water... what are we doing with it?

During the height of the Ethiopian famine, when there were pictures of small children with hunger bloated stomachs, there were thousands of acres of land being used to grow feed for cattle in Asia.
Children starved while land that could have grown food was growing feed for cattle that were eaten by wealthy people half a world away.
I have never gotten over the horrifying pictures and the nonsensical values that were being used to determine the right use of the land.

Now I am horrified again. The pictures of the massive fires and extensive destruction in the American Southwest were heart wrenching this past summer and now I have learned that in the midst of the deserts, in Arizona and California as well, foreign companies have huge acreages of land where they are raising alfalfa to feed dairy cows half a world away. These foreign companies like growing alfalfa in the desert because the growing season is long and there is little chance of rain spoiling the crops. Yet in order to do this, grow alfalfa in the desert, millions of gallons of water must be pumped out of aquifers deep in the earth.

Apparently some of these companies have expertise in sucking deserts dry as they have already done that in their homelands which is why they need to come to the US. The underground aquifers provide water for all vegetation, humans and animals that already live in the region -- but they are not an infinite source. Certainly there is already enough misuse of water by people who decide to live in the desert for the sun but want access to water as if they live in a rain forest - but this is over the top! And where are the laws? They have yet to be drafted to protect water for the eco-sytem, for human and animal life.

Sucking the water out of aquifers under these southwestern deserts will destroy the areas for years to come- maybe forever as far as humans are concerned. Drawing down the water level means that people who currently live there will soon have to re-dig their wells, extending them downward at tremendous cost in order to reach water that is necessary for life. I think it was in the sci-fi movie Oblivion that the aliens were sucking water out of the earth. I wonder if the writers were aware of what is happening?

Just in case it hasn't occurred to you, using extraordinary amounts of water in order to grow and export alfalfa for dairy cows increases the already phenomenal amount of water needed to produce a gallon of milk from 1000 to 2500 gallons for the people who are the consumers of the milk that comes from the cows who will eat this alfalfa. Did you get that? 2500 gallons of water to produce a single gallon of milk. Whatever are these people thinking and who is it that has the kind of money needed along with the desire to do such a thing?

Recently I purchased 'The Sustainability Secret: Rethinking Our Diet to Transform the World." It is written by Kip Andersen and Keegan Kuhn who produced "Cowspiracy" a movie that changed my diet forever. (Published by Earth Aware Editions, San Rafael CA, 12015)  The book expands on the movie and offers updated details. There is a pivotal chapter on water that everyone who needs water to live should read! If I  remember correctly one story in the book tells of a person who didn't think there were large cattle feeding operations in their part of California. They were stunned to learn that
such operations do exist but are deliberately hidden away to avoid interference by humans who might not like what goes on. I wonder how such a person might act knowing about these alfalfa growing operations in the desert... ?

I have heard many times that the next series of wars will no longer be about oil -- they will be about water. If we let corporations, local or international, suck our common aquifers dry we are only bringing on the water wars even sooner. We don't have to drink milk... We Do have to drink water.