California drying up right before your eyes...

[progree]

17. True. But Calif. ag water use is unsustainable. And attitudes have got to change

This article focuses on almonds -- that take 1 gallon per almond to produce -- and feeds a growing demand in Asia... (which uses 1.07 trillion gallons/year to grow in California)

In all, agriculture uses 80 percent of the water that Californians draw from groundwater and surface supplies but produces just 1.5 percent of the state's gross domestic product, noted Christopher Thornberg, an economist who has served as

Continuing strong prices have some California growers rushing to plant still more trees. In a U.S. Department of Agriculture survey for 2014, 77 percent of state almond farmers polled said they intended to put in new almond acreage despite the drought.

The governor and his cabinet secretaries defend almonds as a high-value crop.

"We're going to try to maximize all beneficial uses, not pick one we like better than the others," said Felicia Marcus, head of the state Water Resources Control Board.

Any talk of curbing almond growing by big investment firms "really just gets to be kind of un-American," said Wenger, the head of the state Farm Bureau

More, much more http://news.yahoo.com/almonds-roasted-debate-over-california-water-143908562.html

The reason its unsustainable is that even before the drought, water was being pumped unsustainably from the ground, and groundwater levels have been going down for decades before the drought. Even during wet years, ground water is being drawn down.

What is especially frightening is the attitude of leaving it up to the glorious free market, in other words, if its profitable, who gives a fuck how much water is used -- see bold above, which apparently includes Governor Jerry Brown

Almonds aren't even the biggest sponges when it comes to water-thirsty crops in semi-arid California — that would be the state's million acres of alfalfa, which go to feed livestock. Alfalfa uses 1.35 trillion gallons / year.

Something HAS to change soon. Even if the drought ends and we average historically normal water years from now on.