<html><body><div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:garamond, new york, times, serif;font-size:16px"><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1428287526525_29962" dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/politics/la-me-cap-drought-20150406-column.html?track=rss" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1428287526525_30145">http://www.latimes.com/local/politics/la-me-cap-drought-20150406-column.html?track=rss</a><br></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1428287526525_29962"> </div><div class="" style="width: calc(100% - 340px); float: left; font-family: Times; font-size: 10px;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1428287526525_30143"><div class="" style="font-family: LAHeadline, serif; font-size: 58px; line-height: 56px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding-bottom: 10px;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1428287526525_30142"><span class="" style="font-weight: 700; font-family: Belizio, Georgia, serif; color: rgb(204, 204, 204); line-height: 28px; content: ' ';" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1428287526525_30141">Capitol Journal</span> <h1 class="" itemprop="name" style="font-size: 58px; font-weight: 400; display: inline;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1428287526525_30150">Why do farmers get a free pass from Brown?</h1></div></div><ul class="" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 40px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 22px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline-block; width: 300px; float: none;"><li class="" style="display: inline-block; list-style-type: none;"><a class="" title="Politics and Government" href="http://www.latimes.com/topic/politics-government/11000000-topic.html" style="display: inline; padding-bottom: 8px; color: rgb(153, 153, 153); text-decoration: none;">Politics and Government</a></li></ul><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1428287526525_29962" dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10px;" class=""></span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10px;" class=""></span></div><div class="" style="position: relative; clear: both; padding: 20px 0px 0px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; border-top-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); height: auto; font-family: Times; font-size: 10px;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1428287526525_30191"><aside class="" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; float: left; max-width: 495px; width: 380px;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1428287526525_30192"><figure class="" style="margin: 0px 20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; float: left; width: 100px; height: 150px;"><img src="http://www.trbimg.com/img-53fbfdb3/turbine/lanews-george-skelton-20130507/150/100x150" alt="Why do farmers get a free pass from Brown?" width="100" height="150" title="Why do farmers get a free pass from Brown?" style="display: block; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 100px;" class=""></figure><address class="" style="padding-top: 11px; font-style: normal; float: left; width: calc(100% - 120px);"><h4 style="font-family: Belizio, Georgia, serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 20px; color: rgb(255, 84, 67); margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 7px;" class=""><a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/lanews-george-skelton-20130507-staff.html" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(255, 84, 67);" class="">George Skelton</a></h4><span class="" style="font-size: 11px; display: block; margin-bottom: 8px; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); text-transform: uppercase;">LOS ANGELES TIMES</span><span class="" style=""><a rel="author email" href="mailto:george.skelton@latimes.com?subject=Regarding%20Why%20do%20farmers%20get%20a%20free%20pass%20from%20Brown?" data-role="emailwriter_socialemail" data-columnist-name="George Skelton" style="text-decoration: none; font-size: 11px; font-family: Georgia, serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); margin-bottom: 25px; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700; display: block; word-wrap: break-word;" class="">george.skelton@latimes.com</a></span></address></aside></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); position: relative; width: calc(100% - 340px); font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px;" class="" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1428287526525_30193">Gov. Jerry Brown targets the 20% of developed water that flows to urban use; ag takes up the other 80%</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); position: relative; width: calc(100% - 340px); font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px;" class="">Gov. Jerry Brown is talking tough about cutting back water use, but he's making one thing clear: He is not going to tell farmers what they can or cannot grow.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); position: relative; width: calc(100% - 340px); font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px;" class="">"I believe farmers should grow whatever they want," he told me and a dinner companion at venerable Frank Fat's restaurant near the Capitol about two weeks ago.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); position: relative; width: calc(100% - 340px); font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px;" class="">Brown stopped by briefly after dining with others and commented about crop regulation without being asked. Then he headed for the door.</div><aside class="" data-content-id="83222290" data-content-size="small" data-content-type="story" data-content-subtype="story" data-role="socialshare_item imgsize_ratiosizecontainer " data-state=" " style="margin: 11px 40px 35px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 250px; overflow: hidden; -webkit-transform: none; float: left; z-index: 1; font-family: Times; font-size: 10px;"><div class="" style="width: 250px; -webkit-transform: none;"><span data-content-kicker="Related" class="" style=""></span><a class="" href="http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-wealthy-cities-lag-in-conservation-20150404-story.html" data-content-media-present="true" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(255, 84, 67); float: left; width: 250px; position: relative; display: block;"><figure data-role="imgsize_item" class="" imgheight="150" imgwidth="300" imgratio="16x9" style="margin: 4px 0px 10px; padding: 0px 0px 140.625px; position: relative; width: 250.5px; height: 0px; background-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); overflow: hidden; float: none;"><img itemprop="image" data-baseurl="http://www.trbimg.com/img-5521630b/turbine/la-me-ln-wealthy-cities-lag-in-conservation-20150404-thumbnail" alt="California's wealthy lagging in water conservation" class="" title="California's wealthy lagging in water conservation" data-content-naturalwidth="1024" data-content-naturalheight="682" data-ratio="16x9" data-width="300" data-height="150" src="http://www.trbimg.com/img-5521630b/turbine/la-me-ln-wealthy-cities-lag-in-conservation-20150404-thumbnail/300/300x169" style="display: block; overflow: hidden; float: none; max-width: 100.69999694824219%; max-height: 100.69999694824219%; ; left: 0px; right: 0px; top: 0px; bottom: 0px; margin: auto !important; padding: 0px !important; width: auto !important;" data-id="15d210a1-9d49-6ff4-dc83-f84008d7f188"></figure></a><div class="" data-role="lightbox_metadata" style=""><a class="" href="http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-wealthy-cities-lag-in-conservation-20150404-story.html" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(255, 84, 67); float: left; width: 250px; position: relative; display: block;"><span class="" style="display: block; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: LAHeadline, serif; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-top: 0px; word-wrap: break-word; font-size: 20px; line-height: 24px;">California's wealthy lagging in water conservation</span></a></div></div></aside><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); position: relative; width: calc(100% - 340px); font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px;" class="">Two days earlier, I had written a column suggesting it was time state government consider regulating crops based on their water demands and location — whether grown, for example, on the arid west side of the San Joaquin Valley or up north where it's wetter. This is particularly true for permanent crops — orchards and vineyards — that cannot be fallowed during droughts as vegetables can.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); position: relative; width: calc(100% - 340px); font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px;" class="">Almonds are especially thirsty in the southern San Joaquin. But there's a lucrative overseas market for them so growers have been planting more and more trees. Basically, one almond requires a gallon of water to produce.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); position: relative; width: calc(100% - 340px); font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px;" class="">Last week, Brown elaborated on his hands-off-crops position, starting at a Sierra photo op that made newspaper front pages and attracted national TV. Standing on bare ground where there's normally snow, the governor unveiled his new drought-survival plan.</div><aside class="" data-role="panelmod_container imgsize_ratiosizecontainer" data-load-type="noop" data-panelmod-type="relatedContent" style="margin: 20px 0px 20px 20px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 20px; float: right; border-left-width: 1px; border-left-style: solid; border-left-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); clear: right; position: relative; z-index: 25; width: 360px; left: 20px; font-family: Times; font-size: 10px;"><div class="" style="display: table-cell; vertical-align: top; width: 340px; min-width: 340px; max-width: 340px; position: relative; z-index: 1000; padding-right: 10px; height: 160px;"><a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/politics/la-me-cap-drought-20150406-column.html?track=rss#" class="" data-role="panelmod_opener" style="font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 3px; line-height: 18px; font-weight: 700; font-family: Belizio, Georgia, serif; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); float: left; clear: both; white-space: nowrap;"><span class="" style="font-family: trb_Icons;">l</span>Related </a><a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/politics/la-me-cap-drought-20150323-column.html" data-role="imgsize_item" class="" imgheight="150" imgwidth="150" imgratio="1x1" style="float: left; clear: left; width: 130px; height: 130px; margin-right: 20px; overflow: hidden; display: block; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(255, 84, 67);"><img data-baseurl="http://www.trbimg.com/img-550f6e14/turbine/la-me-cap-drought-20150323" alt="Thirsty crops should require state regulation" class="" title="Thirsty crops should require state regulation" data-content-naturalwidth="2048" data-content-naturalheight="1548" data-ratio="1x1" data-width="150" data-height="150" src="http://www.trbimg.com/img-550f6e14/turbine/la-me-cap-drought-20150323/150/150x150" style="display: block; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 130px; -webkit-transition: opacity 0.25s ease 0s; transition: opacity 0.25s ease 0s;" data-id="979f7074-20bb-f3d8-23e8-e311599b693d"></a><dl class="" style="margin: 0px 0px 1px; padding: 0px; clear: none; width: calc(100% - 150px); float: left; height: 109px; overflow: hidden;"><dt class="" style="margin-bottom: 2px; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; font-family: Georgia, serif; color: rgb(52, 141, 160); text-transform: uppercase;"><a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/politics/la-me-cap-drought-20150323-column.html" class="" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(52, 141, 160);">POLITICS</a></dt><dd class="" style=""><a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/politics/la-me-cap-drought-20150323-column.html" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(255, 84, 67);" class=""><span class="" style="font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 18px; font-family: LAHeadline, serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); word-break: normal; width: 206px;">Thirsty crops should require state regulation</span></a></dd></dl><span class="" style="padding: 6px 0px 0px 10px; clear: right; float: right; font-weight: 700; line-height: 14px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); text-transform: uppercase; white-space: nowrap;"><a class="" href="http://www.latimes.com/local/politics/la-me-cap-drought-20150406-column.html?track=rss#" data-role="panelmod_opener" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">SEE ALL RELATED</a></span></div><div class="" data-role="panelmod_opener" style="display: table-cell; vertical-align: middle; border-right-width: 10px; border-right-style: solid; border-right-color: transparent; overflow: hidden; width: 55px; -webkit-transform: translateX(-25px); cursor: pointer;"><div class="" style="width: 55px;"><div class="" style="position: relative; left: 35px;"></div><a class="" href="http://www.latimes.com/local/politics/la-me-cap-drought-20150406-column.html?track=rss#" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-weight: 700; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-transform: uppercase; display: block; min-height: 56px; position: relative; left: 5px; padding-right: 15px; text-align: right;">8</a><div class="" style="position: relative; left: 35px;"></div></div></div></aside><div id="trb_ad_articleBanner_3_1_3_/local/politics/la-me-cap-drought-20150406-column.html" class="" data-role="adloader adloader_ad" data-withinviewport-options="bottomOffset=100&topOffset=1000000" data-adloader-position="articleBanner_3" data-adloader-size="320x50" data-adloader-adtype="sidebarbanner" data-adloader-label="" data-adloader-admapkey="articleBanner_3_1_3_/local/politics/la-me-cap-drought-20150406-column.html" data-state="adloader_loaded" style="position: relative; margin: 60px auto 2em 20px; width: 320px; min-height: 67px; float: right; clear: both; z-index: 1; font-family: Times; font-size: 10px;"><div id="google_ads_iframe_/4011/trb.latimes/news/local/politics/blogs_2__container__" style="border: 0pt none;" class=""><iframe id="google_ads_iframe_/4011/trb.latimes/news/local/politics/blogs_2" name="google_ads_iframe_/4011/trb.latimes/news/local/politics/blogs_2" width="320" height="50" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0" style="border-width: 0px; vertical-align: bottom;" class=""></iframe></div></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); position: relative; width: calc(100% - 340px); font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px;" class="">It includes tightening the spigot on lawns, golf courses and cemeteries, even digging up grass and substituting drought-resistant landscaping, letting road median strips go brown and junking old appliances.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); position: relative; width: calc(100% - 340px); font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px;" class="">"As Californians, we have to pull together and save water in every way we can," the governor declared. "Overall, we're looking for a 25% aggregate reduction....</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); position: relative; width: calc(100% - 340px); font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px;" class="">"People should realize, we're in a new era. The idea of your nice little green grass getting lots of water every day, that's going to be a thing of the past.... In many parts of California, they're living in a desert or semi-arid desert and we have to begin to live in more conformity to what nature makes available."</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); position: relative; width: calc(100% - 340px); font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px;" class="">But wait a second: He wasn't demanding a 25% cut in overall water use. He was seeking 25% of 20% — equal to 5% of the total. His target is only the 20% of developed water that flows to urban use. Agriculture devours the other 80%.</div><aside class="" data-role="panelmod_container" data-panelmod-type="comments" style="margin: 20px 0px 20px 20px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 20px; float: right; border-left-width: 1px; border-left-style: solid; border-left-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); clear: right; position: relative; z-index: 25; width: 360px; left: 20px; font-family: Times; font-size: 10px;"><div class="" style="display: table-cell; vertical-align: top; width: 340px; min-width: 340px; max-width: 340px; position: relative; z-index: 1000; padding-right: 10px; height: 160px;"><a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/politics/la-me-cap-drought-20150406-column.html?track=rss#" class="" data-role="panelmod_opener" style="font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; line-height: 18px; font-weight: 700; font-family: Belizio, Georgia, serif; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); float: left; clear: both; white-space: nowrap;"><span class="" style="font-family: trb_Icons;">c</span>Comments</a><div class="" style="clear: both; width: 340px; min-height: 115px; height: auto;"><ul class="" style="-webkit-hyphens: auto; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; top: calc(100% - 20px); word-wrap: break-word; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: 1.6em; font-family: Georgia, serif; width: 90% !important; padding-left: 0px !important;"><li class="" style="display: inline-block; box-sizing: border-box; width: 306px; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px; font-style: italic; padding-bottom: 0.5em;"><div class="" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Governor Brown is right about California’s water shortage problem, BUT does he really think that cutting our consumption by 5% is the solution? Since the farmers 80% is excluded, a 25% reduction of the remaining 20% = 5% savings overall. At the current price of water, we’re incentivized to...</div><div class="" style="font-weight: 700; font-style: normal; font-size: 10px; line-height: 18px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-transform: uppercase; white-space: nowrap; padding-top: 0px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">RONALDSTEIN</div><div class="" style="font-weight: 700; font-style: normal; font-size: 10px; line-height: 18px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-transform: uppercase; white-space: nowrap; padding-top: 0px;">AT 7:09 AM APRIL 06, 2015</div></li></ul></div><span class="" style="padding: 6px 0px 0px 10px; clear: right; float: right; font-weight: 700; line-height: 14px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); text-transform: uppercase; white-space: nowrap;"><a class="" href="http://www.latimes.com/local/politics/la-me-cap-drought-20150406-column.html?track=rss#" data-role="panelmod_opener" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">ADD A COMMENT</a></span><span class="" style="padding: 6px 0px 0px 10px; clear: right; float: right; font-weight: 700; line-height: 14px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); text-transform: uppercase; white-space: nowrap;"><a class="" href="http://www.latimes.com/local/politics/la-me-cap-drought-20150406-column.html?track=rss#" data-role="panelmod_opener" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">SEE ALL COMMENTS</a></span></div><div class="" data-role="panelmod_opener" style="display: table-cell; vertical-align: middle; border-right-width: 10px; border-right-style: solid; border-right-color: transparent; overflow: hidden; width: 55px; -webkit-transform: translateX(-25px); cursor: pointer;"><div class="" style="width: 55px;"><div class="" style="position: relative; left: 35px;"></div><a class="" href="http://www.latimes.com/local/politics/la-me-cap-drought-20150406-column.html?track=rss#" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-weight: 700; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-transform: uppercase; display: block; min-height: 56px; position: relative; left: 5px; padding-right: 15px; text-align: right;">26</a><div class="" style="position: relative; left: 35px;"></div></div></div></aside><div id="trb_ad_articleCube_4_2_4_/local/politics/la-me-cap-drought-20150406-column.html" class="" data-role="adloader adloader_ad" data-withinviewport-options="bottomOffset=100&topOffset=1000000" data-adloader-position="articleCube_4" data-adloader-size="300x250" data-adloader-adtype="cube" data-adloader-label="" data-adloader-admapkey="articleCube_4_2_4_/local/politics/la-me-cap-drought-20150406-column.html" data-state="adloader_loaded" style="position: relative; margin: 60px auto 2em 20px; width: 300px; min-height: 250px; float: right; clear: both; z-index: 1; height: 267px; font-family: Times; font-size: 10px;"><div id="google_ads_iframe_/4011/trb.latimes/news/local/politics/blogs_3__container__" style="border: 0pt none;" class=""><iframe id="google_ads_iframe_/4011/trb.latimes/news/local/politics/blogs_3" name="google_ads_iframe_/4011/trb.latimes/news/local/politics/blogs_3" width="300" height="250" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0" style="border-width: 0px; vertical-align: bottom;" class=""></iframe></div></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); position: relative; width: calc(100% - 340px); font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px;" class="">Reporters asked, what about that?</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); position: relative; width: calc(100% - 340px); font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px;" class="">"Agriculture has already suffered major cutbacks," he replied. "A lot of people are letting their land go fallow. Trees are dying. Farmers have been hit very hard."</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); position: relative; width: calc(100% - 340px); font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px;" class="">True. Farmers without senior water rights — those granted prior to 1914 — are expecting no deliveries for the second straight year from the federal Central Valley Project. Growers supplied by the State Water Project will receive only 20% of requested deliveries. Last year, more than 400,000 acres were left unplanted.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); position: relative; width: calc(100% - 340px); font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px;" class="">Farmers have been trying to recapture the loss by over-pumping groundwater. The water table has been plunging and, in some areas, the land is sinking dramatically.</div><div id="trb_ad_pageBottomCube_3_5_/local/politics/la-me-cap-drought-20150406-column.html" class="" data-role="adloader adloader_ad" data-withinviewport-options="bottomOffset=100&topOffset=1000000" data-adloader-position="pageBottomCube" data-adloader-size="300x250" data-adloader-adtype="cube" data-adloader-label="" data-adloader-admapkey="pageBottomCube_3_5_/local/politics/la-me-cap-drought-20150406-column.html" data-state="adloader_loaded" style="position: relative; margin: 100px 0px 0px 20px; width: 300px; min-height: 250px; clear: both; float: right; z-index: 1; height: 267px; font-family: Times; font-size: 10px;"><div id="google_ads_iframe_/4011/trb.latimes/news/local/politics/blogs_4__container__" style="border: 0pt none;" class=""><iframe id="google_ads_iframe_/4011/trb.latimes/news/local/politics/blogs_4" name="google_ads_iframe_/4011/trb.latimes/news/local/politics/blogs_4" width="300" height="250" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0" style="border-width: 0px; vertical-align: bottom;" class=""></iframe></div></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); position: relative; width: calc(100% - 340px); font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px;" class="">The governor last year signed a historic law to manage groundwater — we were the last Western state to do that — but it doesn't have to be implemented for two decades.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); position: relative; width: calc(100% - 340px); font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px;" class="">Brown's executive order last week did require irrigation districts to develop drought management plans and begin monitoring groundwater levels, reporting the numbers to Sacramento.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); position: relative; width: calc(100% - 340px); font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px;" class="">"So this will be somewhat of a burden" on farmers, the governor said.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); position: relative; width: calc(100% - 340px); font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px;" class="">Brown later was asked on PBS' "NewsHour" why he didn't focus more on agriculture. He replied that a government deciding which crops to allow is "Big Brother. Outside of war or unprecedented catastrophe, that shouldn't even be considered."</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); position: relative; width: calc(100% - 340px); font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px;" class="">This does seem to be an unprecedented drought — Brown even says so — but never mind.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); position: relative; width: calc(100% - 340px); font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px;" class="">Brown's state water director, Mark Cowin, who grew up on a San Joaquin Valley farm, echoed the governor's sentiment when I talked to him. "Farming is a business," he said. "How are we to judge" which crops should be grown?</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); position: relative; width: calc(100% - 340px); font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px;" class="">How about by the amount of water they gulp? And government could regulate that business the way it does others, telling landowners what they can do with their property, whether it's suitable for housing, a mall or a dump.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); position: relative; width: calc(100% - 340px); font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px;" class="">Yes, agriculture is a business, but it uses 80% of our water and accounts for only 2% of the state's economy.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); position: relative; width: calc(100% - 340px); font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px;" class="">Cowin did acknowledge: "It troubles me to drive around and see new plantings of almonds." But he added that those farmers "take the risk" financially.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); position: relative; width: calc(100% - 340px); font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px;" class="">They also might be taking the groundwater of their neighbors by drilling deeper.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); position: relative; width: calc(100% - 340px); font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px;" class="">But, Cowin continued, all bets are off if the drought drags on.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); position: relative; width: calc(100% - 340px); font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px;" class="">"I've been thinking about this a lot," he said. "At the end of the day, if there's a five- or 10-year drought, the state will use all the authority it has to redirect water from agriculture to the health and safety of urban users."</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); position: relative; width: calc(100% - 340px); font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px;" class="">Felicia Marcus, chairwoman of the state water board, which will write the details of Brown's plan, also defends laying off agriculture.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); position: relative; width: calc(100% - 340px); font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px;" class="">"Agriculture water goes to growing food, which is important to urban areas," she said. "Someone in L.A. may have more in common with a Central Valley farmer than the guy next door watering his lawn."</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); position: relative; width: calc(100% - 340px); font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px;" class="">What if the food isn't consumed in L.A., but is exported to Asia? "We can't be an island," she said, "and only grow food for ourselves."</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); position: relative; width: calc(100% - 340px); font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px;" class="">But maybe we should if the drought lingers. Otherwise, with every shipped almond we also export a gallon of water.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); position: relative; width: calc(100% - 340px); font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px;" class=""><em class="" style="">Twitter: @<a href="http://www.twitter.com/LATimesSkelton" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(255, 84, 67);" class="">LATimesSkelton</a></em></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1428287526525_29962" dir="ltr" class="" style=""><br class="" style=""></div></div></body></html>