Natural History Wanderings

The New York Times has an opinion piece by Nicholas Kristof on the water crises in the Western U.S. and some of the major contributors. Here are a few excerpts:

This is a crisis across the West, for the West was built on cheap water that is now running out from underpricing and overuse just as climate change is amplifying droughts.

One study found that 88 percent of water in 17 Western states was used by agriculture. Only 7 percent was consumed by homes. Alfalfa fields single-handedly drank up almost three times as much as all households.

California produces a bounty of almonds, which gulp about 3.2 gallons of water for each almond, according to a 2019 study.

Read article at  Opinion | When One Almond Gulps 3.2 Gallons of Water – The New York Times