Help Save America's Water This Memorial Day Weekend 2015!
Many parts of the United States are facing severe ongoing drought. You can proudly do your part to save water and help protect America's natural resources, this Memorial Day Weekend and every day!
The source for this graphic is the Water Footprint Network research document "The hidden water resource use behind meat and dairy." MORE INFO:
AMERICA:
The seven U.S. states currently running out of water are Texas, Oklahoma, Arizona, Kansas, New Mexico, Nevada, and California (USA Today). Meanwhile, more than half of the entire U.S. water supply goes to animal agriculture (Center for Science in the Public Interest) despite the fact that a vegetarian diet requires about half the water to produce (UNESCO) and a vegan diet saves an average of 600 gallons of water a day (National Geographic). Each year, about 41 million tons of plant protein is fed to U.S. livestock to produce around 7 million tons of animal protein (Cornell ecologist David Pimentel). A vegan diet is healthful and appropriate for all stages of life (American Dietetic Association). CALIFORNIA:
47% of California's total water footprint is associated with meat and dairy and only 4% with households (Pacific Institute). Raising cattle takes up more of California's water than any other activity (Justin Fox of Bloomberg View, formerly of Harvard Business Review) and 15% of water used in CA is used just to grow alfalfa hay for dairy cows to eat (ABC News). Even though California produces half of the nation's fruits and vegetables including 90-99% of several of them (California Agricultural Resources Directory), alfalfa hay and forages for livestock receive far more water than any other California crop by far, including almonds, rice, and everything else intended for direct human consumption (Department of Land, Air, and Water Resources/UC Davis/Pacific Institute). 2/3 of California's water losses are due to agricultural irrigation in the Central Valley (NASA Senior Water Scientist Jay Famiglietti), where 70% of alfalfa hay in California is grown (UC Davis) while the land is sinking at a rate never before seen (USGS). MIDWEST:
About half of the water given to CA livestock is in the form of feed grown in the Midwest (New York Times). The Ogallala Aquifer in the American Midwest is gradually being depleted because of water abstractions for the irrigation of crops such as wheat and corn (Water Footprint Network), 70-80% of which grown in the US, respectively, are used as livestock feed (USDA, Nebraska Corn Board). The water level has dropped 100 feet in some areas (USGS). Major areas will peak by 2040, yet keeping this aquifer around forever "would require a drastic reduction of corn and cattle production" (Washington Post). GLOBAL:
In order for global croplands to produce enough food for people, the amount of total calories coming from animals instead of plants must drop to 5% at the most, but even maintaining that percentage would require a well organized and reliable system of food trade (Stockholm International Water Institute).
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