California Lawmakers Mull Buying Out Farmers to Save Water

[hunter]

3. It's not a matter of "if" it's a matter of "when."

Hopefully it's a rational process, starting with the farms that have the largest environmental footprints because of especially salty soils (for example) or their impingement on ecosystems that are now rare in California.

We could pay "traditional" family farmers to restore their land to something resembling a natural state and even pay them a stipend to look after the land if they want to remain in grandpa's house.

The huge corporate farms, which is most of them, could simply be bought out and contractors hired to restore the land.

Inevitably throughout the arid West water now used by farmers will be diverted to cities.

Aside from burning fossil fuels, agriculture is the most environmentally destructive things humans do. We should minimize it. We can do that by eating fewer meat and dairy products. The biofuel industry is another lie. Biofuels are bad for the environment.