CALIFORNIA DROUGHT: No more beer?

Not feasible on a large scale.

A brewery, Oceanside, could do it.

 

What could be better than dirty piss runoff water in gross plastic bottles?

 

Yeah, but Oregonians are better at biking in it.

 

Wait, you can bike in the rain?

 

Meat and dairy account for almost half of overall water usage per this report:

http://pacinst.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/21/2013/02/executive_summary6.pdf

I'm not a vegan, but I've transitioned to a mostly plant-based diet. I wouldn't ask folks to cut out meat entirely, but they'd benefit directly from some moderation.

 

There's a weird connotation with not eating meat, so that will never happen.

 

Is it the association with hippies? Perceptions ruin everything. BTW, I still eat meat, just not as much as I used to.

 

Meat and dairy is part of the external water footprint. Since the majority of our livestock feed comes from out of state, we are not using CA's water to maintain our meat and dairy. I'm not saying that it's not something to be concerned about, it's just not something that the drought has a major effect on, nor will cutting back help CA's water supply.

 

It's true that much of the feedstocks originate from out-of-state, but animals drink water in order to survive don't they? Furthermore, isn't water required to grow the grass that free-range/grass fed beef feed on?

Per the USGS:
"Livestock water use is water associated with livestock watering, feedlots, dairy operations, and other on-farm needs. Livestock includes dairy cows and heifers, beef cattle and calves, sheep and lambs, goats, hogs and pigs, horses, and poultry. Other livestock water uses include cooling of facilities for the animals and animal products such as milk, dairy sanitation and wash down of facilities, animal waste-disposal systems, and incidental water losses."
https://water.usgs.gov/edu/wulv.html

 

I completely agree. I would suspect (based on no facts whatsoever) that the amount of water to grow food far surpasses drinking water.

Free range can only be a tiny margin of California livestock and only a portion of the year would grass need to be watered to feed them. Again, speculation since I'm too lazy to look it up right now.

 

It takes a surprising amount of water to grow food: http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-water-hungry-foods-20150406-story.html

 

Yes, that helps my point! I spend 4 days a week in the middle of rice fields and orchards. I see a LOT of water being used. Too bad I don't see more hops being grown. I do however get to see the hop farm at Sierra Nevada everyday. Far in the background behind my train!

 

Other than protein rich legumes, meat uses the most water, beef being the most egregious. If you look at that info graphic, it's clear a majority of produce uses a fraction of the water meat does. I say this as a person whose favorite meal is a burger, fries, and a beer.

As for growing produce, a lot can be done to make growing more water efficient. For one, why is there water being sprayed on some farms in the middle of a hot afternoon? Drip irrigation could help make agriculture more water efficient.

 

In addition to that, I have seem countless broken sprinklers just shooting water into the sky, sprinklers watering orchards in the rain and other such atrocities. To add another question about growing produce, why are rice fields flooded 3-4 times during the non-growing season? Is that water calculated into that graphic? I would guess not since it isn't being used to grow the rice. Which could mean that rice fields use two to three more times the water suggested.

As far as the meat water use, if that includes growing food (does it? not clear in graphic) then most of that water is being used out of state and not affected (or affecting) by our drought.

 

a gallon of water is used to produce a single almond. I don't know how many almonds are in an ounce or a pound but it's pretty nutty to think people make almond milk which uses even more water... pun not intended.

the bottom line is that CA is highly agricultural but they should probably start to think long and hard about what they grow and raise.

 

The average almond weighs 1.2 grams.

There are ~453 grams in a pound. so roughly 375 almonds per pound.

There are about 28 grams in an ounce, so about 25 almonds in an oz.

To make home made almond milk you need about a pound of almonds per 1/2 gallon. I am not sure what that translates to in terms of the almond milk from the store. They could be more efficient.

This makes me wonder how almond milk would taste as an adjunct in beer.

 

21st Amendment had an Almond Milk Porter once when I was there. Not mind blowing, but pretty good

 

Golden Road in LA did one too.

 

Better y'all than here.

 

New article i read stated ag use accounts for 47% of water used in CA. Public use is only 4%. So cutting public use 25% as mandated will accomplish next to nothing.