CO River crisis - won't someone think of the farmers?!?

[pixy0stix]

WaPo did a piece focussing on what's going to happen to the farmers in the desert - wapo.st/3MOuC6A

It keeps talking about how many jobs are going to lost, but these are the jobs - www.salon.com/2023/02/08/even-with-legal-protections-extreme-heat-and-wildfire-take-a-toll-on-farmworkers_partner/


Migrant farm work has always been fraught with human rights violations, and now it's getting even worse with climate change. I don't know what the answer is regarding the jobs lost, but this isn't sustainable. None of this forced agriculture is.

[picksthemusic]

John Oliver did a great segment last night about migrant farmworkers. As you can guess, it was wholly infuriating.

[Michelle]

Rio Grande river basin isn't far behind the Colorado's. www.hcn.org/articles/climate-change-diverted-drained-and-dwindling-whats-the-fate-of-new-mexicos-rio-grande

Kinda makes me think of the dustbowls that drove people west in the 1930s. My grandparents left Arkansas and settled in NM so my grandpa could work in the copper mines. NM doesn't have much more than mining, tourism, and desert farming (pecans/chile peppers; dairy and cattle ranching) for industry.

There is of course military research and defense as well...

The SW is in big trouble.

[nsl]

I don't see the national media reporting often enough that Utah's governor is an alfalfa farmer. It's a water-intensive crop that is mostly exported outside the U.S. In no way is his administration negotiating these water rights in good faith given his family's financial interest in their outcome, nor could he give a flying fuck about working conditions anywhere for farmworkers.

[wawa]

Apr 17, 2023 19:07:19 GMT -5 nsl said:

I don't see the national media reporting often enough that Utah's governor is an alfalfa farmer. It's a water-intensive crop that is mostly exported outside the U.S. In no way is his administration negotiating these water rights in good faith given his family's financial interest in their outcome, nor could he give a flying fuck about working conditions anywhere for farmworkers.

I don't think the bolded part is accurate. 
which isn't totally relevant since his vested interest in water rights is the important bit.


I will say...at least it's a good crop for soil retention!  Stave off that dust bowl for a minute.