Community Chat

[NoelSeven]

On 4/2/2015 sidsmom said:

On 4/2/2015 NoelSeven said:

On 4/2/2015 sidsmom said:

"If California need water......

Reduce livestock production. Eat less meat.

It's going for produce, mostly.

Unfortunately livestock needs more water than anything....for the alfalfa, feed, pastures, as well as water for the animal, water to manufacture the meat, etc.etc.....so, so, so much more than produce.

Not here. CA produces the most produce in the nation and for the nation.

[raven-blackbird]

On 4/2/2015 sidsmom said:

On 4/2/2015 NoelSeven said:

On 4/2/2015 sidsmom said:

"If California need water......

Reduce livestock production. Eat less meat.

It's going for produce, mostly.

Unfortunately livestock needs more water than anything....for the alfalfa, feed, pastures, as well as water for the animal, water to manufacture the meat, etc.etc.....so, so, so much more than produce.

only IF you're talking 'grazers'............pigs, chickens, turkeys, etc..........not so much......................................raven

[Puzzle Piece]

On 4/2/2015 Qwackertoo said:

On 4/2/2015 Love Roses said:

Calm down. I am sure those folks are paying big time bucks for that water. I just don't want to have to give up my shrubs and flowers. Time to do a rain dance.

In July & August when the kids were little I'd tell them to do me a little rain dance and they would . . . and sure enough it would rain a few hours later. And that was without me looking at the forecast. Just a pop up shower or so maybe from the heat but they were always surprised when it "worked".

Yes, it does work and especially if the children dance.

I just thoughta something. It's so like the CA legislators to holler this n that. This drought is also a very useful way of stopping development and growth in Ca, thereby limiting the folks who want to come and stay. More people here, more water is needed. Hmmmmmmmm.

[Vesti]

On 4/2/2015 NoelSeven said:

On 4/2/2015 sidsmom said:

On 4/2/2015 NoelSeven said:

On 4/2/2015 sidsmom said:

"If California need water......

Reduce livestock production. Eat less meat.

It's going for produce, mostly.

Unfortunately livestock needs more water than anything....for the alfalfa, feed, pastures, as well as water for the animal, water to manufacture the meat, etc.etc.....so, so, so much more than produce.

Not here. CA produces the most produce in the nation and for the nation.

Interesting point though.

[MaRina]

I knew we are in a drought but yesterday when they were measuring our snow pack and normally they are standing in five feet of snow they were standing on dry dirt it made me think of even more ways to save water. It's scary!

[sidsmom]

New York Times (March 2014): "Meat Makes the Planet Thirsty"

Excerpts from the article:

But for those truly interested in lowering their water footprint, those numbers pale next to the water required to fatten livestock. A 2012 study in the journal Ecosystems by Mesfin M. Mekonnen and Arjen Y. Hoekstra, both at the University of Twente in the Netherlands, tells an important story. Beef turns out to have an overall water footprint of roughly four million gallons per ton produced. By contrast, the water footprint for “sugar crops” like sugar beets is about 52,000 gallons per ton; for vegetables it’s 85,000 gallons per ton; and for starchy roots it’s about 102,200 gallons per ton.

Factor in the kind of water required to produce these foods, and the water situation looks even worse for the future of animal agriculture in drought-stricken regions that use what’s known as “blue water,” or water stored in lakes, rivers and aquifers, which California and much of the West depend on.

Vegetables use about 11,300 gallons per ton of blue water; starchy roots, about 4,200 gallons per ton; and fruit, about 38,800 gallons per ton. By comparison, pork consumes 121,000 gallons of blue water per ton of meat produced; beef, about 145,000 gallons per ton; and butter, some 122,800 gallons per ton. There’s a reason other than the drought that Folsom Lake has dropped as precipitously as it has. Don’t look at kale as the culprit. (Although some nuts, namely almonds, consume considerable blue water, even more than beef.) That said, a single plant is leading California’s water consumption.

Unfortunately, it’s a plant that’s not generally cultivated for humans: alfalfa. Grown on over a million acres in California, alfalfa s*cks up more water than any other crop in the state. And it has one primary destination: cattle. Increasingly popular grass-fed beef operations typically rely on alfalfa as a supplement to pasture grass. Alfalfa hay is also an integral feed source for factory-farmed cows, especially those involved in dairy production.

[Vesti]

Interesting NYT article. Thanks I'll go read it.

[NoelSeven]

On 4/2/2015 eloise said:

On 4/2/2015 NoelSeven said:

On 4/2/2015 sidsmom said:

On 4/2/2015 NoelSeven said:

On 4/2/2015 sidsmom said:

"If California need water......

Reduce livestock production. Eat less meat.

It's going for produce, mostly.

Unfortunately livestock needs more water than anything....for the alfalfa, feed, pastures, as well as water for the animal, water to manufacture the meat, etc.etc.....so, so, so much more than produce.

Not here. CA produces the most produce in the nation and for the nation.

Interesting point though.

It is, and a well known one, but CA is not a state built around cattle or sheep ranching, it's a produce state.

[melfie]

On 4/2/2015 sidsmom said:

New York Times (March 2014): "Meat Makes the Planet Thirsty"

Excerpts from the article:

But for those truly interested in lowering their water footprint, those numbers pale next to the water required to fatten livestock. A 2012 study in the journal Ecosystems by Mesfin M. Mekonnen and Arjen Y. Hoekstra, both at the University of Twente in the Netherlands, tells an important story. Beef turns out to have an overall water footprint of roughly four million gallons per ton produced. By contrast, the water footprint for “sugar crops” like sugar beets is about 52,000 gallons per ton; for vegetables it’s 85,000 gallons per ton; and for starchy roots it’s about 102,200 gallons per ton.

Factor in the kind of water required to produce these foods, and the water situation looks even worse for the future of animal agriculture in drought-stricken regions that use what’s known as “blue water,” or water stored in lakes, rivers and aquifers, which California and much of the West depend on.

Vegetables use about 11,300 gallons per ton of blue water; starchy roots, about 4,200 gallons per ton; and fruit, about 38,800 gallons per ton. By comparison, pork consumes 121,000 gallons of blue water per ton of meat produced; beef, about 145,000 gallons per ton; and butter, some 122,800 gallons per ton. There’s a reason other than the drought that Folsom Lake has dropped as precipitously as it has. Don’t look at kale as the culprit. (Although some nuts, namely almonds, consume considerable blue water, even more than beef.) That said, a single plant is leading California’s water consumption.

Unfortunately, it’s a plant that’s not generally cultivated for humans: alfalfa. Grown on over a million acres in California, alfalfa s*cks up more water than any other crop in the state. And it has one primary destination: cattle. Increasingly popular grass-fed beef operations typically rely on alfalfa as a supplement to pasture grass. Alfalfa hay is also an integral feed source for factory-farmed cows, especially those involved in dairy production.

Allan Savory disputes this. He was able to show moving large herds of livestock vastly improves grasslands and can even reverse desertification. http://www.ted.com/talks/allan_savory_how_to_green_the_world_s_deserts_and_reverse_climate_change?la...

[Preds]

We can put pipelines all over, but we can't get water to our own? We have more than we need on this side and would love to send it where it's needed. Why can't we?