Precious water: Agribusiness must step up to conserve

The California storms that kicked off 2023, bringing flooding and record high snowpack, might seem enough to end a prolonged dry spell. But if history is our guide, we know that wet winters doesn’t always end a mega-drought.

We closed 2022 by declaring a drought emergency for all of Southern California and a new study revealed that Central Valley groundwater is being depleted much faster than previously thought.

If anyone made a New Year’s resolution to conserve water, it’s best to keep it. For that, a state conservation program that expanded its campaign in 2022 has some tips.

It’s time for an honest discussion about holding agricultural corporations accountable for their bad water habits.

Using TikTok videos and bus stop posters, Save Our Water has been promoting ways for people to reduce water use. The message is that we should turn off the taps while brushing our teeth and take five-minute showers.

These tips might come in handy but like the latest storms, they’re not going to lift us out of a mega-drought.

Water users are very different across the state, with agriculture accounting for 80% of California’s water use. If the average household is expected to conserve, shouldn’t we also demand Big Ag make a New Year’s resolution of its own?

As the Golden State wrestles with how to adapt to hotter and drier conditions and be more climate resilient, it’s time for an honest discussion about holding agricultural corporations accountable for their bad water habits.

There’s good reason why the dairy industry, almonds, alfalfa and other water-intensive crops are blamed. Lucrative crops drain California of a precious resource and then get shipped overseas, bringing huge profits to corporate agribusinesses.

In 2019 more than 60% of almonds harvested in the state were sent to be sold abroad, which is akin to exporting 910 billion gallons of water. To maintain California’s dairy cows, it takes an estimated 142 million gallons of water per day, according to Food & Water Watch.

Sacramento should rein in corporate agriculture and put an end to new plantings of almond and other water-intensive crops.

Industrial agriculture likes to claim that it’s putting that water to good use by feeding the world, but the numbers show a very different outcome. The reality is that these corporate outfits are draining a natural resource in the middle of a climate crisis at the expense of small farms and rural communities.

Many unincorporated and low-income communities depend on municipal wells, but they are left bone dry thanks to Big Ag overdrafting other nearby wells. Nearly two-thirds of groundwater wells are operating at below-normal levels across the state.

Sacramento should rein in corporate agriculture and put an end to new plantings of almond and other water-intensive crops. Instead, the state continues subsidizing the industry by over-promising water allocations and supporting expensive infrastructure projects that destroy California’s natural ecosystems.

Water storage projects come with lofty promises, but they cost the public billions and only increase the availability of water for unsustainable uses. Tunnels, dams and reservoirs siphon water from Northern California to benefit corporate farms in the Central Valley.

Conservation demands should be commensurate with the level of water use, and Big Ag continues to be the biggest offender.

That money would be much better spent on infrastructure that expands water recycling and captures stormwater. More incentives for households to rip out their lawns and replace appliances with more efficient models can also go a long way.

There are plenty of reminders for the average person to cut back, but lawmakers and water district officials need reminding, too. Water is a public right, but too often it’s wrongly treated as a commodity. In times of scarcity, like now, it’s even more important to ensure that water management policies guarantee access to water for people, not corporations.

All of us can and should scale back our water use in 2023. But conservation demands should be commensurate with the level of water use, and Big Ag continues to be the biggest offender.

If California keeps rewarding the most wasteful, it’ll be hard to take any water-saving tips seriously.
—
Editor’s Note: Elizabeth Reid-Wainscoat is a campaigner for the Center for Biological Diversity.