Whiskey and Water

Considering I am writing this blog from Philadelphia, I thought is was appropriate to quote Benjamin Franklin, “We will never know the true value of water until the well run’s dry.” One does not have to ask the farmers situated in the Westland’s Water District on the west side of California’s San Joaquin Valley about the value of water. This district receives water from the San Joaquin – Sacramento Delta via the State Water Project (SWP). Unfortunately, Farmers in the Westland’s Water District are finding out what the true value of water is. Last month the district learned that it would not receive any water from the federal canal this year. The Westland’s Water District is home to 600 family owned farms and produces a bountiful amount of fruits, nuts and vegetables. California has had two straight dry years and unless the Sierra Nevada’s get a substantial amount of snow in March, make it three. Due to the lack of water, there is an increase in water traded between farmers north of the Sacramento Delta and growers in the south. Farmers in the north leave ground fallow and sell their water to farmers in the south. According the March 7th edition of The Economist, water is going to cost approximately $500 per acre foot and is three times the sum that farmers paid last year. However, even at that price, demand exceeds supply. One can argue that farmers use too much of the federal water, but that argument does not hold any water. No pun intended. In fact, according to www.farmwater.org, farmers only use 43% of the federal water. The other 11% and 46% is used by Home/Business & the Environment respectively. The fundamental problem is that when the SWP was approved in 1959 it was built for a projected California population of 23 million people. According the California Water Coalition, there will be an estimated 46 million people in California by 2020. Therefore, the infrastructure is broken and more storage facilities are needed to increase the supply of water for Californians and one of their largest industries, Agriculture. As Mark Twain quoted, “Whiskey’s for drinking, water’s for fighting about.” Especially, expensive water.