Today’s (6-12-15) curtailment order by the State Water Resources Control Board to shut off water supplies to pre-1914 users with permits that began in 1903 or later was not completely unexpected. However, this order demonstrates the seriousness of the current drought gripping our state and the damage being felt by rural communities. Today’s curtailment order comes […]
Recording artist Moby has a lot to say in Rolling Stone about the way California farmers grow food. We’re using this post to address six of his most egregious errors. 1. Moby says “very few of the things we do as humans actually create benefit for anyone.” Farmers use the water they have to do something […]
UPDATED 5-29-15 Assembly Member Rudy Salas (D-Bakersfield) has introduced AB 1201, a legislative bill that would require the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to develop and initiate a science-based approach that helps address predation by non-native species on Delta species. According to analysis prepared by Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee staff, the bill would accomplish […]
It takes water to grow food Are we really using too much water to grow food in California? The simple fact is that it takes water to grow food no matter where in the world you till the soil. Critics claim that the consumption of California farm products is somehow contributing to the drought. That […]
In May of 2015, almost 75% of farms had sustained cutbacks of 80% or more in water supplies. Learn more about the 2011-2017 California drought in this Drought Fact Sheet, dated May 26, 2015. [gview file=”https://farmwater.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/California-Agriculture-Drought-Fact-Sheet05262015.pdf”] 2011-2017 California Drought
There are far bigger issues affecting the Delta than water exports and returning to a time prior to Western development is unrealistic. To describe the Delta as altered is to say that New York City is populous or California water politics contentious. Since the 19th century when locals began to reclaim the marshlands, dike the […]
In April of 2015, farms in California had sustained multiple years of severely restricted water supplies, and went unmentioned in a declaration by Governor Brown requiring mandatory conservation among California’s urban water users. Recognizing the significant efforts by agriculture, Governor Brown rebuked attacks that he hadn’t asked enough from California’s farms and rural communities in […]
Water that grows farm products doesn’t stay on the farm. It becomes part of the food we eat and clothing we wear, making consumers the true end users of farm water. California farms consume 8.3 trillion gallons of water in a normal year but farmers aren’t using water frivolously on their lawns or taking long […]
Water that grows farm products doesn’t stay on the farm. Download the info graph here: https://farmwater.org/wheredoesitgo.pdf Plants need three things to grow: sunlight, soil…and water. Farmers depend on all three to grow hundreds of different crops right here in California. There’s no shortage of sunlight and soil… but four years of drought has caused deep cuts in […]