Coachella Valley Drought

I.) Water and Drought in California: Facts and data show that the weather we are experiencing here in California is that there is a difference between La Niña that brings the ocean temperature down and making them cooler and El Niño brings much warmer ocean temperatures. Currently california is experiencing a weakened La Niña. With a 55% chance of this weather continuing for the next 3 months. La Niña affect patterns of rainfall, atmospheric pressure, and global atmospheric circulation. Even though California is in a severe drought, with coordination, modernization, and compromise, California should be able to provide enough water for a growing population and growing economy.

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

California’s continuous drought not only affects California, but essentially impacts the entire food system. Could you imagine an entire state unable to contribute to the growing demands of a thriving economy? As California enters its fifth year of drought the consequences of an ever depleting natural resource, water, continues to negatively impact landscape plants, agricultural production, wildlife, and the economy. The lack of water in California has the potential to have a devastating effect on an ever thriving economy.

The state of California is getting worse instead of better. “Just over 95 percent of the state now faces severe drought conditions and nearly 60 percent is in exceptional drought the highest of five rankings by the US drought monitor”(source 2).

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.

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

Due to the drought, Governor Jerry Bown of Californina, ordered a statewide twenty- five percent cut in urban water consumption. This statewide water consumption cut will result in, “forcing the state’s biggest water users, which include some of the wealthiest communities, to bear the brunt.” The water consumption for the residents of Cowan Heights is higher than the residents of Compton because they can afford it. Stephanie Pincetl, the director of the California Center for Sustainable Communities at the University of California, Los Angeles, states, “They have bigger properties. They are less price sensitive. So if you can afford it, you use it.” The attitudes toward water consumption are different between the residents of the two cities. One resident of Compton, Alysia Thomas, stated, “she tells her children to skip a bath on days when they do not play outside; that holds down the water bill.” Although both cities have different attitudes; they both have to face the same circumstances if they do not cut back on water consumption. California distribute fines to those who do not conserve water. One wealthy resident of Cowan Heights, Mr. Sears, bimonthly water bill was regularly between four- hundred and five-hundred dollars, but it has went as high as seven-hundred and fifty six

Imagine walking into your house after being outside on a scorching summer’s day. Beads of sweat drip down your face, and you are completely parched. You turn on your faucet for a glass of water, but nothing comes out. This may sound like something out of a post-apocalyptic movie scene, but it can soon become a reality for those living on the west coast. Decades of unsustainable water practices have led to record low levels of water resources across the western states of the United States. Michelle Nijhuis of National Geographic reports that the western states of California, Nevada, and Arizona face a great deal of issues, due to the fact that their past system of water irrigation has become unsustainable. The first main factor behind this

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.

California is known for its vast production of agriculture; having some of the most fertile soil on Earth, a 4-year drought is not what California wants. The lack of water in California has had dramatic effects within the state. In fact California’s governor, Jerry Brown, has declared it a state of emergency. A drought is a serious weather condition in which many people and the environment is entirely affected. A drought is essentially a difference in the amount of water in a region and the amount of water that the people and the environment in that region needs (Mann et al. 2015). The definition of a drought varies throughout regions depending on the amount of water each region receives and needs. The time limit to announce a drought also

It is no secret the state of California has been in a drought for the past few years. Restrictions have been made, measures have been taken and as a whole the populace in California is well aware of their duty to limit their water consumption as much as they can. But the urban usage of water in California is only a fourth of the agricultural usage. It becomes a huge question on whether or not the people of the state can even make a big enough impact to help with the drought. The real answer is that while they can make an impact it is catastrophically insignificant compared to the ones made by even a small change in agricultural practices would cause; farmers and companies have the same responsibility to help the state that any other person

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.

One of the biggest world problems in California is water and how bad of a drought we are in. In 2011 our water level was average as we move on in the years you can see a dramatic change from 2011 to 2015. Also during the time from 2011 to 2015 63 trillion water was wasted according to an article by Nick Kirkpatrick. The water has become such a great concern that California is now starting to put water restrictions for residents that live in california. Such as only being able to water 2 times a week, will be charge if seen wasting water such as car washes, broken sprinkler, etc. Although there is really no way of bringing water or forcing it in California I have ideas that we can work with from what we have already.

The drought that has been occurring in the state of California, has brought on many complications. The drought is currently on its third year of dryness in the state. According to USAToday, the past three years have been the worst consecutive years of precipitation in the last 119 years of recorded weather data in the state. The California drought is just of many climate changes that have occurred throughout planet Earth’s time, while others are saying, global warming is to blame. Many ask if this problem can change into a more complicated situation, while others ask what could happen if this problem is left unresolved.

California has been in a drought for about 4 years now and it has been considered the most severe drought in the last 15 years. The California drought has been causing multiple ongoing problems for the last few years. The state of California has tried to take actions toward ending the drought, but the efforts put forth are clearly not enough to end this drought. The main focus in ending the drought has been water conservation, but many California resident are taking the seriousness of the drought too lightly. The drought has already caused several problems, for example water shortages, dying crops, and wildfires all across the state. If serious actions towards ending the drought are not taken soon, California will continue to surface or may get worse. There are a few ideas underway to try and end the drought in California such as, desalination, wastewater recycling, ground water digging, and the main focus water conservation. All of the solutions to ending the drought will cost a good amount of money, so the fact of the matter is which idea would be most efficient and less costly.