they say it will be at deadpool stage in less than 8 years at this rate
I understand people have varied levels of sympathy for western water tables and water rights, but that is the bread basket of this country.
I am surprised congress hasn't proposed a water pipeline, say from the mouth of the Mississippi thru a series of lakes with giant pumping stations in an attempt to maintain levels. Maybe that is pie in the sky and the cost would be outrageous, but we do it with oil pipelines.
I see all that flood water in the spring along the Mississippi and wonder why we don't try to capture it in some way.
California and most horticulture in the southwest is not the "breadbasket" of the USA, but more the "heavily irrigated unsustainable hobby garden" of the USA.
What are your statistics?
CA has 25+ million acres in production and some of the nations biggest farms.
Maybe it's the thinking that because Cali no longer grows much wheat and therefor is not a "breadbasket"?
But, if you eat any processed tomatoes, there's a good chance they came from Cali.
Producing more than 90 percent of the nation's processed tomatoes and nearly half the world's total processed tomato tonnage, California's tomato growers are among the most innovative, resourceful and efficient farmers in the world.
Eat raisins?
On approximately 200,000 acres, the 2,000 California Raisin growers produce 100% of the U.S. raisins, totalling approximately 300,000 tons annually in an area within a 60 mile radius of Fresno, California – known as the central San Joaquin Valley. Two-thirds of the U.S. raisin production is consumed in the U.S. and Canada, while one-third is exported to nearly 50 countries with Japan and the United Kingdom being the top two export markets.
Broccoli?
California produces 90% of U.S. Broccoli,
Rice?
California is the 2nd largest rice-producing state
>498,000 acres of rice planted on 1,100 farms in 2019
Rice production contributes >$775 million to the state economy
Hay for animal feed?
In 2016, California produced the second largest amount of hay in the US. California farmers produced approximately 6.6 million tons of hay in 2016. The Californian livestock industry depends to a large extent on hay to supplement other feeds and improve the quality of their animals. Some of the hay varieties grown in California include Oat hay, Teff Grass hay, Sudan hay, and alfalfa hay.In California, alfalfa, one of the principal crops in the production of hay, mainly grows in the northern and southern ends of the state. Farmers consider the alfalfa grown in the northern limits of the state to be of a higher quality than alfalfa grown anywhere else in California. Some of the companies that sell hay in California include Musgrave Hay Sales, Hay Valley Mart, and North Bay Hay & Grain which specializes in hay made from alfalfa, orchard grass or rye.
Any other crop there's likely internet info on, so perhaps not a big deal in wheat growing "breadbasket" terms, but if you like to eat other stuff than wheat bread there's a pretty good chance some of it came from California.
