A Brief Note On The State Of California

California was in a massive drought just this past year which became known as a state emergency. Many homeowners and ranchers pumps went dry because California was deprived of water. Many farmers had to drill there wells deeper to reach the water table, so they could keep their crops alive. However, the homeowners who didn’t have the money to drill another well, had to go to their local Fire station or water supply to get their own water in a tank. Just this past winter California was hit with a lot of rain and they didn’t seem ready for it, therefore California should have acted upon the issues prior to the wet winter such as more dams, water reservoirs, functioning dams, or simply have pumps to push water underground to store it.

California has always had a warm climate, yet its supply of water has rarely been affected. In 2014 California’s water shortage issue truly began. Due to low amounts of snow in the winter in recent years, California has tried to equal out these shortages by drilling water from underground aquifers. Yet, underground aquifers recharge much slower than surface water sources. California has already made significant drawbacks to attempt to limit the amount of water they use, so these aquifers can recharge. But still resources continue going down and the Central Valley Aquifer’s water level is rapidly declining. Luckily, on April 7, 2017 the drought stage of emergency in California was ended. Yet the issue isn’t truly resolved. Glen MacDonald

After more than five years of drought in California, we are just now beginning to see an above-average precipitation,and this is leaving many to ask, "is the drought over?" This last drought was one of the worsts droughts California has experienced in history and it left many panicked and trying to come up with solutions. “Governor Jerry Brown even made one of the first cutback to farmers ' water rights since 1977, and ordered cities and towns to cut water use by as much as 36 percent ” (Zamora,et al..) Overall California has 39 million residents and on top of that California also grows an unbelievable amount of

Californians are being heavily fined for using a certain amount of water a month, which impacts the daily lives of everyone. Water is a natural resource that is crucial to everyone’s survival. Whether if it’s being used for cooking, showering, gardening, washing your car or just simply drinking purposes; water is a necessity for everyone. Though the bill has not yet been passed by congress and officially has not become a law, the issue still remains on the table. The drought in California has taken a massive toll on agriculture, the environment and infrastructure. The drought is on its route to damage California’s climate change. In the past three consecutive years the average rain fall has drastically decreased, and the winter temperatures have increased. Since majority of California’s water comes from the Western Rocky Mountains, the water supply there is dropping resulting in more strict laws and regulations on how much water can be consumed by the average

In the article “Richard Goode: California drought crisis is everyone’s fault,” Richard Goode (2015), states that California does not have enough water to provide and everyone is responsible for it. California’s water problem has been an ongoing situation for years. Hydrologists have predicted and advised us about the water deficit in California, but everyone chose to ignore it. California has been pumping its water straight from the aquifer for years and now it is becoming dry. An enormous amount of water is being pumped each year which causes the water table to go low. When the water table is low, wells go dry and people are left without water. Richard Goode mentions, that California will be in a drought until we are able to receive the same amount of groundwater that we withdraw. However, we might be too late.

Due to the lack of rain in the past few years, and particularly in the last few months, California faces severe drought. This is the worst drought in more than one hundred years. The impact of California drought affects community, agriculture, organic ranchers, and dairy farmers. Because of these facts, the United States must rethink the way it uses water. Californians alone are asked to reduce their water usage by twenty percent to prevent water waste.

There is a freshwater crisis in the United States that is currently taking place in California. Unfortunately, this is California’s third consecutive year of drought. California has recorded the lowest amount of water in their reservoirs and sadly a large number of them have already dried up. The drought is regional, and caused by multiple reasons such as lack of rain, global warming, pollution, and over usage. 100 percent of the state is in drought, with 82 percent of the land designated as in ‘extreme’ or ‘exceptional’ drought, these are the highest levels on the U.S. Drought Monitor scale. Thirty-seven million people are affected by the drought.

Currently California is facing a water shortage. The issue has been addressed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in February. He called for all state agencies to find the way to help in the statewide water shortage. This is California’s third consecutive year of drought and last spring and summer was the worst of the season because it had the lowest amount of water recorded and California’s reservoirs were at their lowest point as well which did not help in the water shortage. Many agencies have been acquired to find possible solutions to the water shortage, the Department of Water Resources has been directed to find solutions to the problem as well as asking people to conserve water.

In recent years, California’s water shortage has been an issue and in 2014 an alarming driest historical year has impacted the state in different ways. Because of the lack of rainfall and snow, California’s reservoirs are running insignificant water basins below their capacity. While water shortages are experienced slowly and throughout a length of time, the harshest impacts are noticeable in areas that produce California’s food where wells are used as resource for water in agriculture, and residential areas. Though, most agree the drought is an issue some do not agree. To understand the circumstances, this paper will look at the drought’s impacts on California’s economy for agricultural, famers, and consumers. Also, this written work will examine the environmental consequences of surface water obtainability, and the areas that have encounter the most devastating affects. For most, this paper will examine the allocations of the governor’s drought declaration, and the strategies used by residents to conserver water.

When addressing the California drought Governor Brown said, “I’ve declared this a state of emergency and I’m calling all Californians to conserve water in every way possible.” This really put into perspective how severe the drought had become. As of now the drought has been labeled as the worst drought in our history. Being forced into a State Of Emergency means the government has required citizens to change their behavior/lifestyle from what it was in order to cope with an issue at hand. The government has also been forced to follow therewith emergency plans as the drought seems to not be getting better. The drought has been caused by one main factor. That factor being climate change. And climate change has resulted in the mountain snowpack

Why do they want to regulate water ? We are having a drought in California because there are farmers that are taking a lot more water.I think they shouldn't limit water because it is making living a lot harder in other cities.Consequently,”When it first went dry, we used to drive to my daughter’s house in Visalia about 45 minutes away to have a shower”Source 2. Quotes an East Porterville Man. It was a big transition from having enormous amounts of water to not even being able to take a shower or wash yourself.It’s officially getting crazy.Ordinarily, “We go and we go, but it just seems like we can’t go fast enough”,Source 3, a drill worker speaks. It Explains we need laws because it shows that they are tired of being in this severe drought

No Californian is impervious to the California drought. The Bay Area, Sierra Mountains, and the Central Valley have all reported record drought conditions. Even with this obvious evidence that has been brought forth for about four years now, farmers have been continuously taking local citizen’s water for their own orchards. The California legislature needs to come to the decision that caps need to be put on large water users so the preexisting residents may receive water.

“Drought can best be thought of as a condition of water shortage for a particular user in a particular location” (DWR). Although droughts seem to come unexpectedly they actually form over a long period of time with most of their effects being felt by those dependent on annual rainfall. The Department of Water Resources explains that water reservoirs and groundwater basins are buffers for drought impacts and the drought will not be considered over until these storages have been fully replenished. In the past, California’s “significant multi-year droughts have been ended by an above-average water year where statewide precipitation was in the range of 150 percent average.” (DWR) Recently, California has experienced several consecutive years where rainfall and snowfall were well below average. This problem is important because the lack of precipitation means the state is compelled to

California is experiencing its worst drought in history. Throughout the state you can see lakes, rivers and streams drying up and leaving farmers and communities without water. Although it seems that science and global weather patterns caused this severe drought, however irresponsible usage of water paired with state laws on water rights and population growth have all played a role in prolonging this drought that is going into its eighth year. California’s central valley is the world leader in Agriculture, however the valley is also the perfect area for a drought to occur due to climate change. California is in a state of emergency, with the help of reduced water usage along with the state and federal government need to aid in lessening

This historical timeline of government mandates and corporate processes demonstrates just how much they have made the current drought even worse, and has transformed what would looked like a natural disaster into an unnatural one. The drought will have a tremendous social impact on California; executive orders now make it essentially illegal for citizens to take showers longer than five minutes due to punitive fees . People and corporations will have to drastically alter the way they do business now. Housing developments will have to subside and the drought will, I imagine, make housing much more expensive, thus forcing people to move away. Peoples’ idea of the California lifestyle will shift into one that embraces conservancy and environmental awareness. The same goes for the farming industry. Droughts in California have always been a threat to the state of California, but it’s a shame that these historical developments had to make this problem even worse. Yet, the state will have to adapt whether its citizens like it or