Opinion: Demonizing hay producers in the U.S. Southwest
Earlier this month, an article was released by ProPublica that “exposes” Imperial Valley family farms for using water to grow food. The article estimated how much Colorado River water 20 farm families were using on their lands, comparing that amount to other competing uses, and then listing each family’s water us … by name. This is truly frightening, given the polarized nature of today’s society. The consumptive water use estimates were derived from data generated through a program called “OpenET”, which makes satellite-based estimates of evapotranspiration (ET) publicly accessible.
-Written by Dan Keppen is executive director of Family Farm Alliance.