Australians seem to want to confront the inevitable conflict between ag and urban water use by buying out the farmers:
Australia’s government promised Tuesday to spend about $2.9 billion to buy river water from farmers in a bid to address the country’s worst drought in a century….
But a mayor in the farming district targeted by the water purchasing plan cautioned that the it would reduce Australia’s agricultural exports at a time of global food shortages and inflation.
“The cost of food will certainly rise. The nation’s exports will drop,” Brian Sharp told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.
In Gullyvornia, they sometimes try to retire ag land in interesting ways. Westlands Water District is trying to keep the water they are retiring by selling it at a high profit to LA.
I sure do miss the water politics there, and this interesting nom d’plume’s essay sheds some light on the subject.
Nonetheless, we are doing the same on the CO Front Range as well. As long as cheap oil allows us to transship produce, this is a viable solution. Not sure what to do in 30 years, but who cares what our grandchildren eat, right? They’ll figure it out.
Best,
D