The Politics of Water

Think all of the politicians, businesses + residents of California are working together to conserve water for the benefit of the State?  You are wrong.  This investigative story by the New York Times reveals what is going on behind the scene at California’s largest and most powerful water district.  The facts of how much water gets used by farmers to grow crops that then get shipped out of state or overseas is a distressing issue that must be brought forward for the residents of the State to know and understand, to discuss and debate and how this resource is distributed.  It should not be done behind closed doors by a wealthy quasi-public agency hiring lobbyists and marketing companies producing ads and videos trying to tug at the emotions of the populous.  The fact that so much water goes to such a small percentage of the State’s residents and results in such a minimal return on investment in perspective to the overall State GDP, and then in turn creates major environmental impacts that has wreaked havoc on the State for over 50 years and has now been negotiated away and will fester into eternity is not fair or equal.  The Westlands Water District needs to be reeled in and held accountable for their actions, not supported for stealing water rights at subsidized rates.

Farmers Try Political Force to Twist Open California’s Taps from New York Times.

Irrigation Runoff as Toxic Waste  California Water Impact Network, January, 2012