The ongoing drought in the Southwestern United States is driving water reserves to dangerously low levels, adversely affecting an agricultural system that will have ripple effects throughout the entire country, unless the farmers of this region can learn to farm without water they may not survive.
I. Drought must be defined to understand the impact the current drought has on the Southwestern United States.
A. In order to understand drought we must first understand what drought means.
1. Drought is defined by Merriam-Webster dictionary as “A period of dryness especially when prolonged; specifically: one that causes extensive damage to crops or prevents their successful growth”(Merriam-Webster).
2. According to an article titled, What Does …show more content…
“Excluding Colorado, more than 92% of the region’s cropland is irrigated, and agricultural uses account for 79% of all water withdrawals in the region.”(Garfin 693)
B. The effects of the drought on agriculture in the Southwest will create economic hardship that will impact millions of Americans.
1. University of California Davis 2015 report estimates California’s continued drought stricken agricultural industry will negatively impact to the state’s economy by about $1.84 billion, and lose an estimated ten thousand seasonal jobs (Kerlin).
2. “Increased heat and changes to rain and snowpack will send ripple effects throughout the region’s critical agriculture sector, affecting the lives and economies of 56 million people – a population that is expected to increase 68% by 2050, to 94 million. (Garfin)
3. The United States Department of Agriculture had issued a determination that every county in Arizona receive a disaster designation due to drought in 2015.(2015 Annual drought report)
4. With the southwest United States producing approximate fifty percent of the country’s specialty crops and a agriculture system based on irrigation the current drought brings economic instability to the region that may have a national impact. (Garfin …show more content…
Traditional techniques for dryland farming are receiving a second look by many farmers
1. “farming on nonirrigated land with little rainfall that relies on moisture-conserving tillage and drought-resistant crops” (Merriam)
2. The harvesting of water for agriculture can occur in many different ways, but they are all dependent on water moving down hill into catchments, from traditional techniques of building stone or mud walls to slow water as it runs downhill allowing it to soak into the soil, to capturing rainwater from a modern homes gutter system. (Grossman)
3. The Zuni Conservation Project (ZCP) was started in 1997, by using traditional techniques and tradition crops of the Zuni Indians the ZCP is hoping to reclaim once thriving traditional farmlands of the Zuni that have turned to desert in recent years. By using the traditional farming practice of runoff farming, using no fertilizer or irrigation they simple use storm water flows capturing moisture in the soil.(Norton and Sander)
4. Dryland Farming uses water that can be stored in soil to grow crops rather than rainfall or irrigation by breaking up the topsoil to become saturated with water, then use a roller to compact a dry crusty layer on top to seal in the moisture
I. Drought must be defined to understand the impact the current drought has on the Southwestern United States.
A. In order to understand drought we must first understand what drought means.
1. Drought is defined by Merriam-Webster dictionary as “A period of dryness especially when prolonged; specifically: one that causes extensive damage to crops or prevents their successful growth”(Merriam-Webster).
2. According to an article titled, What Does …show more content…
“Excluding Colorado, more than 92% of the region’s cropland is irrigated, and agricultural uses account for 79% of all water withdrawals in the region.”(Garfin 693)
B. The effects of the drought on agriculture in the Southwest will create economic hardship that will impact millions of Americans.
1. University of California Davis 2015 report estimates California’s continued drought stricken agricultural industry will negatively impact to the state’s economy by about $1.84 billion, and lose an estimated ten thousand seasonal jobs (Kerlin).
2. “Increased heat and changes to rain and snowpack will send ripple effects throughout the region’s critical agriculture sector, affecting the lives and economies of 56 million people – a population that is expected to increase 68% by 2050, to 94 million. (Garfin)
3. The United States Department of Agriculture had issued a determination that every county in Arizona receive a disaster designation due to drought in 2015.(2015 Annual drought report)
4. With the southwest United States producing approximate fifty percent of the country’s specialty crops and a agriculture system based on irrigation the current drought brings economic instability to the region that may have a national impact. (Garfin …show more content…
Traditional techniques for dryland farming are receiving a second look by many farmers
1. “farming on nonirrigated land with little rainfall that relies on moisture-conserving tillage and drought-resistant crops” (Merriam)
2. The harvesting of water for agriculture can occur in many different ways, but they are all dependent on water moving down hill into catchments, from traditional techniques of building stone or mud walls to slow water as it runs downhill allowing it to soak into the soil, to capturing rainwater from a modern homes gutter system. (Grossman)
3. The Zuni Conservation Project (ZCP) was started in 1997, by using traditional techniques and tradition crops of the Zuni Indians the ZCP is hoping to reclaim once thriving traditional farmlands of the Zuni that have turned to desert in recent years. By using the traditional farming practice of runoff farming, using no fertilizer or irrigation they simple use storm water flows capturing moisture in the soil.(Norton and Sander)
4. Dryland Farming uses water that can be stored in soil to grow crops rather than rainfall or irrigation by breaking up the topsoil to become saturated with water, then use a roller to compact a dry crusty layer on top to seal in the moisture