Agricultural water rate?

[peterb]

CA govt gives away water to agribusiness

[DWCAP]

Alfalfa uses 20% of the states irrigation water. When the numbers are run, alfalfa by itself is something like .1% of the AG economic production in the state, and it uses 20% of the water. It is true, and it is amazing that so much water goes to support a crop with such a low value.

Having said that, what do we use alfalfa for?

-cattle
-dairy cattle
-horses
-sheep

This part of the equation often gets left out. CA is the largest dairy state in the nation. It produces billions of dollars of economic activity. But it is also the base product to feed cows to make milk to drink or turn in to cheese, or yogurt, both of which need large, labor intensive production plants which employe alot of people and make the state alot of money.

What do you think your steak or burger use to eat? (other than grain)

How much money does Del Mar and the race horses make? Add in all the breeding, the vet bills, the transportation, housing, etc. and you get a pretty penny or two. Guess what those horses eat? (other than grain.)

Where do you think the wool for your suit came from? (we could replace it with Cotton, but guess what crop also sucks up huge amounts of CA water?)

We can fix our water problem, but not as easily as is being suggested. CA is the true bread basket of the nation outside of a few crops like corn, soybeans and wheat. If you want to see food inflation, take away CA farmers water. Alfalfa is a feed stuff for the whole food industry, which is huge in CA.

[DWCAP]

Alfalfa uses 20% of the states irrigation water. When the numbers are run, alfalfa by itself is something like .1% of the AG economic production in the state, and it uses 20% of the water. It is true, and it is amazing that so much water goes to support a crop with such a low value.

Having said that, what do we use alfalfa for?

-cattle
-dairy cattle
-horses
-sheep

This part of the equation often gets left out. CA is the largest dairy state in the nation. It produces billions of dollars of economic activity. But it is also the base product to feed cows to make milk to drink or turn in to cheese, or yogurt, both of which need large, labor intensive production plants which employe alot of people and make the state alot of money.

What do you think your steak or burger use to eat? (other than grain)

How much money does Del Mar and the race horses make? Add in all the breeding, the vet bills, the transportation, housing, etc. and you get a pretty penny or two. Guess what those horses eat? (other than grain.)

Where do you think the wool for your suit came from? (we could replace it with Cotton, but guess what crop also sucks up huge amounts of CA water?)

We can fix our water problem, but not as easily as is being suggested. CA is the true bread basket of the nation outside of a few crops like corn, soybeans and wheat. If you want to see food inflation, take away CA farmers water. Alfalfa is a feed stuff for the whole food industry, which is huge in CA.

[DWCAP]

Alfalfa uses 20% of the states irrigation water. When the numbers are run, alfalfa by itself is something like .1% of the AG economic production in the state, and it uses 20% of the water. It is true, and it is amazing that so much water goes to support a crop with such a low value.

Having said that, what do we use alfalfa for?

-cattle
-dairy cattle
-horses
-sheep

This part of the equation often gets left out. CA is the largest dairy state in the nation. It produces billions of dollars of economic activity. But it is also the base product to feed cows to make milk to drink or turn in to cheese, or yogurt, both of which need large, labor intensive production plants which employe alot of people and make the state alot of money.

What do you think your steak or burger use to eat? (other than grain)

How much money does Del Mar and the race horses make? Add in all the breeding, the vet bills, the transportation, housing, etc. and you get a pretty penny or two. Guess what those horses eat? (other than grain.)

Where do you think the wool for your suit came from? (we could replace it with Cotton, but guess what crop also sucks up huge amounts of CA water?)

We can fix our water problem, but not as easily as is being suggested. CA is the true bread basket of the nation outside of a few crops like corn, soybeans and wheat. If you want to see food inflation, take away CA farmers water. Alfalfa is a feed stuff for the whole food industry, which is huge in CA.

[DWCAP]

Alfalfa uses 20% of the states irrigation water. When the numbers are run, alfalfa by itself is something like .1% of the AG economic production in the state, and it uses 20% of the water. It is true, and it is amazing that so much water goes to support a crop with such a low value.

Having said that, what do we use alfalfa for?

-cattle
-dairy cattle
-horses
-sheep

This part of the equation often gets left out. CA is the largest dairy state in the nation. It produces billions of dollars of economic activity. But it is also the base product to feed cows to make milk to drink or turn in to cheese, or yogurt, both of which need large, labor intensive production plants which employe alot of people and make the state alot of money.

What do you think your steak or burger use to eat? (other than grain)

How much money does Del Mar and the race horses make? Add in all the breeding, the vet bills, the transportation, housing, etc. and you get a pretty penny or two. Guess what those horses eat? (other than grain.)

Where do you think the wool for your suit came from? (we could replace it with Cotton, but guess what crop also sucks up huge amounts of CA water?)

We can fix our water problem, but not as easily as is being suggested. CA is the true bread basket of the nation outside of a few crops like corn, soybeans and wheat. If you want to see food inflation, take away CA farmers water. Alfalfa is a feed stuff for the whole food industry, which is huge in CA.

[DWCAP]

Alfalfa uses 20% of the states irrigation water. When the numbers are run, alfalfa by itself is something like .1% of the AG economic production in the state, and it uses 20% of the water. It is true, and it is amazing that so much water goes to support a crop with such a low value.

Having said that, what do we use alfalfa for?

-cattle
-dairy cattle
-horses
-sheep

This part of the equation often gets left out. CA is the largest dairy state in the nation. It produces billions of dollars of economic activity. But it is also the base product to feed cows to make milk to drink or turn in to cheese, or yogurt, both of which need large, labor intensive production plants which employe alot of people and make the state alot of money.

What do you think your steak or burger use to eat? (other than grain)

How much money does Del Mar and the race horses make? Add in all the breeding, the vet bills, the transportation, housing, etc. and you get a pretty penny or two. Guess what those horses eat? (other than grain.)

Where do you think the wool for your suit came from? (we could replace it with Cotton, but guess what crop also sucks up huge amounts of CA water?)

We can fix our water problem, but not as easily as is being suggested. CA is the true bread basket of the nation outside of a few crops like corn, soybeans and wheat. If you want to see food inflation, take away CA farmers water. Alfalfa is a feed stuff for the whole food industry, which is huge in CA.

[DWCAP]

[quote=esmith]if they are not done properly there are serious health risks. The water cannot be airborne and there are a litany of safety measures to put in.

Would it be safe and healthy to sit on that grass, or eat vegetables that were watered with gray water? If not, it mostly defeats reasons to have the lawn in the first place.

Agribusiness uses over 80% of CA’s water consumption. Of that, Cotton,rice and alphalfa take the lions share.

Shocking if true. Why would we grow such a water-intensive crop as rice in CA?[/quote]

1st, grey water is fine if you treat it right. So, you took a shower, washed your self with some shampoo, and then used the water to water your grass. And suddenly it isnt safe to sit on grass watered with what you washed off yourself?
Food is alittle more tricky, since you will be ingesting it, but the majority of residental water is used outside, and the vast majority of that is used for lawns. The few who have gardens could still water with pottable water and wed fix any water problems.

2nd. I can use the same argument about rice about lawns. “Why should we be growing water hungry grass lawns in CA?” At least growing rice gives us food stuffs and economic output. What does your lawn do for the state?(Please dont mistake this for support of rice, or alfalfa for that matter. But this isnt as simple as many want it to be. Everyone has benifited from the era of cheap water. We need to make some hard decisions, and not just blaim everyone else because we dont think it will affect us.)

[DWCAP]

[quote=esmith]if they are not done properly there are serious health risks. The water cannot be airborne and there are a litany of safety measures to put in.

Would it be safe and healthy to sit on that grass, or eat vegetables that were watered with gray water? If not, it mostly defeats reasons to have the lawn in the first place.

Agribusiness uses over 80% of CA’s water consumption. Of that, Cotton,rice and alphalfa take the lions share.

Shocking if true. Why would we grow such a water-intensive crop as rice in CA?[/quote]

1st, grey water is fine if you treat it right. So, you took a shower, washed your self with some shampoo, and then used the water to water your grass. And suddenly it isnt safe to sit on grass watered with what you washed off yourself?
Food is alittle more tricky, since you will be ingesting it, but the majority of residental water is used outside, and the vast majority of that is used for lawns. The few who have gardens could still water with pottable water and wed fix any water problems.

2nd. I can use the same argument about rice about lawns. “Why should we be growing water hungry grass lawns in CA?” At least growing rice gives us food stuffs and economic output. What does your lawn do for the state?(Please dont mistake this for support of rice, or alfalfa for that matter. But this isnt as simple as many want it to be. Everyone has benifited from the era of cheap water. We need to make some hard decisions, and not just blaim everyone else because we dont think it will affect us.)

[DWCAP]

[quote=esmith]if they are not done properly there are serious health risks. The water cannot be airborne and there are a litany of safety measures to put in.

Would it be safe and healthy to sit on that grass, or eat vegetables that were watered with gray water? If not, it mostly defeats reasons to have the lawn in the first place.

Agribusiness uses over 80% of CA’s water consumption. Of that, Cotton,rice and alphalfa take the lions share.

Shocking if true. Why would we grow such a water-intensive crop as rice in CA?[/quote]

1st, grey water is fine if you treat it right. So, you took a shower, washed your self with some shampoo, and then used the water to water your grass. And suddenly it isnt safe to sit on grass watered with what you washed off yourself?
Food is alittle more tricky, since you will be ingesting it, but the majority of residental water is used outside, and the vast majority of that is used for lawns. The few who have gardens could still water with pottable water and wed fix any water problems.

2nd. I can use the same argument about rice about lawns. “Why should we be growing water hungry grass lawns in CA?” At least growing rice gives us food stuffs and economic output. What does your lawn do for the state?(Please dont mistake this for support of rice, or alfalfa for that matter. But this isnt as simple as many want it to be. Everyone has benifited from the era of cheap water. We need to make some hard decisions, and not just blaim everyone else because we dont think it will affect us.)

[DWCAP]

[quote=esmith]if they are not done properly there are serious health risks. The water cannot be airborne and there are a litany of safety measures to put in.

Would it be safe and healthy to sit on that grass, or eat vegetables that were watered with gray water? If not, it mostly defeats reasons to have the lawn in the first place.

Agribusiness uses over 80% of CA’s water consumption. Of that, Cotton,rice and alphalfa take the lions share.

Shocking if true. Why would we grow such a water-intensive crop as rice in CA?[/quote]

1st, grey water is fine if you treat it right. So, you took a shower, washed your self with some shampoo, and then used the water to water your grass. And suddenly it isnt safe to sit on grass watered with what you washed off yourself?
Food is alittle more tricky, since you will be ingesting it, but the majority of residental water is used outside, and the vast majority of that is used for lawns. The few who have gardens could still water with pottable water and wed fix any water problems.

2nd. I can use the same argument about rice about lawns. “Why should we be growing water hungry grass lawns in CA?” At least growing rice gives us food stuffs and economic output. What does your lawn do for the state?(Please dont mistake this for support of rice, or alfalfa for that matter. But this isnt as simple as many want it to be. Everyone has benifited from the era of cheap water. We need to make some hard decisions, and not just blaim everyone else because we dont think it will affect us.)

[DWCAP]

[quote=esmith]if they are not done properly there are serious health risks. The water cannot be airborne and there are a litany of safety measures to put in.

Would it be safe and healthy to sit on that grass, or eat vegetables that were watered with gray water? If not, it mostly defeats reasons to have the lawn in the first place.

Agribusiness uses over 80% of CA’s water consumption. Of that, Cotton,rice and alphalfa take the lions share.

Shocking if true. Why would we grow such a water-intensive crop as rice in CA?[/quote]

1st, grey water is fine if you treat it right. So, you took a shower, washed your self with some shampoo, and then used the water to water your grass. And suddenly it isnt safe to sit on grass watered with what you washed off yourself?
Food is alittle more tricky, since you will be ingesting it, but the majority of residental water is used outside, and the vast majority of that is used for lawns. The few who have gardens could still water with pottable water and wed fix any water problems.

2nd. I can use the same argument about rice about lawns. “Why should we be growing water hungry grass lawns in CA?” At least growing rice gives us food stuffs and economic output. What does your lawn do for the state?(Please dont mistake this for support of rice, or alfalfa for that matter. But this isnt as simple as many want it to be. Everyone has benifited from the era of cheap water. We need to make some hard decisions, and not just blaim everyone else because we dont think it will affect us.)

[Eugene]

When the numbers are run, alfalfa by itself is something like .1% of the AG economic production in the state, and it uses 20% of the water. It is true, and it is amazing that so much water goes to support a crop with such a low value.

If it’s such a low value, we can EASILY afford to import alfalfa from Mexico, or maybe Montana, and it would cost us 0.1% of GDP (OK, maybe slightly more, because it needs to be transported) but we would cut down our water consumption by 20%.

suddenly it isnt safe to sit on grass watered with what you washed off yourself?

It’s safe to sit on grass watered with what I washed off yourself. Sitting on grass watered with what I just flushed down the toilet … maybe not so safe.

I’m not quite sure what exactly is defined as gray water. If it’s the same as reclaimed water, it may be treated with some chemicals to kill bacteria & such before it arrives to my lawn.

“Why should we be growing water hungry grass lawns in CA?” At least growing rice gives us food stuffs and economic output. What does your lawn do for the state?

What does my showering or using TP do for the state? Grass lawn is a necessity, it does not need to be justified. Besides we don’t live in a socialist country, it shouldn’t be up to the government to decide whether they should allocate more water to rice growers at the expense of my lawn. I will pay the market rate and they will pay the market rate, and if there’s not enough water, just raise the rate. The problem is, they are probably NOT paying the market rate, I don’t see how they could profitably grow rice (which basically has to be submerged in water for most of its growing period) if they were paying for water as much as I do.

BTW my grass lawn creates more oxygen than needed by my entire family. I could say that you’re breathing my oxygen 🙂

[Eugene]

When the numbers are run, alfalfa by itself is something like .1% of the AG economic production in the state, and it uses 20% of the water. It is true, and it is amazing that so much water goes to support a crop with such a low value.

If it’s such a low value, we can EASILY afford to import alfalfa from Mexico, or maybe Montana, and it would cost us 0.1% of GDP (OK, maybe slightly more, because it needs to be transported) but we would cut down our water consumption by 20%.

suddenly it isnt safe to sit on grass watered with what you washed off yourself?

It’s safe to sit on grass watered with what I washed off yourself. Sitting on grass watered with what I just flushed down the toilet … maybe not so safe.

I’m not quite sure what exactly is defined as gray water. If it’s the same as reclaimed water, it may be treated with some chemicals to kill bacteria & such before it arrives to my lawn.

“Why should we be growing water hungry grass lawns in CA?” At least growing rice gives us food stuffs and economic output. What does your lawn do for the state?

What does my showering or using TP do for the state? Grass lawn is a necessity, it does not need to be justified. Besides we don’t live in a socialist country, it shouldn’t be up to the government to decide whether they should allocate more water to rice growers at the expense of my lawn. I will pay the market rate and they will pay the market rate, and if there’s not enough water, just raise the rate. The problem is, they are probably NOT paying the market rate, I don’t see how they could profitably grow rice (which basically has to be submerged in water for most of its growing period) if they were paying for water as much as I do.

BTW my grass lawn creates more oxygen than needed by my entire family. I could say that you’re breathing my oxygen 🙂

[Eugene]

When the numbers are run, alfalfa by itself is something like .1% of the AG economic production in the state, and it uses 20% of the water. It is true, and it is amazing that so much water goes to support a crop with such a low value.

If it’s such a low value, we can EASILY afford to import alfalfa from Mexico, or maybe Montana, and it would cost us 0.1% of GDP (OK, maybe slightly more, because it needs to be transported) but we would cut down our water consumption by 20%.

suddenly it isnt safe to sit on grass watered with what you washed off yourself?

It’s safe to sit on grass watered with what I washed off yourself. Sitting on grass watered with what I just flushed down the toilet … maybe not so safe.

I’m not quite sure what exactly is defined as gray water. If it’s the same as reclaimed water, it may be treated with some chemicals to kill bacteria & such before it arrives to my lawn.

“Why should we be growing water hungry grass lawns in CA?” At least growing rice gives us food stuffs and economic output. What does your lawn do for the state?

What does my showering or using TP do for the state? Grass lawn is a necessity, it does not need to be justified. Besides we don’t live in a socialist country, it shouldn’t be up to the government to decide whether they should allocate more water to rice growers at the expense of my lawn. I will pay the market rate and they will pay the market rate, and if there’s not enough water, just raise the rate. The problem is, they are probably NOT paying the market rate, I don’t see how they could profitably grow rice (which basically has to be submerged in water for most of its growing period) if they were paying for water as much as I do.

BTW my grass lawn creates more oxygen than needed by my entire family. I could say that you’re breathing my oxygen 🙂

[Eugene]

When the numbers are run, alfalfa by itself is something like .1% of the AG economic production in the state, and it uses 20% of the water. It is true, and it is amazing that so much water goes to support a crop with such a low value.

If it’s such a low value, we can EASILY afford to import alfalfa from Mexico, or maybe Montana, and it would cost us 0.1% of GDP (OK, maybe slightly more, because it needs to be transported) but we would cut down our water consumption by 20%.

suddenly it isnt safe to sit on grass watered with what you washed off yourself?

It’s safe to sit on grass watered with what I washed off yourself. Sitting on grass watered with what I just flushed down the toilet … maybe not so safe.

I’m not quite sure what exactly is defined as gray water. If it’s the same as reclaimed water, it may be treated with some chemicals to kill bacteria & such before it arrives to my lawn.

“Why should we be growing water hungry grass lawns in CA?” At least growing rice gives us food stuffs and economic output. What does your lawn do for the state?

What does my showering or using TP do for the state? Grass lawn is a necessity, it does not need to be justified. Besides we don’t live in a socialist country, it shouldn’t be up to the government to decide whether they should allocate more water to rice growers at the expense of my lawn. I will pay the market rate and they will pay the market rate, and if there’s not enough water, just raise the rate. The problem is, they are probably NOT paying the market rate, I don’t see how they could profitably grow rice (which basically has to be submerged in water for most of its growing period) if they were paying for water as much as I do.

BTW my grass lawn creates more oxygen than needed by my entire family. I could say that you’re breathing my oxygen 🙂

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