Post AUp4DqCgvMffbaFsLg by notwhatwethink@climatejustice.social
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 (DIR) Post #AUp4DqCgvMffbaFsLg by notwhatwethink@climatejustice.social
       2023-04-19T21:37:36Z
       
       0 likes, 1 repeats
       
       Like so many things, the water crisis in the western U.S. is about short-sighted, self-interest (read selfishness and greed) and the power of certain, small but wealthy groups to dictate government agendas that hurt the majority of the population.  Huh, greed, selfishness and bought politicians getting in the way of making government work for all of us?  Sounds so damn familiar!!!Why is the Colorado river drying up? Feeding cows is a large part - Vox https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/23655640/colorado-river-water-alfalfa-dairy-beef-meat#GreedKills #CapitalismKills #AllInThisTogether"...residential water use accounts for just 13 percent of water drawn from the Colorado River. According to research published in Nature Sustainability, the vast majority of water is used by farmers to irrigate crops....which crops receive the bulk of the Colorado River’s water, 70 percent goes to alfalfa, hay, corn silage, and other grasses that are used to fatten up cattle for beef and cows for dairy. Some of the other crops, like soy, corn grain, wheat, barley, and even cotton, may also be used for animal feed....The stress on the West’s water supply due to alfalfa is especially acute in Utah: A staggering 68 percent of the state’s available water is used to grow alfalfa for livestock feed, even though it’s responsible for a tiny 0.2 percent of the state’s income. Last year, the editorial board of the state’s largest newspaper, the Salt Lake Tribune, declared that “it’s time for Utah to buy out alfalfa farmers and let the water flow.”California takes more water from the Colorado River than any other state, and most of it goes to the Imperial Valley in the southern part of the state. It’s one of the most productive agricultural regions in the US, producing two-thirds of America’s vegetables during winter months. But the majority of the Imperial Valley’s farmland is dedicated to alfalfa and various grasses for livestock.In Arizona, Phoenix’s backup water supply is being drained to grow alfalfa by Fondomonte, owned by Saudi Arabia’s largest dairy company, which it ships 8,000 miles back to the Middle East to feed its domestic herds. (Water-starved Saudi Arabia banned growing alfalfa and some other animal feed crops within its own borders in 2018.)...all that alfalfa is used to produce beef and dairy — two food groups that themselves contribute significantly to climate change. In other words, we’re using water supplies that have been shrunk in part by climate change to produce food that will in turn worsen climate change.