California prepares for historic mandatory cutbacks on water

[MineralMan]

13. That part of Ventura County grows less and less

citrus and avocados each year. It's not a good business any longer, due to increasing costs. So, many of the old citrus ranches have been converted into other types of farming. Mostly row crops. Trouble is that those row crops require even more irrigation than the citrus that has been grown there for 100 years. So, that change won't continue, if the drought continues.

The town my parents live in is just a 40 minute drive from the San Fernando Valley, and development is already underway. It's population is three times it was when I grew up there, and it's becoming an L.A. commuter suburb. The housing developments are creeping up Hwy 126 steadily toward this little farming town, and developments are being built in it, as well. Big L.A. style developments. If it weren't for the agricultural zoning and preserves, it would already have become a residential suburb in toto. Once agriculture is no longer economically feasible, the conversion will happen fast. The four-lane road heading to I-5 is already in place, and can become an 8-lane freeway very quickly, if the suburbanization occurs, which it will.

Once my parents are gone, I will probably never visit my old home town again. My two siblings still live there, but they'll leave shortly after my parents are no longer alive. I live in Minnesota now, in a major city. That suits me just fine. I moved away from my home town when I turned 18. It wasn't where I wanted to live. Soon, it won't be a place most of its long-time residents want to live. Oh, well, I guess. This water thing and the drought will just accelerate the inevitable.