by Hannah Pearce
Areas hit the hardest by what they are now calling the “mega-drought” are mostly where food is grown. California grows 50% of the United States’ food and will most likely affect food availability and pricing of many items throughout the country though no comment has been made on how much food production will suffer.
Legislative Leaders recently announced a $1 billion emergency drought package in order to aid funding to increase drought resilience as well as communities with access to water supplies. There is also a $1.2 million fund to assist low income households affected by the drought. The local government has been very open with its decisions regarding funding and aiding access to water but hasn’t fully addressed the issue of the water shortage and solutions to the public; showing that it is unclear whether there is a contingency plan in place for the situation.
Plans for the Delta water tunnel project of diverting water from the north to the south has been delayed since August 2014 due to public and environmental issues. The plan was to focus around the Sacramento- San Joaquin Delta where water was to be diverted to serve 25 million Californians and 3 million acres of farmland. This cease seems to be undetermined and has not been brought up during this time though it is estimated to cost about $60 billion and take years to complete - which wouldn’t be an immediate or short-term wait to reduce the issue.
Water is being called the next commodity boom with many companies preparing to take advantage and purchase water supplies during crisis, which seems to be the oncoming situation of California. This current situation of the state’s water scarcity may be the catalyst for the government to be proactive with water policies and water consumption in arid areas.
Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. signed emergency legislations to fast-track more than $1 billion in funding for drought relief and critical water infrastructure projects. It was not until April 1st (about three months after the announcement of water supplies only lasting for another year) that the Governor announced actions o save water, increase effort to prevent water waste and use the state’s drought response package to invest in new technologies to make California more drought resilient.
Brown, Ellen. "California’s Epic Drought: One Year of Water Left." » CounterPunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names. CounterPunch, 25 Mar. 2015. Web. 25 Mar. 2015.
Weiser, Matt. "California Officials Delay Massive Delta Water Tunnel Project."Sacbee. The Sacramento Bee, 27 Aug. 2014. Web. 25 Mar. 2015.
"Top Story: State Urban Water Users Exceed 20 Percent Conservation Goal For December." California Drought. State of California, n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2015.
Holpuch, Amanda. "Drought-stricken California Only Has One Year of Water Left, Nasa Scientist Warns." The Guardian News & Media. The Guardian, 16 Mar. 2015. Web. 25 Mar. 2015.