California’s Water Crisis: Corporations Drain Resources While Residents Face Restrictions”

Water is the essence of life, yet in California, it has become an unevenly distributed and unfairly controlled resource. While regular citizens are forced to limit their water consumption, large corporations are permitted to utilize massive amounts with impunity. One of the biggest offenders of this inequality is Stewart and Lynda Resnick’s The Wonderful Company, which uses more water annually than the entire city of Los Angeles. This is not only a drought problem, it’s a problem of equity and sustainability.

I am writing to bring attention to the dire necessity of water reform in California. While homeowners are restricted from watering their lawns, billion-dollar companies are given free rein to deplete our water supply to grow almonds and pistachios for export. This crisis can no longer be ignored. If we do nothing, our state will only keep suffering from more intense droughts, depleted groundwater reserves, and increased water bills. We must hold corporate water users accountable and make decisions that prioritize people over profit.

The facts tell the story. Transparency. The agricultural industry in California uses 80% of the state’s water, a large portion of which is held by big private companies like The Wonderful Company, as reported in the Los Angeles Times. Meanwhile, urban residents are asked to reduce their usage by 15% under threat. Additionally, The New York Times reports that excessive groundwater pumping has caused land in parts of California’s Central Valley to sink more than a foot a year, causing irreversible damage to infrastructure and reducing water reserves for the future. These are the facts: corporate excess is accelerating our water crisis, and change is long overdue.
We cannot allow California’s water to be managed by an elite group while millions suffer from scarcity. I urge state legislators to rein in corporate water usage, charge fair water prices, and invest in sustainable water management systems. Citizens must also do their part by creating awareness, advocating for water conservation measures, and pressuring policy makers to act. California’s water future is what we do today, so let us retain it as a resource for all and not for profit.