Outrage builds over almond farmers’ water usage in California drought

Outrage builds over almond farmers’ water usage in California drought

It takes a gallon of water to grow just one almond, leading many to accuse almond farmers of wasting water at a time when the state can't afford it, but the farmers say they're an important part of the economy.

Almond farmers are catching flak for trying to grow their thirsty crops in the midst of one of the worst droughts California has endured in a long time as anger and frustration mount over the situation in the Sunshine State.

It takes one gallon of water to grow just one almond, but almond farmers are defending it by saying that it is one of the state’s biggest exports, and since California has a $45 billion agriculture economy, with almonds accounting for 15 percent of the total, the almond crop is a $7 billion economic activity, according to Fox 40 report.

That hasn’t stopped people from slamming California’s almond industry.

Gov. Jerry Brown ordered urban water users to cut usage by 25 percent, but farmers face even more difficulties: they have to scale back by 60 percent, according to farmer Jake Wenger, who was interviewed for the report.

A total of 1 million acres of California farmland will have to be removed from production because of the state’s drought situation. Wenger said his family has been farming in the Modesto area since 1910, and they will have to cut down 10 percent of their almond trees, so he’s basically losing 10 percent of the revenue because of the drought.

Meanwhile, the state is scrambling to take other measures to alleviate the drought. California had built a $34 million desalination plant back during the last severe drought in the early 1990s, but it was too costly to keep running when the rain came back. The city is going back to using tat plant, according to a Bloomberg report.

It is now the fourth year in the drought, and there is no end in sight, which is resulting in the state turning its focus to conservation as the water situation becomes critical.

Desalination of saltwater has long been a focus of arid parts of the world, California has usually found cheaper options, such as redirecting water from up in the north and keeping it in reservoirs. But with precipitation remaining at historic lows, the state may have to find other options, and desalination is one of them. A total of 14 coastal areas are considering alternate plans.

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