Central Valley farmers are in this predicament because they spent the last 20 years railing against climate change instead of implementing water-saving techniques for the megadrought that everyone knew was coming.
While residents have cut back on their water use by 50% or more in SoCal, Central Valley farmers increased their water use over the past 2 decades. Agriculture now represents 80%+ of the water use in CA, but only about 3% of its economy.
If they were growing food with all that water, people might give a damn. But they're not; they're growing alfalfa for export to feed pigs and livestock in other countries that are smart enough not to waste their water on feed crops.
While residents have cut back on their water use by 50% or more in SoCal, Central Valley farmers increased their water use over the past 2 decades. Agriculture now represents 80%+ of the water use in CA, but only about 3% of its economy.
If they were growing food with all that water, people might give a damn. But they're not; they're growing alfalfa for export to feed pigs and livestock in other countries that are smart enough not to waste their water on feed crops.