History Of California Sheep Rancher, By Dan Macon, A Northern California Cattle Rancher

While the Midwest may be “the breadbasket of the United States,” the Central Valley of California is the entire rest of the Thanksgiving meal on the table for the country. With its fertile soil, Mediterranean climate, and expansive flat land, the Central Valley produces more than 250 different crops that produce more than $20 billion annually, meaning it provides over half the produce grown in the United States. Recent droughts, recession, and growing urbanization in California have changed the conversation around farming practices and the large role family farms still play in the state. Popular opinions circulating the urban areas were calling into question the sacrifices farms were making throughout the drought, believing they got a

The world’s supply of water is in steep decline as more and more is being used each year by more and more people around the globe. Currently, 800 million people do not have access to a drinking source. At the current rate, 1.8 billion people could be living in areas of absolute water scarcity by 2025.

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:

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.

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

One more efficient way people could conserve would be by having their house inspected for leaks as they account for 16% of our water supply If farmers cut back by just 5% it would be equal to the 25% that the cities in California are required to conserve. The main goal of the city-wide water restrictions

“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.

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.

There are reasons that we should limit the water because we are in a drought.“I’ve been here in the same house for 37 years and this has never happened before,” says Jose Lopez, 67(source 2). But this is not a reason to limit the water because the food that the farmers produce is the food for about ⅓ of the world and if you stop them from using the water the food supply will diminish and thomas malthus theory that the world will run out of food will come true.

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

To conclude, farmers require a large sum of water. But in the end, it pays off with crop production. Farmers contribute a great deal deal to society. So California farmers should not suffer from water cuts because as you have seen water cuts are growing on these farmers, temporary fixes don't have promising outcomes, and California is a major contributor to food production in the United States. The United States would suffer greatly without California's production given that most product comes from California. Agriculture feeds the

We are in a drought, yet there is still so much water being wasted. To purify our drinking water in bottles, two gallons are being used for every one gallon!

While many blame current droughts on climate change, rainfall patterns in areas like California—currently in its fourth consecutive year of drought—have actually varied little from a century ago. But if little is done to curb carbon emissions, what is to come may be far worse. In fact, economic losses associated with climate change, globally, will reach an estimated $3 billion by the end of 2015. Furthermore, these human-induced droughts will uproot entire communities and force them to migrate to regions with more water and food. With climate change set to worsen over the course of this century, food and water shortages will only get worse, and not just for Californians.

One individual who has been emotionally affected by the california drought is Kim Hammond. She has a mixed perception of the drought as on one hand her company profits from the desperate farmers, but she also sees the devastation that the drought is causing. She is a secretary responsible for a ground drilling company, ‘Arthur & Orum’ that can save farmers from losing their crops by drilling for groundwater on their farms and creating a well. In California, groundwater is typically responsible for around 30% of the state 's water supplies. However in cases like this of extreme drought, this figure rises to approximately 60%. This is a very big responsibility for someone like Kim Hammond, as it is her decision to either give a farm water or leave them to dry up. She says “Every day we have people on the phone or here in person, pleading.” The farmers of california are desperate for water as it is the basis of their entire livelihoods and without it they will end up with nothing. This is a lot of responsibility for her, she told The Guardian “It’s just way too stressful, playing God”, “We’re overwhelmed. We’re going crazy...Everyone is in a desperate situation. Everyone has a sad story.” Her company has a waiting list of three years for farmers to have their requests processed, for many farmers this is a last resort and without the groundwater their farms are left to dry up. But the demand is too huge, California had a large and extremely productive agricultural region,

In today’s society, the idea of a limited resource is not a foreign concept. Most people understand that eventually humans will use up many of these resources, such as fossil fuels, and they will cease to exist. However, very rarely does a conversation about limited resources get started over the water. While water itself is not a limited resource, clean drinkable water is becoming scarcer as people continue to use excess water. The documentary “Last Call at the Oasis” highlights how precious water is to survival and just how much miss use of water occurs in the United States alone. Even though the United States has gone down the wrong path with its water consumption methods, it may not be too late to recover. With the proper systems and education in place, the chances of delaying a water crisis increase exponentially.