There are many negative externalities associated with the dairy industry, not the least of which is the killing and exploitation of animals. But what is often ignored is the depletion of local water resources, which can leave surrounding communities without reliable access to potable water.
Fresh water may be the most significant shared resource on earth. Most animals, including humans, are made mostly of water, and whatever contaminates or depletes water sources eventually affects us all. Yet globally, water remains poorly protected and weakly regulated. While many governments impose royalties on resources extracted from the earth, water is frequently treated as an exception, allowing corporations to use it with minimal restriction.
According to the FAO, agriculture accounts for approximately 69% of global freshwater withdrawals. Within that dominant share, around one third relates to animal agriculture. This concentration of demand places a lot of strain on rivers, aquifers, and watersheds, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions where water scarcity is already a daily reality.
When weak regulation is combined with corporations’ relentless pursuit of profit maximization, the results are predictable. Across the United States, Mexico, and many other regions, communities are discovering that wells are running dry while industrial operations continue largely uninterrupted. Corporations have the capital to drill deeper or relocate, while households are left without reliable running water.
Dairy production is a major contributor to this crisis. A 2020 study published in Water Resources Research estimated that global livestock feed production uses roughly 4,387 cubic kilometers of water each year, with approximately 18 percent of that demand linked specifically to the dairy sector. To put this into perspective, the dairy industry alone consumes the equivalent of more than 300 million Olympic-sized swimming pools of water every year. This demand is projected to increase further due to population growth, rising dairy consumption in many regions, and climate-driven changes in precipitation and temperature.
Despite the scale of agricultural water use and the growing risks to communities, existing regulations have failed to keep pace with industrial practices. One of the most exploited regulatory loopholes is the distinction between exporting water and exporting products made with water. Many jurisdictions restrict bulk water exports across borders, yet place few limits on water-intensive commodities. For example, alfalfa, a primary feed crop for dairy cows, is very water-intensive. As a result, regions already experiencing water stress are effectively exporting vast quantities of “virtual water” in the form of animal feed.
Countries such as China and those in the Middle East import alfalfa grown in places where water scarcity is already severe, therefore shifting the burden onto local ecosystems and communities.
Instead of climate change being a warning bell needed to end animal agriculture in arid regions of the world, not only for the health of their population but also for the continued existence of society as we know it, it became a rallying call to further exploit animals by running other countries dry. This is only going to get worse as climate change slowly turns our planet into an oven.
In 2018, Saudi Arabia banned the domestic cultivation of water-intensive crops like alfalfa due to its own water shortages. The dairy industry did not disappear. Instead, companies such as Almarai, the largest dairy producer in the Middle East, expanded foreign farmland investments to continue growing alfalfa abroad. Through its subsidiary Fondomonte, the company acquired thousands of acres in Arizona and Southern California to secure feed for its dairy herds.
An investigation in Arizona revealed that local residents’ wells were running dry while corporate operations continued pumping groundwater. Although Fondomonte’s lease for wells in Butler Valley was terminated in 2024, the company continues to operate pumps in the Ranegras Plain basin. Arizona’s Attorney General has since filed a lawsuit seeking to halt these withdrawals under public nuisance laws, illustrating both the severity of the harm and the difficulty of responding once damage is already underway.
Some may disagree about the toxic effects of the animal agriculture industry, but most should agree that running out of water in your home or city to produce dairy or meat we don’t need is foolish and the kind of animal exploitation everyone can easily oppose.
The Colorado River offers another stark illustration of misplaced priorities. The river supplies water to roughly one in ten Americans and has been locked in a prolonged megadrought intensified by climate change. Residential use accounts for only about 13 percent of the river’s withdrawals. In contrast, crop irrigation uses roughly 79 percent, and approximately 70 percent of that irrigation supports livestock feed crops such as alfalfa and corn silage. While states continue to miss deadlines for negotiating sustainable water-sharing agreements, reservoirs like Lake Mead and Lake Powell remain at historically low levels. Some Indigenous nations have even pursued legal personhood status for the river in an effort to strengthen its protection.
Climate change will require difficult decisions, yet changing what we eat is among the simplest and most immediately effective actions available. Prioritizing potable water for households, sanitation, and ecosystems must take precedence over directing this finite resource to industries that are neither necessary nor ethically defensible.
Beyond animal agriculture, the beverage industry represents another major source of exploitation. Large beverage corporations extract enormous volumes of water, often in water-stressed regions, and resell it to those who can afford it, either bottled or as soft drinks. The list of actions by large beverage corporations that exploit animals is nearly endless, including illegal land appropriation, union-busting activities, astroturfing, or corruption of scientists, all while diminishing access to water for both human and non-human animals.
It is important to acknowledge that animal agriculture and beverage production are not the only industrial pressures on freshwater. Rapid growth in sectors such as data centers and artificial intelligence is increasing water demand through cooling systems, electricity generation, and manufacturing. At the same time, poor governance, short-term political decision-making, and chronic underinvestment in water infrastructure continue to worsen scarcity.
Water is necessary for all life and remains one of our most mismanaged resources. Allowing animal agriculture and beverage corporations nearly unlimited access to freshwater, even as communities lose basic services, is unacceptable.
What is ethically wrong with killing, animal testing or any other form of animal exploitation is not where it occurs in the supply chain, or whether it occurs to an animal that looks like a cow, but that it occurs at all. Always support products, services, certifications and organizations that align with your beliefs. Ours are clear and our dedication to our vision is unwavering.
