Researchers have quantified just how much water the agriculture industry in the Western U.S. is taking from the Colorado River, one of the most important river systems in the region.

More than half of the Colorado River's total annual water flow is being used to irrigate agricultural land, according to a paper published Thursday in Communications Earth & Environment.

Waters from the Colorado River have not reached its delta in the Gulf of California for more than 50 years because nearly every drop is being consumed as the waters flow south, Brian Richter, president of Sustainable Waters, a global water education service, senior freshwater fellow at the World Wildlife Fund, told ABC News.

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[–] aniki@lemm.ee 29 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (6 children)

And how much of that agriculture goes towards feeding livestock? Only 12% of agriculture becomes food for humans.

https://awellfedworld.org/issues/hunger/feed-vs-food/

Eat. Motherfucking. Plants.

[–] GlitterInfection@lemmy.world 12 points 5 months ago (4 children)

In California only 10% of our water use is by consumers. A ridiculous amount of our water goes into crops that we sell to China allowing those farms to turn our water into massive profits!

During droughts here our leaders tell us to not take long showers and to not flush as often. They even pushed restaurants to stop serving water without being asked first.

And you see lots of stories about the horrible homeowners who dare to water their lawns! Oh what a wonderful distraction from the issue that one is from the fact that no amount of consumer changes can make a difference and small restrictions on corporations would solve the problem entirely!

[–] speedingcheese@lemmy.world 2 points 5 months ago

Don’t get me started on how much water is lost in CA due to leaking infrastructure that they can’t be bothered to fix because water is cheap.

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