I'm sure you've seen these types of graphics before, but it's worth remembering—especially in light of the severe drought in California and Washington—just how much water is required to grow the food we eat. This New York Times-produced graphic shows how much of California's water the average American consumes by their eating habits, noting that "the average American consumes more than 300 gallons of California water each week by eating food that was produced there."

Among the worst water-guzzling foods: avocados, grapes, almonds, rice, meat, eggs, olives, and melons.

With California's water shortages, farmers are taking extreme measures to irrigate their crops. As the LA Times recently reported, "More companies and irrigation districts are seeking permits to sell and use treated oil field water. The heightened interest has raised concerns over the adequacy of current safety measures to prevent produce from being contaminated by oil production fluids."

Testing of recycled oil field wastewater used on about 45,000 acres of farmland in the Central Valley shows the water contains small amounts of potentially harmful chemicals, including oil, benzene and acetone.