In 2012 US to Export to CN Alfalfa Grown With 50bn Gallons of H2O

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Peter Culp and Robert Glennon, Parched in the West but Shipping Water to China, Bale by Bale;
Exporting water—embedded in alfalfa destined to feed cattle—is the odd offshoot of tangled, antiquated laws. Wall Street Journal, Oct 6, 2012 (op-ed).
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB ... 53432417208116.html

Quote:

"In 2012, the drought-stricken Western United States will ship more than 50 billion gallons of water to China. This water will leave the country embedded in alfalfa—-most of it grown in California—-and is destined to feed Chinese cows.

"Even though a large segment of the population is lactose intolerant * * * [m]ilk consumption has tripled in 10 years and is expected to increase another 50% by 2015.

"But despite China's vast landmass, pasturage is relatively scarce—and so the Chinese are buying alfalfa, particularly from the US. The trade is booming. Alfalfa exports to China from America ballooned to 177,423 metric tons in 2011 from 2,321 metric tons in 2007, and they are on pace to exceed 380,000 metric tons in 2012.

"Alfalfa is a water-guzzling crop [due to "due to scorching heat, salty soil" of Imperial Valley]—and the water embedded in the alfalfa that the US will export to China in 2012 is enough to supply the annual needs of roughly 500,000 families.

"New Zealand's highest-value export these days is powdered milk destined for China. Instead of exporting alfalfa grown in the water-starved West, the U.S. could capture more of the economic benefit of the embedded water by feeding it to cows here, supporting the growth of the dairy and milk-processing industries. Trade policies should encourage development of such value-added activities

Note:
(a) Alfalfa
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfalfa
( perennial; in the pea family; The English name is adopted from the Spanish, which in turn is derived from the Arabic al-fisfisa "fresh fodder;"  "has a deep root system, sometimes stretching more than 15 meters (49 ft). This makes it very resilient, especially to droughts")

Please read sections 1 (Ecology) and 2 (Culture) and view photos and map.
(b)
(i) Imperial Irrigation District
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_Irrigation_District
(formed in 1911; in the Imperial Valley
(ii) Imperial Valley
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_Valley
(The Valley is bordered by the Colorado River to the east and, in part, the Salton Sea to the west; Imperial Valley was so named by the Imperial Land Company, in hopes of attracting settlers)

Click "Colorado River" and you will see what the first quotation means.
(iii) Agriculture in California’s Desert: The Salton Sea and Imperial Valley. Earth Snapshot, Mar 8, 2009.
http://www.eosnap.com/lakes/agri ... nd-imperial-valley/
(iv) Salton Sea
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salton_Sea
(The lake occupies the lowest elevations of the Salton Sink; The sea is fed by the New, Whitewater, and Alamo rivers; The Sea was created by a flood in 1905, in which water from the Colorado River flowed into the area; Salton Sea is the largest lake in California)
(v) Salton Sink
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salton_Sink
(a result of crustal stretching and sinking by the combined actions of the San Andreas Fault and the East Pacific Rise)
(A) Click "San Andrea Fault" and view map 2. You will appreciate how Salton Sink was created.
Most important of this Wiki page is the map identifying the All-American Canal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All-American_Canal
(80-mile (130 km) long; conveys water from the Colorado River into the Imperial Valley; It is the Imperial Valley's only water source; completed in 1942)

(c) United States Bureau of Reclamation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Bureau_of_Reclamation
(a federal agency under the US Department of the Interior; oversight and operation of the diversion, delivery, and storage projects that it has built throughout the western United States for irrigation, water supply, and attendant hydroelectric power generation; the largest wholesaler of water in the country; formed in 1902)
(d) Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacramento-San_Joaquin_River_Delta
(The Delta is formed at the western edge of the Central Valley by the confluence of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers and lies just east of where the rivers enter Suisun Bay)