To the editor: Their article, “California Water Savings Plan Criticized as Expensive, Complicated and Unrealistic,” follows an outdated line of thinking that attempts to pit urban water users against farms.
The only way to adapt to water scarcity and climate change is to work together, without choosing winners and losers. And that's exactly what California farms have been doing.
According to the Public Policy Institute of California, overall farm water use has decreased 15% since 1980 due to the implementation of conservation measures and the utilization of new technologies. Additionally, California farmers have pioneered urban-rural partnerships, which have led to hundreds of thousands of acre-feet of water being transferred from farms to California families, relieving pressure on the entire system.
And let's not forget that farms are not the end users of water, but rather the consumers. Water sent to farms is used to grow food, protecting our safe and affordable domestic food supply.
Mike Wade, Sacramento
The writer is executive director of the California Agricultural Water Coalition.
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To the editor: Agriculture uses 80% of the state's developed water supply. Our main effort should be to mandate drip irrigation to save water.
Janet Cupples, Sherman Oaks
