Delta Smelt Research Paper

How serious is the problem? Since 1930, the aquifer's water has been reduced by 11 percent (Lewis). The volume of water has decreased because the use of irrigation has increased so much since World War II. In 1949, 2.1 million acres were under irrigation. In 1969, the amount of irrigation land rose to 9.0 million acres; and in 1978, it rose to 13 million acres

Due to the decline of the water levels in Lake mead and Colorado River, this has a huge impact on the the southwest of Arizona. This hugely impacts the agricultural industries and ranchings because they face drought, scouring heat and water shortages which decreases their farms yields and productivity. Because Arizona farmers are dependent on irrigation for vegetation, with a water crisis they would have feed shortages which would cause them to sell their farms with weaker disaster relief support.

With the Colorado River supplying 43% of all agricultural water consumption and 41% of all Municipal and Industrial water supply in the basin, losing access to this resource entirely for one year would cost $1.434 trillion in combined state GDP [2]. Just a ten percent decline in water availability will reduce combined basin states GDP by $143.4 billion, reduce employment in the area by 1.6 million job-years, and reduce labor income by 87.1billion dollars per year [2]. In addition to the shrinking economic production, the cost of living in the area would also start to increase. The water in the Colorado River provides inexpensive energy for the parts of the lower basin states, the cost of the power has doubled from the initial contracts, and if water levels fall to 1000', the costs could quintuple for customers that are bound to purchase the hydroelectric power until 2067 [8]. While the internal economy of the basin would suffer, the effects would also ripple into the rest of the country. The agricultural Imperial Valley in California, for example, provides two-thirds of the country's vegetables in the winter [9]. Without proper irrigation and water supply, production rates

Yet, humans have limited control on natural events, so this only reinforces the importance of managing water wisely. Recently California’s government has begun to focus more on sustaining and restoring the water supply. Dale Kasler (2016) articulates in his article some of the steps they have decided to make to solve this serious issue. The government has made the following investments: “$415 million for watershed restoration and other environmental aid for Lake Tahoe; up to $335 million for two proposed reservoirs in California, including the Sites reservoir north of Sacramento; $880 million for flood-control projects on the American and Sacramento rivers in Sacramento; and $780 million for flood-control projects in West Sacramento” (para. 10). This could be the first step to restoring the water to California. But these

With 1,400 miles of water and 9 states using it- water is running out fast. Farmers that use the water are saying that they have more legal rights to use the water since they are growing food to give to everyone. Although, cities are needing water to keep their people alive as well.

On March 27, 2014, Wade Graham of the San Francisco Chronicle reported “The Water Revolution California needs.” California is having a severe drought. Wade Graham tells his readers that California is in a serious water crisis. The state of California needs to make strict changes to how water is being distributed amongst farmers and residents. Before all of California’s ecological system is destroyed. Wade Graham believes that water should be priced higher; that way people aren’t wasting water. Water is a limited resource that should never be wasted, and is probably California’s most valuable resource. Unfortunately, many people waste water; instead of conserve water especially when we live in the state of California where we are subject to

Have you thought about the importance of water recently? Water provides many things to people, from green lawns to nutritious food. An event that may have spurred these thoughts is the drought in California. They are struggling because there is simply not enough water in California to go around for all of its uses. Measures have been taken to conserve water, but cutbacks have been made on everything, even the giant industry of California agriculture. More water should be devoted to agricultural uses instead of residential uses in California for the following reasons:

So it’s not unlike having several straws in a glass, and everyone drinking at the same time, and no one really watching the level.” (Source 3). The farmers are always drilling the groundwater and the citizens get stuck with whatever is left. The farmers are more worried about the economy and their crops. It really isn’t fair if the farmers acquire almost all the water and the people don’t. We need water for almost everything. We can’t just be wearing dirty clothes or be smelling very repetitive everyday. If we also don’t take showers, we can receive illnesses and become really

California is undergoing a huge environmental crisis of water shortages across the state. California produces almost half of the US grown vegetables, fruits, and nuts. It produces more than 400 commodities (CDFA,2013). The drought has had a huge effect on agriculture because the farmers have received drastic cuts on their water usages which greatly affected their yields. The whole United States is feeling the effects due to the drought because of less crop yields, prices have

“Farmers too, are starting to worry. In Merced County, farm leaders are trying to stop two private landowners from selling as much as 7 billion gallons of good water to farmers in another country. They call it “groundwater mining” (Source 3).If we start fixing the problem now there will be no problem later in the future. “At this point in time, we don’t want to keep going on at this pace. It’s more of a temporary fix” (Source

How would you feel if you had a water shortage? That would mean shorter shower, less crops, and a big problem.In Colorado, the Colorado River is drying up. It is getting so populated in that area that they are running out of water. I feel bad for the farmers. What about their crops?

Except, this year, 2014, California farmers received no irrigation water and relied completely off of ground water which is slowly depleting the water table and instead, lifting the ground slowly. It’s the sad truth about the drought that no one seems to care about. I’m here to explain that this drought isn’t something to tweet about, it’s something to spread

Farmers in the Valley are drilling into the ground just to get water for their crops. That is a big problem because the more they drill it affects the land, the land starts to sink in and if it continues, their land is just going to be a sinkhole. Farmers use many gallons in a day for their crops and they don’t even get charged or fine for drilling into the ground and causing the land to sink in. If farmers cut down on the water that will become an issue because it won’t be enough for their crops and it will hurt the agriculture business. The problem is that if residents keep wasting so much water, eventually we won’t have enough water in the

Due to the shut off many farmers did not get the rationing of water they need to plant, so many fields will sit idle this fall and spring. California produces 53% of the nation’s fruits and vegetables. California is also the leading food producer to the world. Some people do not even know California is facing a water crisis, and more of them did not know California is the Nation’s food producer. In a recent survey 76% knew of the water crisis; however, only 56% of them knew that California is the leading food producer. With many of the state’s fields sitting idle this fall and spring it is going to cause the produce prices to increase. It also causes the loss of thousands of jobs. An outraged woman spoke out about the

California has often faced water scarcity throughout its history, and each year has brought its own challenges and impacts. Drought can affect ecosystems, government officials, and residents. To ecosystems, drought can cause a wildfire, melting ice, and the decline of stream and river flows. It also can lead to the death of many species such as polar bear and fishes. To recover drought 's damages, government officials need a large sum of money, and that is why they increase the taxes as well as enact water restrictions on residents. Besides, farmers and ranchers are affected in terms of sales. The shortage of food will cause the rise of food prices.