Brother, Can You Spare A Drop?

What happens when nature is deemed more important than people? Stuff like this.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California's state government is forming a 'water bank' to buy water for local water agencies at risk of shortages next year should a current drought persist, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said on Thursday.

Schwarzenegger in June declared the most populous U.S. state to officially be in drought and declared nine counties in its farm-rich Central Valley to be in a state of emergency because water supplies were so low after two years of below-average rainfall.

California's water shortages have been compounded by a federal court order to limit pumping water from the state's San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta to protect a species of fish.

The delta area east of San Francisco is the state's fresh water hub. Its water is conveyed across the state, including as far away as Southern California.

One of these days I'd like to see a fight between the animal protectionists and the biofuel crowd if a rare field mouse was found in an area that was picked for growing crops for cars. Meanwhile the rest of us might be able to come up with real solutions that benefit both nature and the humans who happen to inhabit it along with everything else.