The Economist’s Briefing on California’s Water Wars
Posted by Perry Lewis on Tue, Nov 17, 2009
The October 24th – 30th2009 issue of The Economist had an article titled “Of farms, folks, and fish.” Being a Southern California native, I’m always intrigued by all things related to water in California. I remember as a kid watching the installation of the Morongo Basin Pipeline down the street adjacent to our neighbor’s house. I was amazed that all that water was coming from hundreds of miles away and going to go under our street to provide water to our dry desert. According to the Mojave Water Agency website, since water began to flow through the 71-mile pipeline it has continued to serve nearly 60,000 people and businesses over 455 square miles of the High Desert. But where does that water come from? It comes from the East Branch of the California Aqueduct, which begins at the San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta and is ground zero of the California water wars.
Since California is the world’s eighth-largest economy, water rights will continue to be a hot topic until either more water magically appears or everyone is happy. According to this article, the latter of these two seems possible, but it could come too late for some farmers. The outcome of how California’s water problems can be fixed is being anxiously awaited by not only Californians and the economies that rely on California, but all the water districts in California that have been affected by water conservation efforts.