-historic-drought
we conclude the following:
There is no shortage of water in California.
What California has is a shortage of CHEAP water.
If you are willing to pay market rates, you can get all the water you want.
California has an ancient and unjust system of water allocation that basically states:
- • some people get water for free
- • some people have to pay for water
If all californians had to pay market rates, there would be way way LESS water usage and California’s water shortage would end.
Why?
- 1. The vast majority of California water is used for agriculture
- 2. Those agriculture users don’t pay market rates for their water.
- 3. There is no way that anyone could afford to grow almonds in California if they had to pay market rates for water.
- 4. If we reduced agriculture use by just 10%, every California household would have plenty of water.
- 5. Water can cost as little as $15 per acre foot if you’re a farmer and have the correct federal subsidy.
- 6. Water on the open market is going for $2,000 per acre foot.
- 7. California has a HUGE border with the Pacific. Why don't they use desalination plants to ease the water shortage? Desalinated water from the ocean can cost as much as $1,700 per acre foot. That’s not going to help the farmer who is used to paying $15. Yes, it’s cheaper than $2,000 but not cheap enough to help farmers.
- 8. As farmers point out, subsidies are necessary to have agriculture. Without water subsidies, many types of farming would end.
California has a subsidy and allocation problem that was created when California had high snow packs. Today, due to the climate disaster, California’s snowpack is much smaller. The snow is gone but the old programs encouraging farmers to use more water are still in effect!
The custom was this: If you dug a diversion — say, to irrigate a field — you were entitled to whatever water you carried off. By digging alone, you established a right to that water. It would then be illegal for someone to go upstream of you and divert all the water onto their property. In the West, the people who got there first got their water rights first.
Until those programs are changed to reflect the new climate disaster reality, California’s “water crisis” will continue.
No amount of water conservation
by homeowners
will put even a small dent
into the water shortage problem.
California is a $2 trillion economy. As many have pointed out, all the calls for urban water conservation are missing the target!
It is NOT fair to squeeze the cities
when farms consume 80 percent of the water
used in California, while generating
a mere 2% of California’s economic activity.
Putting farmers out of business, where farmers are allowed to consume all the state’s water at $15 per acre foot, is what it will take to solve California’s water problem.
Californians can have as much water as they want. They just have to pay $2,000 an acre foot for it.
They won’t pay that, so they have no water.
###