If we didn’t have the lakes, we always had groundwater, which was annually replenished by the rain and snowmelt from the Sierras. However, as the earth’s temperature steadily climbs, and the state suffers through a massive dry spell, demand for water has reached an all-time high, and groundwater use has soared as a result. This has caused the water table, or the depth at which water is found below the surface, to plummet as water is pumped from the ground faster than the aquifers can rejuvenate. Once farmers needed only to drill 500 feet deep to reach water, now they have to drill down at least 1,000 feet. Scientists have also discovered that the more water is taken out from Central Valley, the more the land begins to sink- the San Joaquin Valley in particular…
What would happen if California were to run out of water completely, just because the government did not do anything to stop it from happening? Farmers and regular citizens are drilling the ground in search of groundwater. Currently there are no laws restricting or monitoring the amount of groundwater we can use, and without these laws we could run out of water. In order to conserve and save water legislation needs create regulations to monitor and control both citizens and farmers use of groundwater. Due to a lack of regulations regarding groundwater farmers are drilling the ground and taking other people's water.…
Jerry Brown said the state was facing perhaps "the worst drought that California has ever seen since records (began) about 100 years ago. " The United States spends billions of dollars per year treating water; however, we only use 10 percent for drinking and cooking. The pros of using treated waste water for drinking water and agriculture: conserve our fresh water resources, replenishes sensitive ecosystems where wildlife and plants are vulnerable, and help ease water shortages. Moreover, it decreases wastewater discharges and may reduce and prevent pollution. Yet, by doing so there are cons that cannot be denied such as, the increase of cost for infrastructure treatment facilities and extra pipes to control it and finally public perception.…
California Water Crisis How would you feel if you didn’t have enough water to use the restroom everyday, or if you couldn’t shower for over 6 months? Being that California has been in a gargantuan drought for the past 4 to 5 years, water has been in short supply in more places than not. Farmers claim that they should be allowed unlimited access to the state’s supply of groundwater, solely in view of money crops. Ironically, while farmers are making these claims there are people in these towns, traveling 3 to 6 hours to get a gallon of water to last their families a week. Many believe that there should be regulations and water control considering farmers are complaining that they grow crops to sell,…
Every year California Governor Jerry Brown along with other state employees meet to evaluate the accretion of winter and how spring runoff may help irrigated agriculture. The percentage of snow has been decreasing each year. A press conference was held to inform the public of Governor Brown’s executive decision to restrict urban water use by twenty-five percent. It was no surprise to Californians after facing four years of drought. With the lack of rain and increasing temperatures, climate change for California is already here.…
The Study of California’s newest Drought Determining when drought develops is a function of drought impacts and water users. Drought is best sought as a period of dry weather, and extended shortage of water, especially a long one that is injurious to crops. This is a dangerous hydrologic condition that not only concerns water users in the affected area but also in some other locations some water users exempt but not all the way safe. Drought is a abnormal circumstance if it is insistent. Drought is a gradual emergency.…
Since 2012 the drought has infected California with the most intense dry period in the last 1,200 years. The drought is becoming a major problem in California. The current drought occurring since 2012 has shown up negative five on the Palmer Drought Index Severity. The Palmer Drought Index Severity is a scale to record droughts where, a zero represents normal conditions, a negative one is a drought, and a negative four is an extreme drought. Even though many might think the drought is only going to affect people inside California, but it is affects many people outside of California.…
The book even specified, “as the population in these areas increases, theses water problems will become acute” (p.71). California is constantly growing in population,…
temperatures have also depleted reservoirs. The San Luis Reservoir, which is the largest off stream Reservoir in the United States, has been affected greatly. The Reservoir’s water supply has been cut in half thanks to the drought. The San Luis Reservoir is not the only reservoir being depleted. Reservoirs all over the U.S have been being depleted.…
Being the worst in over 1,200 years, the fourth year of the great drought may be the most impactful devastation California has experienced destroying many fields, forests and water wells. Although California’s depression of dryness began in the ‘30’s with the Dust Bowl due to human involvement, today’s drought is developed from natural causes. Therefore, it will make it extremely hard for it to be recovered by humans, if at all, it will never be the same. For the future, California’s drought today may possibly be just the start to a even more devastating “megadrought” formed by climate change.…
Water is an important part of our lives ,even though it is not the first thing to come to mind, it will always remain our number one necessity. The scarce water source not only puts Texans at war against each other, but it also made people's everyday lives difficult. Water is every living thing's number one necessity, we humans cannot live without it, yet we take advantage of it. Jenna Craig states how in 2007 Texas had a severe drought and how it had its effect on farmers, businesses, communities, and the environment. "The ongoing drought has created real conflicts among water users" (page 1.)…
Where do you live is there a drought ? California is and the government is trying to find a solution to these drought. When you think about a drought do you know what it means. A drought is something serious, it is a shorter way to say that there's not much water left. How does a drought starts good question,it starts when rain dosen't feel that often,so the government can't make the water fresh.…
Others argue it is the worst drought California has endured in the last century. Some experts claim that California is in the midst of a “mega drought” roughly defined as a drought that lasts two decades or longer (Fountain, 2015). This current dry spell is thought to be caused by El Nino 17 years ago, yet people are looking to the new El Nino on the horizon to drench California and help fix it. Other experts claim that this California returning to its normal weather patterns and that we have been living through a small “wet period” that has now ended. Even with all this disagreement with what is causing the drought most seem to agree on one thing, that we need to manage our water…
We observed about California drought. We planned to observe how California drought affected the farmer, because we thought that farmers used water to irrigate their farm, so California drought would affect them severely. We went to farmers market at Oakland. We met with many farmers there and asked several questions. We wanted to know how severe is California drought for farmers, what have they done regarding California drought and what are they going to do if the California drought got severe.…
2. The drought in California isn’t just a natural disaster but is also a man made one in another critical sense by capitalist governments largely beholden to giant energy cooperation 's refusal to seriously address the issue. Since the states founding in 1850 water policies have never been carried out in a rational scientific or democratic fashion, but rather subordinated to powerful corporate interests that include but are not limited to agribusiness, real estate, and finical aristocracy. 3. Two-thirds of California’s precipitation falls in the northern portion of the state, while two-thirds of all Californians live to the south.…