Newsweek reported on March 13, 2015,
Jay Famiglietti, a NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory senior water scientist and a professor of Earth System Science at the University of California, Irvine, has told Los Angeles Times readers,
“January was the driest in California since record-keeping began in 1895. Groundwater and snowpack levels are at all-time lows”.
“Right now the state has only about one year of water supply left in its reservoirs, and our strategic backup supply, groundwater, is rapidly disappearing,” he added.
For sure, California is in its 4th year of drought and the current outlook is pretty grim.
Agricultural Contribution
According to the California Department of Food & Agriculture (CDFA), the state produces nearly half of the country’s vegetables, fruits and nuts. Several crops for American consumption are only grown in California. Wine is another important commodity.
But all of that requires a good supply of water.
CDFA said that in 2012,
“California’s 80,500 farms and ranches received $42.6 billion for their output.”
The state has also sold food to other countries. In 2013, its agricultural exports totaled $21.24 billion.
Ugly Impact
Unless the weather pattern dramatically changes soon, California and the nation stand to lose much — a big source of revenue, farms and ranches in the state, and many food and water related jobs.
Plus, in addition to people out of work, you can expect to see fruits and vegetables, nuts and other food prices increase significantly in the coming months.
NBC TV on March 16th pointed out that other Western states are also now dealing with drought.
And, the regional crisis is being compounded by some record high temperatures in March.
Read Newsweek’s California article here
Read the related March 03, 2015-Global Weather article
