CA: Gov. Brown orders mandatory water restrictions (25% reduction statewide)

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Just for information's sake, almonds were California's second highest valued ag commodity for 2013 at $5.8 billion. Only milk, at $7.6 billion, was more lucrative.

And California actually produces a majority (in most years an overwhelming majority) of the world's almonds. The wholesale price of almonds is rocketing, incidentally.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Why not just ban all agriculture in the state? Problem solved!

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Not particularly (current rates of meat consumption are historically abnormal after all), though it would require lifestyle changes and that's not easy to induce. It would certainly be useful to make a distinction between 'reduction of meat consumption' and 'forcible vegetarianism'...

But I don't think we should lose sight of the simple and very inconient fact that, agriculture schmagriculture, California (and the entire South West actually) is overpopulated and that not only is it overpopulated but (and actually more importantly) its population largely lives lifestyles that are... um... more appropriate to temperate climates. And I don't just mean lawn sprinklers.