by Katy Grimes, E&E Legal Senior Media Fellow and California Globe Editor
As Appearing in the California Globe
Reservoirs were full to the top in 2019, with enough water to supply to all users for at least five years of drought, but no longer
The long time political dispute between California farmers and state and federal water regulators predates the latest drought and will continue long after, unless some political honesty takes place.
Most of the media and public officials paint California farmers and ranchers as the biggest water wasters in the state. Yet California’s farmers and ranchers have made huge strides in improving efficient water management over the years — it’s in their best interest to do so, not only economically, but to save and conserve natural resources. Farmers and ranchers are some of the best, most efficient and effective conservationists California has.
Yet California farms and businesses are starved of water year after year. Lawmakers and federal environmental regulators annually authorize billion gallons of water to flow out to the ocean, instead of being used for human consumption.
This is environmental extremism at its worst, and it is killing California agriculture.
