Perpetuating a Fallacy on Farmers’ Water Use
This hoary old myth needs to be put to rest: Farmers do not use 80% of California’s water supply. James Flanigan asserts it as fact in “Creating a Free-Flowing Market to Buy, Sell Water” [Oct. 24], but it’s just not true.
According to the state Department of Water Resources, agriculture uses 43% of the available water, which in itself is a fraction of the rain and snow that falls on California each year.
Furthermore, most California farmers pay full price for their water, receiving no subsidy, and that price can vary widely.
The few farmers buying water at subsidized rates often pay many times more than the $14 an acre-foot Flanigan cites. Farmers often do pay less for water than urban residents, but that’s usually because the water is untreated, un-pressurized, required to move much shorter distances and not always available when they need it.
We cannot make intelligent decisions about water if we base those decisions on outmoded and inaccurate beliefs.
Bill Pauli
President, California Farm Bureau Federation Sacramento
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