California ranks as the US state with the most agriculture produce by a large margin. Annually, California generates 44 billion from its agriculture industry. On the surface this sounds fine. California is also the largest state by population and the third largest by area. But where does California rank in terms of fresh water? The best statistic I could find is the percentage of the state defined as wet , being 4.8 for California. The average for the US is 7.0 , and California is well under that. Moreover, most Californian agriculture is located in the south where its warmest, which is also the region that is the driest. Its more ridiculous when you think of how much fresh water they use for growing food. Then they have to allocate more to the 40 million people living there. So how does California do it? Well obviously they take as much surface water as they can from lakes and reservoirs many have been emptied completely . But they also have to tap into ground water a lot, which takes millions of years to replenish. Another way they do it is by draining water from the Colorado River. The Colorado River supplies seven states with fresh water in the region, as well as various states in northern Mexico. Did you know that the Colorado River doesn't even reach the Pacific Ocean anymore because of how much water is being used by mostly California as well as the other six states? Moreover, the state has been plagued with terrible wildfires over recent years. There have always been wildfires in western states, but in recent years its been more pronounced and devastating. Obviously this is in part due to climate change. But this can also be attributed to how much fresh water California, a mostly dry state, has taken from the region i.e. reservoirs, lakes, rivers . California has made efforts to desalinate water, which is a start. But so far it only accounts for a small portion of the state's water usage. I'd argue that a state like California shouldn't be a major agriculture state to begin with. I'd also argue that draining the Colorado River is not only selfish, but damaging to the environment across the entire region. When you can't even stop the fires that are burning across your entire state annually, why are you using so much water to grow almonds in the desert? x200B
California's water usage is irresponsible, greedy, and damaging to the environment.