California is facing its fourth straight year of drought and may only have a year of water left according to NASA. We can all agree to take shorter showers, stop watering our lawns and not ask for water at restaurants, but that's only a drop in the bucket. Half of California's water goes to the production of meat, dairy and eggs*–and yet no mandatory water restrictions have been imposed on the livestock industry.

While skipping an entire shower might save 14 gallons of water, skipping a quarter pound hamburger saves 500 gallons of water. That costs us 2,000 gallons of water to produce a single pound of beef. That's 4 million gallons of water per ton of beef, which includes 145,000 gallons of blue water (water stored in lakes, rivers and aquifers). 122,800 gallons of blue water per ton of butter. 121,000 gallons of blue water per ton of pork.**

On top of all the water California is using to produce livestock locally, 100 billion gallons of the state's reserves are used to grow alfalfa for cattle feed that's exported to China. In this time of crisis, we cannot afford to allow this waste to continue.***

We do need water for agriculture, but we need to use that water as efficiently as possible. California produces nearly half of the fruit and vegetables grown in the U.S. But it takes only 11,300 gallons of water to grow a ton of vegetables. 38,800 gallons to grow a ton of fruit. As for protein, it takes only 102 gallons of water to produce a pound of wheat protein.**

Given that there's no end in sight to the drought, it's critical that statewide mandatory water reductions be put in place to lessen the burden caused by the livestock industry's excessive use of our dwindling water supply. As Governor of California, we have every confidence you'll do everything in your power to prevent the vast majority of our remaining water from being co-opted by the livestock industry. 

*Assessment of California's Water Footprint
http://pacinst.org/publication/assessment-of-californias-water-footprint/

**Meat Makes the Planet Thirsty
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/08/opinion/meat-makes-the-planet-thirsty.html?_r=0

***California Drought: Why farmers are 'exporting water' to China 
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26124989