One of the main consumers of water are farmers, they account for 80 percent of water usage in California (Skelton). The problem with cutting water to farmers is money; the amount of money that California farmers generate is around 46.4 billion (Fox). Cutting water to farmers will cause unemployment to increase and a decrease in the amount of taxable income. Along with the loss of money and jobs an increase in the price for produce will be expected. Many of the smaller farmers will not be able to make ends meet with the increase price of water. Sure many of the mega farms will get by without a huge
Envision yourself, about to complete a straightforward, everyday thing such as washing the dishes, suddenly to your surprise there is no water coming out of the faucet. Well for the civilians of East Porterville this is their reality. California has always had very lenient and ineffective groundwater regulations. Today, this has become a major issue, especially with California's severe drought. The regulation of the aquifer is a necessity because cleanliness is a basic human right and by not regulating the groundwater and leaving civilians with no working water, that right is taken away. The right to bathe, wash your hands, and have a working toilet is simply no more. Furthermore there are scientific statements, proving that excessively pumping groundwater will lower the water levels, which will likely lead to the land level sinking as well.
What do you think would happen if your town ran out of water? In the town of East Porterville they have not had water in 5 months. Life is really bad for them. They can not do basic stuff that involves using water. I do think that California should control phreatic water.
My opinion is that California should not regulate groundwater because of farmers and financially. A Farmer would need more water for their crops, animals , accordingly themselves. That is a large amount of water , I do not think that is fair because what would happen if the farmers ran out of water ;they would have to use other residents water. Farmers would have to buy less pickups,employing less people, moreover buying less tractors.In source 1 it says that “the Farmers feel very disconnected with the
Even though, “‘We are tied to the groundwater 100 percent,’ he said, ‘so ultimately it will have an effect on consumer prices. There's just no getting around that’” (Source1), citizens would be able to obtain water with more ease. "City folks just don't understand that they're biting the hand that feeds them, I'm afraid" (Source1). With laws, farmers will have less access to water, but the citizens will be able to have any access. They might have to pay more for food, but they will be able to get water.
Have you thought about the importance of water recently? Water provides many things to people, from green lawns to nutritious food. An event that may have spurred these thoughts is the drought in California. They are struggling because there is simply not enough water in California to go around for all of its uses. Measures have been taken to conserve water, but cutbacks have been made on everything, even the giant industry of California agriculture. More water should be devoted to agricultural uses instead of residential uses in California for the following reasons:
You name it, from top to bottom," said Pete Belluomini, the VP of Farming for Luhr Brothers Inc.” (Source 1). “Beatrice Sanders, the executive director of the Kern County Farm Bureau, agreed."I almost feel like farming will eventually become obsolete here," she said” (Source 1). ““If you own property, you can dig a well and you can pump as much groundwater as you a want,” says Famiglietti, “even if that means you are drawing the water in from beneath your neighbor’s property in your well for your own benefit. So it’s not unlike having several straws in a glass, and everyone drinking at the same time, and no one really watching the level”” (Source
Farmers say that it’s their property and they can do whatever they want, but water under your property isn’t just yours. Farmers argue that it’s their property and their money, so they can buy millions of wells if they want to but they ignore those sayings, “you are drawing water in from beneath your neighbor’s property into your well. So it’s not unlike having several straws in a glass, and everyone drinking at the same time, and no one really watching the level” (source, 3). Nobody is really watching the level of the water, they just care about having enough water for their crops. Neighbor’s that pump water may get angry at you because you are pumping way too much water, they need it just like you!
In the article “Richard Goode: California drought crisis is everyone’s fault,” Richard Goode (2015), states that California does not have enough water to provide and everyone is responsible for it. California’s water problem has been an ongoing situation for years. Hydrologists have predicted and advised us about the water deficit in California, but everyone chose to ignore it. California has been pumping its water straight from the aquifer for years and now it is becoming dry. An enormous amount of water is being pumped each year which causes the water table to go low. When the water table is low, wells go dry and people are left without water. Richard Goode mentions, that California will be in a drought until we are able to receive the same amount of groundwater that we withdraw. However, we might be too late.
This man Jose Lopez is saying that in 37 years, this water rule has never happened, “I’ve been here in the same house for 37 years and this has never happened before,” says Jose Lopez, 67, as he filled eight big containers in his pick-up truck with water from a 5,000-gallon roadside tank that Tulare County authorities installed in early August as the number of waterless homes soared “ (Source 2). Just over 95 percent of the state now faces severe drought conditions and nearly 60 percent is an exceptional drought, the highest of five rankings by the US drought monitor. This is bad because without water, what will we grow and bathe in, if ranchers keep this up they won’t be able
The first reason that California should regulate water usage is that due to the farmers are using an enormous amount of water, normal people are having trouble showering or using the bathroom. I quote section 2 “when she needs to go, i just take her outside”. No one should live like that. A man from California said that he needs to drive about 4 hours to his sister’s house just
“Realistically, if it doesn’t rain this winter, we’re going to continue to see more and more private wells go dry”(source 2). ”Private wells have gone dry”(source 2). Rain water is consequently an affection to the community because there is miniature rain water and won't be enough water for everybody. For the way that people don't receive the water they are digging private wells to get water and are stealing it from the states under ground water.
What is the point of taking the water for the farm to make food if the people in the town need water to live also? California has been in a drought for 4 years now and the farmers are drilling wells and taking all of the water from the town for themselves. I think they should make a law. They prove them because it says that people can not do their laundry or drink water or wash dishes. It says that it affects prices and that it costs farmers a lot of money. You have to beg and pay extra to have them drill wells and they have to buy less stuff to be able to pay people to drill wells. I think we need laws because if they take all of the water there is no use for food because water is actually more important than food because you can die from
Have you ever felt uncomfortable about not taking a shower for two or more days? Well, for many Californians that rely on failing water pumps, many of them haven’t taken a shower in over two to five months. Three years of over-pumping has caused the water supply in our underground aquifers to slowly dry up because farmers are pumping more water out than can be replaced by the rain. Now, because many towns are starting to lose their water due to their reliance on aquifer pumps, legislation is being considered. But this decision to put a cap on those pumps has many farmers upset, for these farmers believe that they should have an unlimited access to water. One farmer said that “The city folk are biting the hand that feeds them.” But as many farmers believe that they should have unlimited access to the pumps, many people in the cities that have no water believe that there should be
We go and we go, but it just seems like we can’t go fast enough.’— Steve Arthur, Owner, Arthur & Orum Well Drilling” (source3) i think we should have laws because the water that we have we need to preserve it and make sure that the farmers have water for for the crops."To put a cap on that bloodline of water, I think it's dangerous," said Sanders. "Everything about farming is already unpredictable, harvest to harvest."(source1)That's why the Farm Bureau is glad that - for now - this new package of laws will allow the water to be managed locally, even though it gives the state new authority to step in.(source1)That could