Introduction
As Californians experience one of the most severe droughts in recent memory, massive multi-‐billion dollar projects, financed at taxpayer expense, are proposed to channel and divert Northern California rivers to the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California. We are told that these projects are vital to our economy, food production, jobs, and way of life. What we are not told is who really stands to benefit, what the very real dangers to our environment are, what the costs to future generations will be, and what alternatives exist.
While enduring the shock of a fourth year of consecutive drought, Californians are led to believe that only their personal sacrifice and a massive outpouring of taxpayer money and further endangerment of the environment can salvage the situation. At the time of this writing, water rationing has gone into effect, reducing urban water use by over 30 per cent, while sparing agricultural interests who consume 80 per cent of the state’s water. …
To read more of the introduction to “The Politics of Water and the Drought in California” click here.
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