Agriculture, Water Waste, Fertilizer Runoffs, And Food Production

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.

“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.

As a consequence of the ongoing California drought, cities across the state have been forced to pull water from alternate sources aside from their own. Shortages of rain and snowfall have prompted the people of California to extract water from reservoirs and basins that are getting increasingly close to running dry. Unfortunately, this issue is especially prevalent in Southern California where the population is quickly out growing the area’s fresh water supply. The general problem is that Southern California is lacking the fresh water supply necessary to sustain its inhabitants. The specific problem is that the Southern half of the state is not located near a secondary source of fresh water, unlike the northern part of the

California employs various irrigation systems. These irrigation systems are condensed into four different groups- sub-surface irrigation, surface irrigation (gravity), sprinkler irrigation, and drip/mico sprinkler irrigation (Orang, Snyder and Matyac). Sub-surface irrigation is when there is a pipe or open ditch that is blocked in order to force the water back to the crop root zone. Approximately two percent of the irrigation in California is done this way in 2001. There are six different type so surface (gravity) irrigation- wild flood, border, basin, furrow irrigation without sprinklers, wheel line sprinklers followed by furrow irrigation, and hand move sprinklers followed by furrow irrigation. Surface (gravity) irrigation is the most common form of irrigation in California; in 2001 it accounted for about 50% of all irrigation in California. There are various types of sprinkler irrigation systems. A few of the ones mentioned in this report include solid set, hand move, linear move, wheel line, and hose pull. The final category of irrigation systems is drip/micro sprinkler irrigation. Drip/micro sprinkler irrigation systems consist of having mini sprinklers above and below ground. This irrigation system made up about 33% of the irrigation in 2001. This type of irrigation would drastically help with water shortages. It would help because it doesn’t flood the fields with water

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.

Water control in California has always been problematic. Long drafts and severe floods show the coming of the state’s and world’s changing climate regional differences in water existence and demand for water. “A vast network of storage and conveyance facilities delivers water from the wetter parts of the state to population and farming centers in the Bay area, Southern California and the Sun Joaquin Valley. This network is now threatened by the physical and biological fragility of the system’s hub in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.” (2015) California is also living through one of the worst droughts in

Agriculture, probably more than any other human enterprise, is responsible for destabilizing our planet’s water supply. California and their emergency crisis on their low levels of water ultimately having a national controversial impact on the production of the agricultural industry.

Agriculture uses 80% of California’s water. The Central Valley, produces a quarter of the nation's food. For years, scientists have warned farmers to prepare for climate change.

California’s $45-billion-per-year agricultural industry is teetering on one leg beside a fifty-foot cliff. Without water, the idle fields that used to hold almost half of the nation’s fruit and nut plants will surely die off. The article states that “500,000 acres of land, or 6% of the entire state of

In addition to residents of California, many people throughout the United States depend on the goods grown in the golden state. The amount of food produced in California goes above what is produced in any other state. An article published in USA Today stated, “California produces nearly half of the nation 's fruits, vegetables and nuts” (“Water wars,” 2015). These foods account of almost half of the national supply and if production dropped due to the lack of water, millions of people would be affected. Many foods from California, one being

The state of California is in the midst of a five year drought. The results of which are beginning to reek havoc on the state’s municipalities, farms and wetland habitats. If the state continues as is supporting in thirsty agricultural industries, towns and cities at current levels, not only will this exacerbate already tenuous water supply problem within the state it will have ripple affects throughout the South West. Surrounding states will have to adopt even more stringent restriction for farms, cities and industries which may have further calamitous economic results. However, the most difficult questions like proper allocation or modifying water rights have yet to be answered and likely will not be resolved before California’s water situation worsens. Last April standing in front of a snowpack at just 5% of normal levels, Governor Jerry Brown declared the drought in California has reached a crisis level and instituted state-wide water restriction for towns, cities and municipalities. He called for a 25% reduction of water usage by urging Californians flush less, take shorter showers, and let lawns turn brown. Although agriculture accounts for roughly 80% (Northern California Water Association) of all human consumption of water this industry was exempted any restriction by the governor. With a drought which shows no sign of letting up, powerful farm and environmental lobbies, difficult to

Many states across the US look at California as the place where dreams are made. The Promised Land with a temperate climate and opportunities abound. Hundreds of thousands have migrated to the state over the past 100 years looking for jobs and taking advantage of all the state has to offer. This includes the apparent abundance of natural resources that are used by all residents across the sunshine state. This exodus has not been without effect. Currently, California is entering its 6th consecutive year of drought. This seems an unlikely situation considering the number of lakes and reservoirs across the state and that the Pacific Ocean solely makes up the west border. The lack of water impacts not only residents, but also the businesses that rely on the resource to produce. One such industry that is heavily reliant on water is agriculture. 2016 Agricultural reports indicate that California farmers, supply over ½ of the nation’s vegetables and over 2/3 of the nation’s fruits and nuts. As the severity of the drought increases with each year of declining rain and snowpack, opinions have been debated over the ethical use of water across the numerous communities within the state. Each city is making their claim to the groundwater that is underneath them. Every city, and sector within the city, provides some level of justification of their need for use of just a little more than their neighbor or counterpart. What is a ‘responsible’ amount and what are the just purposes of use?

Did you know that in California water is so scarce that farmers are making more money selling water their supply Than planting food? As we all know California has been experiencing a drought for several years now, the current drought started in 2011. California is changing a lot of their rules and regulations to help conserve water during this period of time. Different things that is happening is that the way people use water has been changed, the statewide water conservation dropping below eighteen percent in August 2016, and five million out of fifteen million dollars was given to private well owners and small water systems.

“70 percent of our corn farmland and 93 percent of soy farmland are planted with crops genetically engineered to resist pests and herbicides and increase crop yields. 60% of all the processed foods in the United States are genetically modified; a shocking statistic has the concern of many Americans. However, most people are uninformed about the beneficial impact that genetically modified food has on their diet. GM is the use of molecular biology technology to modify the inherited structure of organisms. Genetically engineered crops increase nutrients, drought tolerance, provide more food for growing populations, and resists diseases and pesticides. Genetically engineered foods are crucial to the improvement of economy, agriculture, society, and health choices. The creation of GM foods was one of the most significant breakthroughs in food industry. Genetically modifying foods is a key component that is harmless for the enrichment of our foods.