How to Farm in a Desert: The Story Behind Californian Agriculture
Picture this: you’re walking through a region of the world that is exceptionally dry. So dry, in fact, that it receives only three inches of rain a year and qualifies as a literal desert.
Then, to your disbelief, you find out that this region produces about 90 percent of winter vegetables in the United States. Looking around, you find that acres upon acres of alfalfa and almonds — two of the most water-intensive crops — stretch out as far as you can see. Somewhere nearby, a farmer floods his rice fields with an obscene amount of water that evaporates almost as quickly as it is applied. Meanwhile, residents of the nearest city are left to deal with the repercussions of a severe water shortage.
Congratulations! You have reached California’s Imperial Valley.
In my last blog post, I discussed the increasingly dire issue of water shortage around the world. With that in mind, the agricultural situation in California seems wholly nonsensical. After all, who in their right mind would think to waste water by developing a booming agricultural sector in the middle of a desert? Deprived of natural rainfall, Californian farmers rely heavily on irrigation, or the redirection of water through artificial systems in order to satisfy agricultural water requirements. Sustaining a single square foot of farmland requires an average of six feet of irrigation water, making the Imperial Valley the largest irrigation district in the United States.
The reasons behind this lavish water use are rooted deeply in the state’s history. Agricultural irrigation began to take root in California during the 1850s. At the time, there were a small number of private landowners who had manipulated the law in order to amass nearly the entirety of the state’s land. As a result, land was expensive for families and small farmers to obtain. In order to make a profit with the limited land that they could afford, small farmers turned to lucrative crops such as grapes, tree fruits, and nuts. Unfortunately, many of these exotic crops were also extremely water-intensive, setting a precedent for heavy irrigation.
Irrigation was further promoted by Californian railroad companies, who believed a diverse agricultural economy would attract settlers — and their money — to the state. These companies advertised California as a rich land of exotic crops sustained by irrigation, ideal for common people who craved a secure source of income and an easygoing lifestyle. The matter of water sustainability was swept under the rug, overshadowed by this romantic depiction.
Water rights legislation in California also helps to sustain agricultural irrigation. Much of the world abides by a system known as riparian rights, in which water belongs to the individual owning the land along its banks. In other words, if I live next to a river, riparian rights dictate that I get exclusive rights to that river’s water. California, on the other hand, blends riparian rights with another system known as appropriative rights. Under appropriative rights, water belongs to the first person who claims it for beneficial use. For instance, if I live next to a river but fail to do anything more than to stare at its water in awe, appropriative rights dictate that anyone else can come along and claim that water for a more productive purpose.
Thus, in California, appropriative rights permit farmers to tap into water from distant rivers and reservoirs because agriculture qualifies as a beneficial use. Furthermore, because agriculture has such a long history in the state, the water rights of established farms often rank higher than those of newer cities. As a result, in a strange instance of “finders keepers” philosophy, farmers can continue to inundate their rice fields even while municipal residents face shortage — simply because the farmers came first.
Today, water for irrigation in the Imperial Valley is sourced from Lake Mead, a reservoir created by the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River. However, the Colorado River has been suffering from an extended drought since 2000. As of 2016, the water level of Lake Mead was at an all-time low, having dropped 131 feet since 1999. With appropriative rights favoring Californian farms, local communities such as Los Angeles, San Diego, and Las Vegas have been the first to experience the repercussions of water shortage. Meanwhile, Imperial Valley farmers continue to cultivate water-intensive crops, use ineffective irrigation methods, and enjoy shockingly low water prices.
With drought such a pressing concern, change in California’s agricultural system is long overdue. Perhaps it’s time we face common sense — farming in the desert is ludicrous, unless we are willing to rethink tradition and embrace more sustainable practices.
Works Cited
Fishman, Charles. The Big Thirst: The Secret Life and Turbulent Future of Water. Free Press, 2011.
Holdren, G. Chris. “Overview of Lake Mead.” Lake Mead, National Park Service, 30 March 2016, www.nps.gov/lake/learn/nature/overview-of-lake-mead.htm.
“The Water Rights Process.” California State Water Resources Control Board, California Water Boards, 5 Sept. 2018, www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights /board_info/water_rights_process.html.
Worster, Donald. Rivers of Empire: Water, Aridity, and the Growth of the American West. Pantheon Books, 1985.
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