CA's drought and its hay exports to China

[piston]

Not all California farming regions are affected by extreme drought right now. A whole valley in southern CA is using an incredible amount of water originating from Colorado to grow animal feed for China. Meanwhile, Obama has promised to secure over 160 million dollars to assist drought-stricken farmers elsewhere in the state:

The southern Imperial Valley, which borders Mexico, draws its water from the Colorado river along the blue liquid lifeline of the All American Canal.

It brings the desert alive with hundreds of hectares of lush green fields - much of it alfalfa hay, a water-hungry but nutritious animal feed which once propped up the dairy industry here, and is now doing a similar job in China.

"A hundred billion gallons of water per year is being exported in the form of alfalfa from California," argues Professor Robert Glennon from Arizona College of Law.

"It's a huge amount. It's enough for a year's supply for a million families - it's a lot of water, particularly when you're looking at the dreadful drought throughout the south-west."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-26124989