08/07/07 Water War Urban vs. Rural

There is a water war brewing in California and in this battle it appears that for once farmers might actually prevail. While the citizens of San Francisco are fraught with fears over having to conserve drinking water a few hours away in California's breadbasket, the fertile San Joaquin Valley the federal government is proceeding with a plan to turn over 1 million acre feet of water to Central Valley farmers. Urbanites are incensed that farmers, worse yet, BIG farmers would get first dubs on 15 percent of all federally controlled water in California meaning some regions in the Bay area like Santa Clara and Contra Costa counties would be required to conserve water. (I thought they all drank bottled there anyway.) While groups like the Natural Resource Defense Council are whining about government favoritism for production agriculture I wonder if they fully realize the implications a water shortage means for farming. The whole nation would suffer as the majority of key produce producers are based in Central Valley. So which is is cheaper and safer, imported produce or bottled water.