The question for all of us is how to best use our water supply to benefit everyone. The state and federal governments have responded to that question by providing farmers with little, or in many cases zero water. We strongly believe that providing a healthy, safe, affordable food supply is a great benefit to all of us.
If you’ve bought into the argument that only using water for domestic and ecosystem purposes solves our problems, or the fantasy that what California grows can simply be grown elsewhere, I’ve got a bridge to sell you.
So, yes, farmers are sometimes taking drastic steps to ensure they can grow the diverse list of food products we all shop for. There are ways to provide the water needed for farms, people and the environment, and that means spending dedicated dollars on updating our water infrastructure.
California’s water infrastructure needs to be updated
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In summary
How do we use our water supply to benefit everyone? By providing a safe, healthy, affordable food supply.
By Mike Wade, Sacramento
Mike Wade is the executive director of the California Farm Water Coalition.
Re “Drought has big impacts on California agriculture“; Commentary, Dan Walters, Nov. 30, 2021
The question for all of us is how to best use our water supply to benefit everyone. The state and federal governments have responded to that question by providing farmers with little, or in many cases zero water. We strongly believe that providing a healthy, safe, affordable food supply is a great benefit to all of us.
If you’ve bought into the argument that only using water for domestic and ecosystem purposes solves our problems, or the fantasy that what California grows can simply be grown elsewhere, I’ve got a bridge to sell you.
So, yes, farmers are sometimes taking drastic steps to ensure they can grow the diverse list of food products we all shop for. There are ways to provide the water needed for farms, people and the environment, and that means spending dedicated dollars on updating our water infrastructure.
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