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Not just CA ag... but CA ag does get preferential treatment and it's unfair to the other six states plus Mexico.
AZ still has a fucking cotton industry. Fucksake, cotton in the desert?
Literally every state in the upper and lower basins has ag that they don't need. This is something that the United States gov't should have realized and should have offered subsidies/tax breaks for companies willing to try to grow in the South where water is still plentiful. The market cannot correct these issues, the issues need government intervention because it's rapidly coming to a head.
This is a national problem, not a Colorado River Basin problem. We feed the country in the winter- if the Southwest cuts back on production, food prices go up across the board in the middle of an inflationary period. There needs to be some direction and I'm just not seeing it.
What are the costs that need to be passed on to farmers if the courts decide water rights are absolutely set in stone? If we can't force farmers to change their water usage, how do we make it painful in other ways? Is there a reason why farmers aren't paying a watershed pollution fee? A soil subsidence fee based on number and depth of wells as well as average yearly subsidence in that county? A saltwater infiltration fee for farmers causing delta issues? A permit and fine system for farmers who burn their waste and create air quality problems?
Water is becoming an issue around the world. That the United States is this far behind is stupid.
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