An Under-reported Story: Nation's Food Supply at Risk?

Last year we vacationed in California, and spent some time driving through the San Joaquin valley.  This area is well known as an amazingly prolific source of the nation's food products.  It was surprising to me to see what a hot, dusty, dry place it is-- where daytime temperatures routinely exceed 100 degrees.

What makes its amazing food production possible is irrigation, and now that is being shut off.  This jeopardizes the nation's food supply, and will make us depend more upon foreign nations for certain agricultural products.  It is an example of environmental extremism, and bad laws, putting the nation at risk.

Why? To save a very small fish-- a minnow referred to as the Delta Smelt: (HT: Fred) 

Comments

[Touch]

Careful, Dr. Joe. This topic has, until recently, only been a figment in the imaginations of "right-wing extremists" and we've already read what Homeland Security thinks should be done with THEM.

[Brenda Bowers]

There is also some western water rights politics involved here too Joe. The feds are using the Delta Smelt (a minnow that isn't even native to the areas!) as and excuse to shut down the food industry in southern California. A whole bunch of agencies and groups are into it. It also has to do with rivers that once ran all the way to the ocean no longer do because of the demand for water.

This was going on and the Delta Smelt was the talk when we were last out there from 1996 to 2000. They were working on turning off the farming taps one by one even then.

And, to top it all of the people fighting illegal aliens who are the workers in the fields are part of the problem. A real mess and a little fish was the monkey wrench.
`
Perhaps this might be an answer to our illegal aliens problems and help the Mexican poor at the same time. Israel has proven the desert can bloom even where water is scarce. US should give Mexico the technology and then import our food from Mexico. We do a great deal anyhow.

Or we could stop the water wars and use some of the technology the Israelis have used to grow our own crops without depleting our western rivers. BB

[Joe Guarino]

Touch, I'll be careful. I promise. :)

And thanks, Brenda, for the additional information.

[Ralph]

This is interesting, but how is this helping the fish? Obviously, they were living before throughout the irrigation. What is changing now? And who are these "environmentalists"? I've never met one.