Taking Water And Marketing Something That Should Be A Public Right

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.

Water is essential to sustain life. It is becoming an ever more valuable resource every year as it becomes scarcer. The general problem is that California is in the midst of a severe drought. The specific problem is that the typical urban consumer has little knowledge of how to reduce their every day consumption of water. Urban usage accounts for approximately 5.7 million acre-feet per year, which equates to approximately 10% of California’s annual water supply in a year with normal precipitation (Burt, 2014). In this previous water year (October 1, 2013 - September 30, 2014) California experienced its driest year in 119 years (Ca.Gov/Water Conditions). Serious action needs to be taken immediately to reduce consumptive usage, especially in the case of urban consumption of water. Shakespeare famously said “I to the world am like a drop of water that in the ocean seeks another drop”. While each individual may believe their actions to be insignificant, in the bigger picture, California needs every drop it can get.

The California drought as of March 2015 has increased severely and has affected not just the residents of California, but also the farmers as well. My claim is to find a reliable way to save water and have the residents of California informed about the situation and the wastefulness of water being replenished. In this paper I want to address the issue of how much water we are constantly wasting even though we are in an exceptionally severe drought. I believe that the water shortage not only affects the residents but also takes a toll in the agricultural areas as well. I want to argue the point that everyone who wastes water is held responsible and what we could do

California is the nation’s leading agricultural producer and one of the major agricultural regions of the world. Reductions in precipitation and water available for irrigation are being largely offset by increased groundwater pumping, an unsustainable situation at least in the southern Central Valley” (Wang 6997-6998). What will California do when we have used most of our underground water? What solutions will we be left with as a state? Maybe now is the time for California to enforce new laws in order to find a solution to this water drought. Besides raising water prices, California needs to enforce all residents living in California to reuse water by making it a state law. Residents and business owners in California should be notified ahead of time regarding this new law so they can prepare their business and homes with water systems that will allow them to reuse water. These water systems should be required to use recycled water to irrigate landscapes and crops. By enforcing this law the entire state would be able to conserve more water towards the possibility of ending this water drought. Homes and businesses in California should also be required to install graywater systems to water lawns and flush toilets. If residents do not apply any of these new laws then residents should find themselves with a fine of a

California is going through the worse drought it has faced in many decades. It is not just the lack of rain we received last year, but poor management of our water resources which worsen the drought. The mere idea of running out of water is not to be taken lightly, only a small amount on our planet is safe for human consumption; keeping that in mind Californians must face the necessity to rationalize water in order to cope with the concurrent crisis. The practice of rationing will help maintain water levels. The expected result of this calamity is water shortages and a major impact in the agricultural level across our entire state. The public needs to realize their need to start conserving water. A major turning point capable of making the

The economy, agriculture, and natural life of the state will be in turmoil if there are not more actions and orders put in place to prevent the over consumption of water. This needs to start with preserving current water resources, especially aquifers and groundwater wells, in order to allow the rebuilding process of reservoirs to occur. The distribution of water in the state needs to be altered to accommodate the drought, as the snowpacks and aquifers aren’t up to maximum height, meaning less efficiency. The water acquired through runoff isn’t enough to fuel the entire state of California’s needs as important urban developments and agricultural goods are not being watered (USGS). The winter months usually provide for the entire state as a whole, yet since the beginning of the 2011 drought, many have been forced to change their lifestyles due to the unforeseen circumstances brought on by the arid climate and drought. All in all, the current distribution of water and the usage of the water in the entire state is wasteful and damaging to the environment and future. Support for low-use shower and faucet heads, as well as toilets that use less gallons of water will ultimately be the best start for the state’s solution to the drought. Coupled with executive action by the Governor and a drastic redesign of the distribution of water in the state,the devastating effects of the

We as society like to think that what we do with our personal interests won't affect our environment. But in this current drought in California many people's current interest and behavior may affect the drought both negatively and positively. Even though farmers aren't able to completely fix the water shortage on their own, they need help to switch the way they consume water just how people who live in the city need to realize how they waste their water.

“Nestle in Michigan” is a video clip on YouTube about the Nestle corporations bottled water plants with a primary focus being on the plant located in Stanwood, Michigan (Menzies, 2010). Nestle has a 99 year lease on property that only cost them $63,000, “they received $10 million in tax abatements”, and they are pumping water at a rate of 218 gallons per minute (down from the original 450 gallons per minute) (Menzies, 2010). In other words, Nestle is pumping dangerously large amounts of water that is free to them as property owners, selling it for a profit, and not being subjected to the same tax as other land owners.

In ARTICLE 1 it states “… companies continue to bottle water during the fourth year of the drought…”. Not only are they making it harder for residents to have their water but creating more of a drought for California. In SOURCE 2 (A MAP), it shows a map of California that is color coated into a key that shows what places companies gather their water from abnormally dry to places that are severe and exceptional droughts. There four main companies showed that collect the most which are; Aqua, Arrowhead, Crystal Greyer and Dasin. In SOURCE 2 the key shows an image that all four companies gather the most in severe and exceptional drought-ridden areas. There is a quote stated in SOURCE 2 that says “ your bottles waters comes from the most drought-ridden places in the country” which is shown to be accurate in the map of the four different companies showing where they gather their water. Unaware of the fact of how severe droughts have

California recently implemented its new public policy of mandatory water conservation for lawns, hotels, and restaurants. This policy was passed because of the environmental conditions that are harming the state. This coincides with stage 1 of the policy cycle stage, agenda setting. In this stage, the problem is highlighted to the general public: California’s scarcity of water supply. California has experienced a water drought for four years, and water levels are reaching a critical low. “The past three years have been the driest three years in California history dating back to the Gold Rush. On Tuesday, the Sierra snowpack was at 13 percent of its historic average, and many of the state’s largest reservoirs were far below normal” (Rogers).

So I wanted to see how bad it is. The state of California is currently experiencing a drought and currently passed having a restriction on their water usage for the first time ever. The Colorado River Basin has experienced a drought for over decade and there is an enormous increase on the water usage from citizens in the state or Arizona, Nevada, California, and Colorado. The river basin relies on snowfall and over the year the amount of snow received yearly is not enough to suffice the usage of growing cities and the usage from everyone who resides there. If we keep walking down this path there will be a major water issues all throughout the West coast and the

Fresno, California is listed as number 10 for the highest city in the U.S. running short on water. Over 75 percent of the land is classified as “D4”, which since the beginning of 2014 the land is in an “exceptional drought” in reference to an article by Wall Street, and the city overall is in the second highest category for an intense drought. Fresno is known for our leading agricultural regions in the nation, so having water restrictions puts a burden on the town and has affected Fresno by no longer being California’s dominant agricultural producer. We all know California is going through a water crisis and it has not improved over the past 4 years, but some of us may not realize how much worse it can get. According to CA.Gov’s article, California

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.