Jay Familglietti, NASA’s top water scientist, recently warned that California has only a year’s supply of water left in storage facilities and the backup groundwater is rapidly depleting. Despite this harrowing fact, California has no backup plan to address this crisis.
“California has no contingency plan for a persistent drought like this one (let alone a 20-plus-year mega-drought), except, apparently, staying in emergency mode and praying for rain,” stated Familglietti. “In short, we have no paddle to navigate this crisis.”
UPDATE: California Gov. Jerry Brown issues ineffectual, mandatory water restriction as one-third of our nation’s crops are threatened. See Page 3 for updates.
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Reason 4736284 not to move to California
In 2007, U.S. district judge Oliver Wanger ruled that the pumping that annually sent about 6 million acre-feet of water to Kern County and beyond was threatening the delta smelt’s existence by disrupting water flows for the fall spawning season. Citing the protections accorded by the Endangered Species Act, he ordered pumping for agricultural uses curtailed by one-third until the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service could evaluate the situation. After studying the issue for more than a year, the USFWS determined last December that pumping by the SWP and CVP “was likely to jeopardize the continued existence of the delta smelt and adversely modify its critical habitat.” The agency issued plans to keep Judge Wanger’s restrictions in place. According to Tulare County supervisor Allen Ishida, “California was forced to let 660,000 acrefeet of its freshwater supplies run out to the ocean. That was enough water to supply the entire Silicon Valley for two years.”
Further curbs may come, on behalf of the delta smelt as well as other species. The USFWS and the California Fish and Game Commission are moving forward with threatened and endangered designations for Chinook salmon, steelhead, and the longfin smelt, presaging further water reductions for agriculture.
The result of these irrigation pump shutdowns is that hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland are being forced out of production. Kern County authorities estimated that 145,000 of the 850,000 acres that are typically irrigated were idled or under-irrigated last year. The loss was pegged at $100 million in the county alone. A study by UC-Davis estimated San Joaquin Valley farm revenue losses to range from $482 million to $647 million. Total California agricultural economic losses could hit $3 billion this year.
But those are just abstract financial numbers. Behind those figures are real people, farmers and business owners and families who are losing livelihoods and are being forced to uproot and flee. The UC-Davis study conservatively suggested 24,000 to 32,000 Central Valley jobs were destroyed by environmental rulings designed to protect endangered wildlife. It further estimated job losses could approach 80,000 or more if restrictions intensified. Communities are withering for a government-imposed lack of water. It is little exaggeration to say that the farmers of the most valuable farming region in the nation are facing extinction.
Read more at http://spectator.org/articles/40982/emptying-reservoirs-middle-drought
Having just left California for Washington I can honestly say, ” we reap what we sow.”
This is the home of Pelosi, Boxer, and Governor Moon Beam. If Harry Reid were from California I’d call it the total package.
If the drought killed all the democrats in California the economy would repair itself in less than a year. The place is a drain on the American spirit.
The ocean has enough water, use the evaporative desalination plant model and build a solution. Moaning about the problem is a waste of everyone’s time and money.
It’s a whole state that votes for a living.
The libs love for the delta smelt far outweigh the love for people.
Deport all illegals so our resources last longer.
Just thank nestle