2011 Texas Drought

No one could have foresaw a drought occurring and even the most experienced farmers might have thought if a drought were to hit it would not last long. Worster states, “Over the nation as a whole, the 1930s drought was in the words of a Weather Bureau scientist, “the worst in the climatological history

4. Inventory Resources and Identify Groups at Risk- It is crucial to take an inventory of natural, biological, and human resources. For obvious reasons water is the most valuable natural resource in this situation; its location, accessibility, and quality. The biological resources refer to the quality and quantity of grasslands or rangelands, forests, wildlife, and so forth. Human resources are the labor needed to develop water resources and haul water, process citizen complaints, provide technical assistance, and direct citizens to available services. It is important to define the exposure of various parts of the region to drought hazard to determine which groups are at risk (Wilhite, Hayes, & Knutson, 2005).

“Economists at the University of California, Davis said that agriculture, once a $44 billion annual business in California, will suffer a financial hit of $2.2 billion due to revenue losses and higher water costs” (Associated Press, 2014). Many farmers are going out of business because the production costs have increased with rising inflation, while revenue has decreased. Others have reduced their farmland plantations which decreases the crop production. Some of the affected crops include oranges, pistachios and rice. One example of how this affects the nation is the California almonds. “California [is] the source of eighty percent of the world’s almonds” (Bloomberg, 2014). This year farmers had to come up with new tactics to rescue the nut from drought “by diverting the water used for vegetables and drilling more water wells to keep the trees hydrated” (Bloomberg, 2014). Farmers are not the only group of workers affected by the drought.

The low of water affect the most important supply of agriculture in the U.S. California agriculture produce more than 90% of food to the United States. The drought causes a massive economic problem from two directions. Katie Fehrenbacher from The Guardian states that agriculture industry has lost $1.5bn and more than 17,000 seasonal job. That statistic shows that the drought causes the agriculture a huge loss of money and farmers do not have jobs anymore. As a result the prices of food will rise and the cost of water will decrease. Since 2011 when the draught begun no one take a position or talk about it as a real problem they did not start to think about a real solutions to solve the problem until now. The mandatory cut of using water is a temporary solution the water will not last for more than one year. Reduce agriculture will hit the economy of the state and cause many problems because the lack of jobs. The number of Crimes will rise in the areas that suffer mostly from draught; people cannot find food or water. Farmers digging for water underground which increase the consumption of the underground water by 40%. Also, as far they go underground the amount of salt in water increase,

Texas has received record amounts of rainfall, causing serious flooding all throughout the state of Texas. According to an article published on June 3rd, Houston is looking at an economic impact of roughly 550 million dollars. This interests me greatly because I live in Texas, and seeing prices going up, especially on local produces, is something that will directly impact me. Because of the record rain falls, local farmers are especially in a world of hurt as their crops were destroyed by the rain. For local farmers markets, and local grocery stores that support local farmers, I think you'll start to see a raise in prices as the farmers will be having to make up their margins somewhere. Also, I think you'll start to see Texas lean on other

Meanwhile, if water to farming is cut, buyers go elsewhere to get their produce. Of course other places grow the same produce and those other places have the space to expand and they get plenty of water while being taxed less. California farms may never get those buyers back after the drought ends. Almonds are California’s fifth most profitable export. Cut their water and you cut billions from the government budgets. Which results in less funding of California programs. Nobody starves from lack of wine, artichokes, walnuts, kiwis, plums, celery, garlic, cauliflower, spinach, or carrots. We will live. Besides, the video assumes that all those can’t be grown elsewhere. They already are growing elsewhere. The California drought does not affect the country negatively. It affects California negatively, If California’s farming is cut, buyers flock to other farms across the country. These other farms expand, hire new workers, buy new machinery, etc. Nobody starves, everyone outside of California benefits. But inside of California, you lose thousands of jobs in the farming, machinery, distribution channels to other states. Not to mention the higher costs of

“California’s water future is increasingly uncertain,” says Heather Cooley, in her article California Needs Better Water Management and Pricing Policies (Source A). Agriculture uses 80 percent of California’s constrained water supply and proves to be the primary source of California’s drought. There has been no permanent and largely successful conservation effort to save water. However, with a reformed water management and conservation system, California’s largest industry, agriculture, can thrive while saving water at the same time.

California is going on a four-year drought, having many devastating implications that are being felt by everyone in the state. The population hit the hardest has been the farmers of California. California, being economically driven by its agricultural production, is losing hundreds of thousands of jobs every year due to the lack of water. Farmers’ use 80% of water the state produces, directly influencing their production (Mieszkowski, 2014). The country heavily relies on California for much of its produce such as tomatoes, nuts, avocados, strawberries, broccoli, grapes and various others (Cooley et al. 2015). In 2014, harvested acreage was 6.9 million acres, the lowest it has been for the past 15 years. Farmers are now being forced to use significantly less land then before, but also ditch old irrigation techniques and implement new techniques to better conserve water; maximizing production as much as possible in order to combat the drought.

Over thousands of years water has been a very valuable element in our everyday lives. Now we are being faced with a shortage of water affecting not only us, but future generations as well. The drought has become an extreme issue that has affected the United States. For example, in Texas the dry spell has had an impact in families, politics and law, religion, health care, and mass media.

The present drought is alarming to residents in California especially those in the agriculture sphere of the world’s seventh largest economy. At the current state, the water system has been overwhelmed throughout the state by the change in climate, increased industrial agriculture and water-rich consumption that has had nearly no restrictions until recently.

The farmers have faced challenges with the limited amount of water to supplement the variety of crops throughout many years, but on January 17, 2014 the Governor Jerry Brown according to an article from USGS named, “California Drought” brought to attention the issue of the drought. The limited resource of water devastated the farmers because the crops were in danger of becoming dry and useless. Since the awareness of the limited water supply the farmers had to find a way to manage the crops water usage. According to the article “How Farmers Conserve Water in a Drought”, by Elizabeth Held

"It 's like if you woke up one morning and lost 40 percent of the equity in your house," Dan Macon, a Northern California sheep rancher, says. California has been in a severe drought for three years. Macon and other farmers in the state are being forced to sell their stock and find alternative work to pay the bills on top of taking care of their once prosperous farms. Not only is the drought affecting the way these farmers and their families live, but it’ll eventually start affecting our food system as long as the conditions persist. It’s time for the whole world to start making sacrifices in these hard times or there will be difficult times ahead.

In 2011 Texas entered into a drought that was the worst the state had seen since modern record keeping began 1895. During the driest months of this drought, the water level of two of the largest water resources for two-thirds of the state were measured at 28 percent less than the average water level. In summer of 2013 central Texas received numerous rains, and many people believed it was a sign that the drought had eased, Unfortunately Texas was far from out of the drought. Today Texas water levels barley sit above one-third full. This is a big problem for Texans everywhere because, Texas uses water for everything from its drinking water, to its agriculture, to its recreational activities. According to the TWDB by 2060 the drought will have cost Texas $116 billion dollars in income loses, 1.1 million job losses, and a decrease in population of about 1.4 million people.

Droughts The articles, “Decade of Drought” by Anne Capeci and “ Drought Report” by Jennifer Johnson both discuss about droughts. “Decade of Drought” by Anne Capeci is more information than “Drought Report” by Jennifer Johnson because it depicts the negatives effects of a drought. To begin, “Decade of Drought” by Anne Capeci explains how it effects the world. For example, “Meanwhile, hot, dry conditions increased the threat of destructive wildfires”(93).This shows a wildfires will happen if it hot and dry conditions and that will make dire wildfire. Capeci also reports “The price of olive oil rose sharply in 2014”(94).This shows that the olive price went more up and people will pay more than they were.

Drought is another factor of climate change that causes severe damages to agriculture and livestock. The effects of drought on agricultural production and livestock holding can be a detrimental issue and result in quality dissatisfaction of products. The agricultural industry can be affected by drought both economically and environmentally. The economical effects of drought on crops and animals can lead to the loss of money and time. When droughts occur farmers lose money because they will have to spend more money earned from their