The issue of water in California’s central valley and its direct correlation to the farm workers is of interest to me. The issue is primarily created by the agriculture industry and primarily effects the workers of that same industry. There is a massive water inequality in place in the central valley. Water is almost all used up in different means of agriculture production and whatever is leftover is contaminated from runoff produced by those same farms. Furthermore, the over extraction of the groundwater lead to the passing of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. This limits the amount of water being extracted from the earth to replenish the aquifers. However, it may prove to be harmful to farm workers yet again as 1/5 of the farmland may now become fallow causing loses of employment. As well as the new limited water being primarily given to the farmers.
Annotated Bibliography
Brown, Patricia Leigh. “The Problem Is Clear: The Water Is Filthy.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 13 Nov. 2012, www.nytimes.com/2012/11/14/us/tainted-water-in-california-farmworker-communities.html.
This article discusses the issue of contaminated water in the impoverished agriculture communities in California’s central valley. While briefly touching on the cause of this problem is more focuses on the effect on the people living in the central valley and how they are dealing with the problem. It can be applicable to my paper in that it shows the problem I’m trying to discuss and touches on a few of the solution enacted by individuals as temporary fixes. It also covers what is being done on a larger scale to help the community combat this issue going forward.
Cagle, Susie. “Thirsty Crops and Vulnerable Families Vie for California’s Precious Water.” High Country News, 4 Mar. 2020, www.hcn.org/articles/climate-desk-thirsty-crops-and-vulnerable-families-vie-for-californias-precious-water.
This article talks about the issue of groundwater in California’s central valley and the implication of the sustainable groundwater management act to affect their home and work life. This act was supposed to be to help the people but when agencies were formed the left the general public out of the conversations. Going into how the water at their homes comes from wells that will dry up or that the water will become contaminated, both of which have happened it the past. This article can be useful to my paper in providing insight to the communities of the central valley and how this problem faces them. It also offers suggestions for long term solutions to the issue such as consolidating water systems.
Pannu, Camille. “Drinking Water and Exclusion: A Case Study from California’s Central Valley.” California Law Review, vol. 100, no. 1, 2012, pp. 223–268. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/41346406. Accessed 30 Mar. 2020.
This journal talks about the water system in California and how the government has tried but failed to crate an equal water system. The journal is broken down into several sections on topics such as understanding water inequality, the gap between water on the books and water in the ground, the structure of California water governance, and proposals for moving beyond water inequality. While all the sections are in the respect of the research topic, I believe understanding water inequality and proposals for moving beyond water inequality are particularly applicable. To help further understand the inequality and how it manifests itself through lack of infrastructure or access to clean water. Also offering solutions to propose, adapt, or throw out such as consolidation of water districts, regional integration and representation, changing statutory protections, and funding of rural drinking water infrastructure.
Warnert, Jeannette E. “One-Fifth of Valley Farmland to Go Fallow When Groundwater Rules Go into Effect.” ANR Blogs, ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=40756.
This article discusses the estimated impacts of the implementation of the sustainable groundwater management act. It talks about how one fifth of the farmlands could be lost and how that will in turn cause 42,000 jobs to be lost. This is important to my paper as is shows how this new act is not helping the people it was put in place to help but rather hurting them. It supplies facts and statistics that will prove to be useful to support that harm the sustainable groundwater management act is causing rather than doing goodFinal Paper Prompt
