4 ms·
American-owned farms do the same thing. They get water for far cheaper than a residential household gets water, and so they are incentivized to waste it. Alfal
by lacker 4y ago
American-owned farms do the same thing. They get water for far cheaper than a residential household gets water, and so they are incentivized to waste it.
Alfalfa is a uniquely bad crop to grow in dry areas. It uses up a lot of water, and there's nothing special about alfalfa from the Western US - it goes to feed cows and there's plenty of other ways to feed cows.
There's no real reason to create laws specific to foreign-owned farmers, or alfalfa. Just make farmers pay the same amount for water as anyone else pays.
- refurb 4y agoThat sounds simple, but water rights, especially in the West can back further than it’s incorporation into the US. In the treaty that ended the Mexican American war, the US agreed to respect all Mexican land grants. Those grants are still enforced by US law. Of course with eminent domain the government might be able to seize water rights (i don’t know) but owners would need to be paid a fair cost for the loss of those rights.
- jdkee 4y agoThe laws and treaties and compacts governing water rights can be changed. They are not set for eternity in a stone tablet from the Creator, they are human constructions.
- supertrope 4y agoIrrigation water is not potable, it's not plumbed to the point of use, and no sewage treatment is needed afterward. There's definitely some perverse pricing of agriculture use due to the water rights legal framework (e.g. use it or lose it discourages water saving) but tap water and irrigation water are different commodities.