> ideal mediterranean climate
Not such an ideal climate evidently, since they're so desperate to import water.
Not such an ideal climate evidently, since they're so desperate to import water.
Irrigation agriculture, rather than depending on natural water for growing, was an innovation humanity developed 6000+ years ago.
It used to be a great climate for growing things, a century ago. But that was during an abnormally wet period in Californian history. California is usually much dryer than it was a century ago, and is drying out once again. In California, people think one or two centuries of experience with the land is a long time. In most of the world, that's a joke. Try farming the land for a thousand years before you form such expectations.
I assume your opinion is probably that the water projects in California were all mistakes, but it’s not accurate to say that at some point the Central Valley was naturally ideal for growing things without artificial irrigation from far away.
but “does not require artificial irrigation” was not what I meant by “ideal climate.”