5 ms·

Residential water use is about 10-15% of total water use in the state. Agriculture and industry uses about 85%. The two biggest line-items are cows (and alfalf

Residential water use is about 10-15% of total water use in the state. Agriculture and industry uses about 85%. The two biggest line-items are cows (and alfalfa) and almonds. 50% of the water in the Colorado River Basin is ised for cows in some way (drinking, raising alfalfa). If we could just buy out the almond industry that would be a big chunk right there. If we as a society could eat less beef and drink less milk we'd have a lot more water to use.

lacker 5y ago
If we could just buy out the almond industry That is true but I think in practice it is too weird to buy out the almond industry. It would be easier to simply start taxing agriculture more money per water used. At some point that would mean that almond farmers and alfalfa farmers would have to plant new crops. Obviously this would be politically controversial, but I think at this point any solution will be. It's great that California can produce so much food. Even if we had to give up alfalfa and almonds, California would still have farming as a core part of its identity.
- bushbaba 5y ago
  If anything it’d raise the cost of almonds. Might not reduce almond demand much. All depends the magnitude of the tax. Also is a tax really the best approach? I’d rather see an auction so that the water goes the most economically useful activity. Similar to the spectrum auctions.
  - kansface 5y ago
    I don’t think the state has the legal authority to auction off established water rights, some of which likely predate the existence of the state.
    - coryrc 5y ago
      Time for eminent domain.
  - jefurii 5y ago
    Fifteen or twenty years ago most people had never even heard about almond milk. It got popular because of an intense marketing campaign. So what if it raises the cost of almonds? That would get people to stop doing something stupid like using a huge amount of water in a state that really doesn't have enough.
- jefurii 5y ago
  The government pays farmers not to grow crops all the time. In the past we've done it to raise the cost of corn in order to shut Mexican farmers out of the market. We can totally do this if we choose to. I grew up in the Central Valley. The places that currently have almond orchards used to be mostly cotton fields. Almonds are far more water-intensive than any other crop in the Valley. Fruit orchards, vegetable farms, and cotton use far less water.
hedora 5y ago
Almond growers claim almond milk is much less water intensive than cow milk. Cows can live in a wider climate range than almonds. Cutting the cow industry's irrigation water off probably makes more sense.
- jefurii 5y ago
  Yep, dairy is the real big gorilla here, and the biggest line item on the state's water budget.

lacker 5y ago

If we could just buy out the almond industry That is true but I think in practice it is too weird to buy out the almond industry. It would be easier to simply start taxing agriculture more money per water used. At some point that would mean that almond farmers and alfalfa farmers would have to plant new crops. Obviously this would be politically controversial, but I think at this point any solution will be. It's great that California can produce so much food. Even if we had to give up alfalfa and almonds, California would still have farming as a core part of its identity.

bushbaba 5y ago
If anything it’d raise the cost of almonds. Might not reduce almond demand much. All depends the magnitude of the tax. Also is a tax really the best approach? I’d rather see an auction so that the water goes the most economically useful activity. Similar to the spectrum auctions.
- kansface 5y ago
  I don’t think the state has the legal authority to auction off established water rights, some of which likely predate the existence of the state.
  - coryrc 5y ago
    Time for eminent domain.
- jefurii 5y ago
  Fifteen or twenty years ago most people had never even heard about almond milk. It got popular because of an intense marketing campaign. So what if it raises the cost of almonds? That would get people to stop doing something stupid like using a huge amount of water in a state that really doesn't have enough.
jefurii 5y ago
The government pays farmers not to grow crops all the time. In the past we've done it to raise the cost of corn in order to shut Mexican farmers out of the market. We can totally do this if we choose to. I grew up in the Central Valley. The places that currently have almond orchards used to be mostly cotton fields. Almonds are far more water-intensive than any other crop in the Valley. Fruit orchards, vegetable farms, and cotton use far less water.

hedora 5y ago

Almond growers claim almond milk is much less water intensive than cow milk. Cows can live in a wider climate range than almonds. Cutting the cow industry's irrigation water off probably makes more sense.

jefurii 5y ago
Yep, dairy is the real big gorilla here, and the biggest line item on the state's water budget.