Faced with a severe drought, California enacted mandatory water conservation rules in early April for the first time in the state’s history. But the agriculture industry — which consumes 80 percent of the state’s water — was exempt from the new restrictions.
The drought has caused surface water sources such as reservoirs, rivers, and streams to dry up. Consumers have increasingly turned to groundwater supplies, putting an enormous strain on the state’s aquifers. Drilling companies are punching so many holes in the ground that the number of requests for new wells in one recent week surpassed the entire total for some previous years, when water was plentiful.
VICE News went to California to witness the proliferation of water-intensive crops, and to find out why the industry that consumes the overwhelming majority of the state’s water has continued to operate during the historic drought.
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11 Comments
eric3579*promote
siftbotPromoting this video and sending it back into the queue for one more try; last queued Wednesday, September 9th, 2015 11:32am PDT - promote requested by eric3579.
Mordhauswell at least the county is appropriately named YOLO
Mordhaus*promote charging a heavy water usage fee for non-drought resistant crops, assuming we can get the vote for pay legislators to understand science. most of these legislators bitch and moan about global warming effects and they vote for shit like this.
siftbotPromoting this video and sending it back into the queue for one more try; last queued Wednesday, September 9th, 2015 12:04pm PDT - promote requested by Mordhaus.
song77How can they determine that its the worst drought in 1200 years?
Mordhaustree ring and soil data
http://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/californias-drought-worst-1-200-years-researchers-say-n262621
ELeesays...The water rules are being fixed (yea!) ..in 2040 (WTF?!?)
(We are *so* screwed.) :-(
shagen454On top of that, water bottling companies be stealin' our shite, straight up Chinatown.
http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/08/bottled-water-california-drought
XaielaoCalifornia farms do not use 80% of the states water. You hear that a lot in the media but it's a false statistic. The real number is more like 40%.
newtboyPerhaps true, but only if you count ALL the water in the state, including the water that makes rivers, streams, and lakes. If you are counting only the water used by humans, the 80% number is pretty close, but actually slightly low.
California farms do not use 80% of the states water. You hear that a lot in the media but it's a false statistic. The real number is more like 40%.
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