Re: The value of water
- To: t*@xtra.co.nz, m*@ucdavis.edu
- Subject: Re: The value of water
- From: K*@aol.com
- Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1999 09:50:54 EST
In a message dated 1/25/99 1:11:11 AM EST, timdut@xtra.co.nz writes:
<< The
longest we have ever had without rain is 5 weeks >>
It is hard to imagine a lawn or anything that one would recognize as a
"garden" surviving in most of California without supplemental irrigation on a
regular basis, at least in summer. We often have 6 months or more without any
rain. Water use is a thorny subject here. Water for agriculture is almost
limitless, thanks to state and Federal subsidies and water projects, but water
for use by people is restricted. I find it hard to feel bad about watering my
little lawn and garden, when one can drive down I-5 in the summer and see the
Rain-Bird sprinklers going on tens of thousands of acres of cotton in 100+ (F)
temperatures, or go to the Imperial Valley in summer, one of the driest desert
regions in the world, with temps in the 120F range, and see enormous fields
of alfalfa being flood-irrigated. Not that I'm bitter...
Kurt Mize
Stockton, California
USDA Zone 9
