Drought Stricken California Turns to Oil Industry Wastewater for Crop Irrigation

http://wakeup-world.com/2015/08/24/drought-stricken-california-turns-to-oil-industry-wastewater-for-crop-irrigation/

24th August 2015

By Carolanne Wright



As drought persists in California, oil behemoth Chevron has found an new way to dispose of its fracking wastewater: sell it to U.S. farmers in California. About 21 million gallons of wastewater is used on 45,000 acres of crops, which equates to roughly 10% of Kern County’s farmland in the Central Valley.

The program has been in effect for twenty years, due to persistent water shortages in the region. But with the current historic drought now into its fourth year, concerns over the practice of recycling this industrial wastewater are bubbling to the surface, notably because the fresh water that has historically been used to dilute the fracking wastewater is now in short supply — which may in turn increase the amount of petrochemical contaminants found in the water being used for agriculture.

Researchers are worried these toxic chemicals are then making their way into the food supply.

California doesn’t have statewide regulations for recycled wastewater used in agriculture. Instead, permits are issued to local water districts by nine regional water boards. Once a year, water districts are required to provide toxicity data to their water board, but certain components — like heavy metals, radioactive materials and chemicals used in fracking — are excluded due to cost. One water district has only tested for radioactive elements a few times over the last two decades.