YOU’RE WORRIED ABOUT NESTLÉ, WHEN 80% of CALIFORNIA’S WATER SUPPLY IS GOING TO AGRICULTURE? 10% of it to grow almonds, CA’s new growth industry? 15% to grow alfafa, much of which is exported to other countries?
Wanna know what 80% of California’s water is actually used for?
That’s right, our produce department. Cities run on food, so it’s not like we can drop it (but cutting back on almonds and pistachios and other luxury crops may help). Notice that it takes over a gallon of water to make a single almond.
Those towns and districts in the north (Central Valley) where the water supply has or is running out? Big ag heartland of California. Here’s photos of one of those towns.
That gallon of almond milk you’re drinking? Took 23 gallons to produce. A cup of Greek yogurt takes 90 gallons. Plain old milk took 30. And then there’s beef, which requires over a thousand gallons of water per pound. (In n Out, that’s what it’s all about.) Plus, of course, the fracking industry is making things worse by consuming millions of gallons of fresh water a day and then illegally poisoning aquifers with their waste, but, much as I want fracking shut down, almonds use more water.
Governor Brown did what he could to wheel, deal, and conserve water in urban areas, but it’s only now, over the protests of the agricultural lobby, that he’s been able to ram through groundwater-use legislation that applies to agriculture. But the timetable for “sustainable water use” isn’t until 2040. By that time it may be far, far too late. (And the new cutbacks to state water agencies to reduce water consumption by 25%, as usual, apply to business and residential customers, not farmers; they’re exempt.)
Yes, it’s bad that Nestlé with the Morongo Indians — blame it all on the Native Americans, amirite? — are bottling water in the southern part of the state, specifically the Coachella Valley, whose water supply is fine for now, although they’re sucking the teat of the Colorado River. But Morongo is not where wells are going dry. It’s over 600 miles from there to the Central Valley. Yes, I’ve been boycotting Nestlé products since the 80s, because of the old Formula scandal, so I don’t mind seeing them squirm. But let’s be realistic. If we shut down the Morongo bottling facility tomorrow, how much would it help with the drought? Not a hell of a lot. The millions-of-dollars agricultural lobby thanks you for shifting attention away from the bigger problem.
But the stinger is, California farming isn’t just big corporations exporting almonds, walnuts, pistachios, avocados and alfalfa to the rest of the U.S. and other countries. There’s also countless CA farmers whose wells are running dry, whose fields are lying fallow, who have adopted more water-conserving methods of farming, and who are living in a dust bowl right now. These are poor people in dire straits. They need help too. Some help is coming, but not fast enough.
By the way, if anyone is interested in keeping up with links to and analysis of the American West’s water news, I strongly recommend scientist John Fleck’s Blog.
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