The Central Valley Of California

In Northern California alone there are roughly 35,000 square miles of rugged, remote, unpopulated wilderness. This land is full of steep sided mountains, canyons and thick forests. Liebig's Law of the Minimum shows

California’s climate emerged about a few thousand years ago. It rose from the interaction of the ocean currents and temperatures, air pressures, wind and storms patterns, and the location of mountains and valleys. The climate differs from its geographical landscapes and locations of neighboring states. This is largely because of its dominant maritime influence. Further climate diversity is found in the semiarid climates in much of the San Joaquin valley. California has four of the five major types of climate found around the world. California’s geographic diversity would begin to be matched by its human diversity. Earthquakes are another factor to why California is so diverse. People are always migrating into California from all over the world. Diversity effects many things in different kind of ways.

Along this journey created by nature, the river interacts with man’s influence to encapsulate the full geographic experience of this region. The succession of dams along the river’s path is a major contribution to how man has decided to mesh with the river. The dams have created reservoirs for water supplies, harnessed energy to provide electric power to the southwestern region, and controlled flooding. Flood control was the main concern at the time between the years 1905 and 1907 when large floods broke through the irrigation gates and destroyed crops in California. The flooding was so large it actually created a 450 square mile sea, named the Salton Sea. As a result of this major disaster, ideas were formulated to

The future of California is pretty good, for the state is projected to see growth in almost every sector of the economy as well as the population, but there are many concerns that must be addressed first in order to see California’s growth come to fruition. International trade and business is one of California’s largest industries and it’s expected to continue increasing, for many emerging economies are also located off of the Pacific Ocean. Growth in the economy is good, but requires resources that California has a limited supply of. The main resource California always needs is water, since most of the state’s population resides in the southern regions, which are arid and receive minimal precipitation annually. The state is planning on improving efficiency and the aqueduct system to increase the water supply while decrease the environmental effects California’s aqueduct’s have on regions like the San Joaquin River Delta. For many years California has been considered a very liberal and left state, which is due to the fact that the state has the toughest environmental legislation in the country. With such strong legislation ensuring the protection of the environment California has become a model state in the fight against climate change, and must remain vigilant for there are numerous species endemic to the state that are found nowhere else on the planet. Though there are numerous other factors’ affecting California’s future these are some of the most interesting areas to

The Sierra Nevada snowpack feeds Central Valley river systems and is a critical source of water in the state 's long dry season. Up to 30 percent of California 's water supply is from snowpack. Much of California 's extensive reservoir and aqueduct system is designed to store and capture runoff from the Central Valley watershed. The Central Valley watershed provides most of the water for Northern and Central California, as well as a significant proportion of Southern California 's usage.

The San Joaquin River is the backbone of the San Joaquin Valley. The valley is not only the nation's most agricultural area but it is also one of the entire worlds. Millions depend on the crops that come form this luscious valley. The river has gone through many drastic changes over its illustrious lifetime. Once it was a magnificent 350 miles long it is now one of the nation's ten most endangered rivers. The river once flowed with enough water to support steam ships and a salmon migration it now goes completely dry in some areas. The river does not have enough water to support itself any more and must take in water from various other places, such as the Pacific Ocean which

Sacramento County is the 8th most populated county in the state of California out of 58 counties. The Greater Sacramento area consists of such areas as Sacramento, Arden, Arcade, Yuba City, and CA-NV combined area. According to the Census 2016 population estimates, the Greater Sacramento has a population of 1,514,460. The median household income is $55,987. The 86.6% of the population are high-school graduate or higher. There are 560,271 of total housing units. According to the Kidsdata.org, the are 358,835 children that is approximately 24% of total Sacramento County

Berkeley County is located in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. As of the 2015 census the estimated population was 111,901. The county was formed in 1772 and some believe it to be named for Norborne Berkeley, Baron de Botetourt others believe it was named in honor of Sir William Berkeley. The largest city in Berkeley County is Martinsburg; the Town of Hedgesville is located next to Martinsburg. The Town of Hedgesville has a population of 320, it is considered urban while the surrounding areas are rural, farming communities. The median income in Berkeley County in 2010-2014 was $55,100; 14.4 % of the residents in Berkeley County live below the poverty level. The race/ethnicity make-up of Berkeley County is: white alone – 88%, Black alone – 7%, Hispanic - 4% and Asian alone - 1%. In 2016 the population of Tomahawk Intermediate is 600 students, the race/ethnicity breakdown is: white alone – 512, black alone – 22, Asian – 7, Hispanic – 32, Pacific Island – 1, and two or more races – 30.

A major problem in Southern California is that Los Angeles experiences very little rain all year, followed by intense downpours that last less than one day (53). Its unreliable rainfall severely hurts the region. In Northern California, mountains such as the Sierra Nevada allow for a huge range in rainfall over a short distance. “…a place on the western slope of the range may receive eighty or so inches of precipitation in a year, while a place on the east slope, fifty miles away, may receive ten inches or less” (58).

Around 10,000 years ago the San Francisco Bay was once not a bay. The glaciers from the ice age melted into water and then the water flowed into “canyons” to form into the San Francisco Bay. However the flowing of the bay may not have stopped. The San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission predicts that the sea level will increase so much the sea will take over and flood populated areas and landmarks like the San Francisco and the Oakland International Airports. We could recover from natural disasters like earthquakes, tornadoes, and hurricanes, but not sea level rising. The New York Daily News say that it would take only 12 feet for the ocean to rise and take over several landmarks and populated areas in the San Francisco Bay Area and another landmark could be San Francisco Giants’ AT&T Park.

From the end of the Second World War to the present day, California strengthened its area as a political, social, and cultural trendsetter. California is also extraordinary than most other states because of its diversity in the people and climate. California’s diverse topographical features such as, the rainfall, temperature and sunlight vary throughout the state. The seasons also vary in California changing the areas climate. Since the beginning of European settlement in California, climate has become increasingly important in shaping the state’s economy (Osborne, 6).

I have researched the effect of climate change on California’s natural water supply. California has a diverse climate throughout, being a large state with sixteen different climate zones recognized. These can be subdivided into four major climatic zones as follows: North Coast, South Coast, Central Valley, and Desert/Mountain.

The Central Valley is located centrally in the heart of California and is surrounded by two mountain ranges, the Sierra Nevada Mountains to the east and the Coast Range to the west. Due to its location, the area is plagued by poor air quality and extremely hot summers. The Central Valley is primarily known for its agriculture. However, for more than five years now, California has been in a drought. It has experienced some of the worst heatwaves in the country, with temperatures ranging from 105 to 110 degrees fahrenheit for months on end. This can be attributed to the rainshadow effect, which leaves the region with very little precipitation for a majority of the year. Most of the moisture filled clouds are blown into the surrounding mountain

THat about 75 times less than what Death Valley receives. The Farmers in Arica are facing serious issue with the water salinity of the Lluta River

Farming is number one source where people get their food. Most people do not see farming is a dig deal but it is. People that live in the big cities rely on farming for the foods they getting. Farming require a high amount of water for the crops and animals. California, most farms are located at the Central Valley. It is an extreme hot environment; therefore, it’s needed much more water than any other places around the country. Farming require a lot of hard work, but it is very profitable business. Although faming help improve California economy, but some crops should not be growth in California because its needs much more water than other.