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Some California Farmers Pay Water Fee to Protect Aquifers. Does It Work? - The New York Times

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With aquifers nationwide in dangerous decline, one part of California has tried essentially taxing groundwater. New research shows it’s working. Coral Davenport reported in the Pajaro Valley, meeting farmers, regulators and C.E.O.s and visiting oceanfront strawberry fields. Photographs by Nathan Weyland. The strawberry, blackberry and raspberry fields of the Pajaro Valley stretch for 10 miles along the coast of California’s Monterey Bay, jeweled with fruit from April through early December. The valley’s 30,000 acres of farmland are also ruffled with emerald lettuces, brussels sprouts and varieties of kale, bringing in roughly $1 billion in revenue to the region each year. All that abundance doesn’t come cheap. While American farmers elsewhere have watered their crops by freely pumping the groundwater beneath their land, growers in Pajaro must pay hefty fees for irrigation water — making it one of the most expensive places to grow food in the country, if not the world. The cost: Up to $

Coral Davenport reported in the Pajaro Valley, meeting farmers, regulators and C.E.O.s and visiting oceanfront strawberry fields. Photographs by Nathan Weyland. Dec. 29, 2023 The strawberry, blackberry and raspberry fields of the Pajaro Valley stretch for 10 miles along the coast of California’s Monterey Bay, jeweled with fruit from April through early December. The valley’s 30,000 acres of farmland are also ruffled with emerald lettuces, brussels sprouts and varieties of kale, bringing in roughly $1 billion in revenue to the region each year. All that abundance doesn’t come cheap. While Ameri

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