Gov Brown recently announced a mandatory 25% reduction in urban water usage. Urban usage accounts for only 20% of water use in California, so overall this will reduce usage by 5% (25% of 20%).
Incredibly, Gov. Brown has exempted Agriculture from this mandate. This is politics at its worst.
Agriculture accounts for 80% of CA water use. We could achieve the same 5% overall reduction by requiring everyone, Urban and Agriculture to reduce usage by 5%. Or, better yet, we could reduce overall consumption by twice that by requiring everyone to cut back by 10% - a solution far less costly for homeowners and less destructive to our local community trees and shrubs, yet twice as beneficial for the future of our state.
There are plenty of ways to reduce agricultural water wastage without harming our food production.
Gov. Brown's decision to exempt agriculture is pure politics. The big corporate farm lobby is strong, water rights are a political hot potato, and Gov. Brown took the easy way out. While the governor should be commended for taking action to deal with the severe drought, it makes no sense to put all the burden on local communities, which account for only a small percentage of the overall problem.
Big Corporate Agriculture must be forced to clean up its wasteful ways!
