An article in the L. A. Times indicates that there is perhaps one more year of water left in California's reservoirs and very little groundwater left to replace it. California produces an enormous percentage of the United States' fruit, vegetables, dairy, and rice -- what happens when agriculture in the state is no longer possible?
We request that the agricultural committees specifically address plans for securing America's food safety. One possibility would be to aid any California farmer wishing to move East, where the water supply is more reliable, to available fallow farmland or to farms whose owner who wishes to retire. Another would be to support existing East Coast efforts to produce fruits and vegetables. Bringing desert-agriculture experts from other countries to educate California's farmers and irrigation engineers might be a useful option. What is no longer a possibility is ignoring the disaster that is looming before us.
