Farmers and Ranchers Should Be Allowed to Use Our Water

Salt Lake Tribune's Pat Bagley posted this cartoon on Facebook with the note, "Alfalfa slurps up 67% of Utah’s water, yet is only responsible for .2% of the Utah economy. What do you think?"

Pat, Can you complain about alfalfa taking the water while still running off to McDonald's to grab a hamburger?

I grew up on a farm in Idaho where we grew alfalfa. Raising sheep, we fed the hay to them, and then sold off the rest to cattle ranchers and dairymen. While a lot of the Bear River water does go to Idaho, I don't believe we used any. A large underground reservoir was discovered as the settlers were moving in, and it provided the irrigation water.
But, I sympathize with Utah farmers and ranchers. Yes, I can see outlawing the sale of alfalfa cubes to foreign countries, but what water is being used for our own crops and cattle should not be taken from the farmers, ranchers and dairymen. If you think otherwise, quit drinking milk.

We were warned that all our growth would eat up our water. I'm not against growth, per se, but if the projections tell you you are going to run out of water, yes, you should put a stop to the growth. I don't know whether alfalfa farmers slurp up 67 percent of our water, but it seems questionable. If we took away the alfalfa farmer and still had the urban growth, would we still have a water problem? I'm guessing we would. But, if we took away the urban growth but kept the alfalfa farmer, would we still have a water problem? Something tells me no.