So the water mafia in India is actually an old story but the interesting idea is if we charged as much as the water mafia in India does per household income then maybe people would conserve. According to the BBC News Article, “Water Mafia: Why Delhi is buying water on the black market,” a family making $80 a month pays $10 for water from the black market. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-33671836. Imagine if we did that in the US, gone would be the manicured lawns in California but maybe there would be more money for crops and people to drink – what a concept…
While I approve of switching to crops which rely on less water, I am sure going to start missing the almonds and citrus because the price point will continue to rise and I am not going to be willing to pay for them after awhile… But I do hope that the weather improves and the aquifers replenish soon so people can have plenty to drink and lots to eat. http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/07/28/426886645/squeezed-by-drought-california-farmers-switch-to-less-thirsty-crops. Seriously, do you really want to see the water mafia out in San Diego County? I imagine them to be more vicious out there with the free flowing availability of guns in the US versus the kicking and scrambling in Delhi…
Despite the residential 35% cut backs in water usage and the 25% cut backs which the farmers agreed to earlier in the summer, we might have to all start investing in water resources elsewhere, and truck them into CA. Having one of the wettest July’s on record does not help alleviate 4 years of drought… Love the ReLEAF program name 😀