Study: farmers should be first to receive water

As the California drought continues to loom over the state, a survey conducted by the Associated Press reveals how residents across the nation feel about water cutbacks. Despite the common notion that farmers – and the agricultural industry – are hurting drought-stricken California, the study concluded that residents, across various states, believe farmers should be the first to receive water.

While it’s easier for homeowners and businesses outside of the agricultural industry to cutback on water usage, it’s much more difficult for farmers to cut back and continue supplying crops to feed the nation, the survey found.

“We need to take care of people first – and food,” William Clark-Jessimy, 33, of Queens, New York, told the Associated Press.

Survey participants were asked to rank the competing needs of water sources by importance:

• 74 percent said agriculture should be a top or high priority
• 66 percent said residential needs
• 54 percent said wildlife and ecosystems
• 42 percent said business and industry

Although the media has continually said people in suburban areas tend to blame farmers for the California drought,about three-fourths of those surveyed lived in an urban or suburban area. That same number felt as though agriculture should be a top priority when deciding who receives water supply.
“It’s getting kind of serious when you are not giving water to people who are producing food,” 63-year-old Cheryln Hendricks told the Associated Press.