Can water be “ethical” or “unethical?” No, obviously not. Water is life itself. It is how we, as humans, deal with so precious a commodity that makes for ethical arguments. In the United States, California is water’s battleground. It is a complex issue that will test the ethics of the “Have’s” and “Have not’s,” but in unexpected ways.
Not surprisingly, California and its celebrity are often in the news when it comes to water; Jennifer Lopez, Jessica Simpson, Kim Kardashian and the venerable Barbara Streisand have all been called out on the issue. However, they are bit players on a larger stage. In the new world of something the Millennials call “shaming,” the Kardashians, for example, have been shamed for keeping the grass around the mansion green.
My next door neighbor, though hardly Kim Kardashian or Jessica Simpson, waters her lawn on days not designated to be her water days. She too is unethical – but she lives nowhere near Southern California.
According to the LA Times (May 7, 2015):
“Since the water year started in October, Los Angeles County has gotten between 50% and 60% of its normal rainfall… Los Angeles normally receives more than 14 inches of rain by this time of year. This year, downtown has gotten less than 8 inches…. Between January and March, rainfall downtown was between about 20% and 35% of normal.”
Governor Jerry Brown has mandated that water usage be cut in half. Light showers have fallen lately, but much more is needed and it has fallen in the wrong places. It is Northern California that must be deluged. However suppose there are behaviors that are making individual efforts almost ludicrous in the ethical light of it all?
Almonds and Over-building
Almonds seem an innocuous enough topic of conversation. However almonds are another player in the California water battle.
The growth of the California almond industry has been astronomical and exponential. Almonds contribute something like $7 billion to the annual economy of California. The problem with almonds is that they are sponges. They gobble vast amounts of water. The commonly thrown around statistic is that almonds use about 10 percent of California’s water supply. Against this argument we have almond lovers, almond apologists and almond-haters.
Almonds have fallen victim to their own success. They are now alleged to be a wonder food. Read any natural foods media outlet and you will be convinced that almonds cure everything from the common cold to cancer. The research has been widely sponsored by the almond industry and an entourage of nutritionists, trainers and other gurus.
We have heard this mantra many, many times before from the natural foods industry; soymilk, oat milk, coconut milk, green tea, olive oil, pistachios, shark cartilage, Manuka honey, tempeh, Tea Tree Oil, and on and on.
The almond has given rise to an entire array of processed foods, such as almond milk. Almonds don’t give milk, of course. It is an invention. Almond milk is mashed up almonds and other ingredients made into a liquid that sort of looks like milk. It is, by extension, presumed to be another miracle food.
You had better believe that almonds have a powerful lobby. A lot of money has been spent to promote almonds and many millions of dollars to promote almond milk, almond creams, almond soaps, almond butter, almond flour and many other items that are “nice” to know about, but not essential to much of anything.
Here is where ethics meets up with water shortages.
Almost any article in favor of the almond, makes it quite clear they are against cow’s milk. Almost any news story that is against almonds talks of the massive amounts of water almonds use.
The arguments about California and her water problems, are all about politics; global, dietary, regional and generational, but there are no common sense solutions being offered because everyone is talking at each other and not to each other.
Going back to the start of this blog, there is no end to the number of everyday Southern California people who cannot stand the sight of Jennifer Lopez’ manicured lawn. The problem is that millions of everyday people settled into Southern California as well and they also consume water.
Maybe J.Lo and other bigshots should be using a lot less water, but so too the many millions more who waste all the water they please. In fact, Southern California started to become overbuilt in the 1940s. Water has always been a problem there. The only reason there is so much chatter as of late, it that the perfect storm of greed and lack of water have finally come together.
There are no easy solutions. Ethically, it would be wise to achieve a series of compromises. For example, put a cap on almond acreage; stop new home building, levy huge fines against celebrity sprinkler systems. However none of that is happening.
For every reasonable solution, there are lobbyists, hangers-on, politicians, media outlets and agencies wanting to drag the conversation in their direction. Meanwhile, not one of them has an idea as to how to make it rain.
Novel Idea…
Just take the salt out of the ocean (much like Israel has done) and you’ll have all the water you’ll ever need.
YOUR COMMENTS ARE WELCOME!
The almond issue is real and poorly understood. With annual crops, farmers can take a few years off and conserve water. But almonds are a capital investment. Not only to the trees absorb a massive and disproportionate amount of our scarce resources, but they take more than one season to bear fruit – most of which is shipped to Asia. Farmers made a business decision to invest in capital goods that will pay off in the future and now they want to State to help save their investment through the use of their lobby. If they weren’t almonds and farmers, it would sound a lot like a bank bailout.