On April 1, when California Governor Brown issued mandatory water restrictions for urban users he warned that he might have to consider cuts to agriculture in the future as well. Well, that future has come sooner rather than later and Think Progress/Climate has the story that Governor Brown will announce strict mandatory water cuts to agriculture today.
“The very fact that we’re beginning to have a conversation about water rights is an indication of how serious the drought is,” Peter Gleick, president and co-founder of the Pacific Institute, told ThinkProgress. “It’s really an unusual move. I would not have guessed a year ago that we would start to have this conversation.”
It's a
Water War because many being asked to restrict use have already committed to fighting the new restrictions.
Felicia Marcus, the chairwoman of the state Water Resources Control Board, announced the decision at a public meeting Wednesday. "It's about figuring out how to make terrible choices in the most fair and equitable way possible," she said. The affected farmers have already vowed to challenge the decision in court, saying any restriction of senior rights amounts to a “water war.”
[...]
The drought, California’s worst in a millennium, is starting to feel more and more like an emergency. And what’s becoming increasingly clear is that California’s water use will never again be the same. “This crisis is an opportunity to accelerate what we know we are going to have to do under climate change anyway,” Marcus said in April.
I've
written about California's opportunity to make the necessary changes in responding to this crisis. Looks like California is finally facing reality. The solutions lie within the agriculture sector as it's responsible for more than 80% of California's water consumption.
Transitioning their agriculture sector to be sustainable will not be pretty and will take some time but it is essential if we are to adapt our food system to the new reality of climate change.