"Agriculture – mainly alfalfa – consumes 80% of the Colorado River’s dwindling water supply, prompting calls for conservation efforts".
"On an early August morning in California’s Imperial Valley, tractors rumble across verdant fields of alfalfa, mowing down the tall grass and leaving it to dry in shaggy heaps under the hot sun.
Here, in one of the oldest farming communities in the Colorado River basin, the forage crop is king. One out of every three farmed acres in the valley is dedicated to growing alfalfa, which dries into a high-protein hay commonly used as food for livestock.
The plant looms large in the desert south-west, not only because it’s the region’s biggest crop but also because it’s one of the thirstiest – its deep roots suck up water in a region scorched by a 22-year drought.
The large-scale production of alfalfa during a megadrought is, in large part, possible because the Imperial Valley is the single biggest controller of rights to Colorado River water. Now, with the basin on the brink of the most severe water cuts in history, the alfalfa industry has been propelled to the center of longstanding debates over sustainable water use and the future of farming in the west."
Jessica Fu reports for the Guardian September 12, 2022.
SEE ALSO:
"Megadrought In The American South-West: A Climate Disaster Unseen In 1,200 Years" (Guardian)
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