Elise+B’s+Final+AmEx+Speech+2016


 * California’s Drought**

By now, just about every Californian has heard that it takes approximately a gallon of water to grow one almond. Now before I continue, don’t worry, I am not going to steal any of your trail mix. What I am going to talk about though, is the severe drought in California and how we need to change the ways in which we use our water.

The average Californian uses 80-100 gallons of water per day. Sprinklers, showers, toilets, washing machines, and sinks are all things that we have been told to cut back on when it comes to conserving water. And while it’s beneficial to cut back on these things, residential water usage isn’t the number one issue when it comes to California’s drought. We’re often told to shorten our showers and stop watering our lawns, but maybe we should start considering other forms of water usage. For example, in April 2015, Governor Jerry Brown ordered a 25% statewide reduction of water usage in urban and residential areas. This announcement has caused considerable debate as many wonder why farmers aren’t being restricted nearly as much as those in urban and residential areas. Agriculture uses 80% of the available water supply in California. And even though California is the world's fifth largest supplier of food and agricultural products, farmers shouldn’t be allowed to continue to waste as much water as they are currently. They should be restricted just as much as urban and residential areas, if not more. In 2010, the State Department of Water Resources stated that 43% of California farmland used some form of gravity irrigation. Also known as flood irrigation, it’s exactly what it sounds like - pouring gallons upon gallons of water over crops and letting it flood down the farmland. This method of irrigation not only wastes lots of water, but ironically it also ends up hurting the profits of the farmers that use it. Today, there are newer irrigation techniques that both increase yields and use much less water. In fact, Wired.com interviewed some farmers and found that increasing soil organic content in an acre of farmland by just 1 percent can save up to 27,000 gallons of water. By using slightly healthier soil, these farmers were able to conserve a vast amount of water. Other effective ways to water crops include recycling water or using drip irrigation. The point is: farmers have options. The drought in California needs to be recognized as a serious issue, and water conservation needs to be addressed by all areas.

Now I didn’t come up here just to blame farmers for the drought. There are several different areas where water usage needs to be reduced in order to make even a dent in California’s drought. One area, that I’m sure any vegans or vegetarians have been waiting for me to mention, is livestock. While I am neither a vegan nor vegetarian, I do feel I should address that livestock is one of the top areas using water in California. It takes 106 gallons of water to make just one ounce of beef. This includes the water cows drink to the water used to grow the alfalfa that cows eat. Lowering the amount of livestock in California would help lower water usage drastically, not to mention the tons of other equally valid reasons to stop eating meat (but that is for an entirely different speech). Either way, I know how difficult it would be to convince people to stop eating meat completely, including myself. Instead I recommend we try to eat less meat, especially beef, and that we try not to waste any of it. Taking small steps to lower the amount of meat we consume and the amount we throw away, is another way in which we can help to conserve water.

Keeping on the theme of cows, milk has also had dramatic effects on California’s drought. Just last month, National Geographic published an article on the demand of dairy in China and how it is subsequently worsening the drought in California. Over the past ten years, the demand for milk in China has risen drastically. At first Chinese farmers imported more foreign cows to increase milk production but the surplus in cows started an entirely new demand for the hay to feed those cows, called alfalfa. Much of the alfalfa that China imports comes from California. This means that California is exporting large amounts of alfalfa, or “virtual water”. Virtual water is any water being traded in the form of crops grown with that water. So California might not be exporting actual water to other countries, but by exporting crops such as alfalfa, we are indirectly lowering our already limited supply of water. And alfalfa is just an example; California is exporting many other goods such as nuts, wine, citrus, rice, flowers, and fruits – all of which require substantial amounts of water to grow. So when considering California’s drought and different ways to conserve water, it might be useful to also consider the “virtual water” we are exporting to foreign countries.

So far the things I have mentioned are relatively small changes that have the potential to make a significant impact on the water we use. But there is one thing that I still feel needs to be addressed – golf courses. That’s right, the beloved sport of old rich retired men that just so happens to use vast amounts of water. The average Palm Springs golf course uses the same amount of water in one day that a family of four does in five years. And for what? Entertainment and sport? I am sorry to any golf fans that I have offended but golfing is a luxury, not a necessity, and it is using up a lot of California’s water supply. What’s even crazier is that one of the top places for golf courses happens to be in one of the driest places in California – Palm Springs. It’s strange that we are using so much water to maintain grass in an area that used to be a sandy desert. Golf course owners need to realize how necessary their golf courses really are in the big scheme of things and how unrealistic it is to maintain so much green grass during a drought. If it were up to me I would say to get rid of golf courses completely. We don’t need them to survive, unlike water, and they aren’t providing any vital contributions to society.

Overall, I think it’s important that all areas in California do their part to conserve water. I want to live in America that is consciously aware of the resources it uses. I want to live in a California that prioritizes the drought and takes action to reduce water usage. It’s vital that we as a country understand how limited our natural resources are. I want to live in a place where people not only limit their use of these resources, but also help think of alternatives to any resources we’re lacking. The drought in California hasn’t been this bad in 1,200 years, but there are ways to fix it. All we have to do is save water.

Sources:

http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/02/wheres-californias-water-going

http://time.com/3769534/california-drought-water-use-restrictions/

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-snowpack-20150331-story.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2015/04/03/agriculture-is-80-percent-of-water-use-in-california-why-arent-farmers-being-forced-to-cut-back/

http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/article2591279.html

http://www.wired.com/2015/06/farming-and-drought/

http://www.businessinsider.com/real-villain-in-the-california-drought-isnt-almonds--its-red-meat-2015-4

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/04/150409-water-agriculture-cattle-dairy-conservation-ngfood/

http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2015/05/golf-pools-water-drought-california

http://www.mercurynews.com/drought/ci_27070897/california-drought-worst-1-200-years-new-study