Thanks To Radical Environmentalists, Not Even A ‘Bomb Cyclone’ Can Fix California’s Drought

Poseidon answered California’s prolonged drought crisis with a “bomb cyclone” Pouring enough water on the state temporarily Refill residents’ parched reservoirs.

The single cyclone on its own still doesn’t come close to accomplishing long-term alleviation of California’s seemingly chronic water shortage. Even after snowstorms have covered the Sierra Nevada snowpack, a drought-free future would require years without above-average precipitation. However, the record rainfall It does provide short-term relief.

According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, California’s surface area that’s under drought conditions has dropped to just more than 71 percent since the storm hit, down from 85 percent a month ago. This number could have been much higher if California was better prepared to take advantage of the gift from heaven.

California hasn’t built a new dam in four decades. A total of approximately 80 percent of the state’s winter rainwater is annually wasted. Most of this week’s precipitation is finding its way back to the Pacific, where environmentalists have blocked efforts to desalinate.

[RELATED: How To Turn Desalination Waste From Burden To Profit]

In August, Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom Feigned outrage over the state’s slow progress on water storage.

“The time to get these dam projects (like Sites Reservoir) is ridiculous, absurd and somewhat comedic,” Newsom stated in Sacramento.

Sites Reservoir is located west from the Sacramento Valley. It has been in the planning stages for some time. More than 60 yearsIf the above had been completed, the location would have stored excess flow from Sacramento River.

Michael Shellenberger is the founder and initiator of PublicSubstack magazine, Shellenberger, blamed Newsom for slow progress regarding state water storage. Shellenberger stated that Newsom is still held captive by radical environmental activists, who protest all development. He only recently jumped on the topic due to drought pressures.

“Gavin has been in the grip of pro-scarcity Malthusian environmentalists his entire career,” Shellenberger explained. “He hasn’t done what he’s needed to do to raise the heights of the reservoirs we have or build the new reservoirs we need.”

The American West is prone to prolonged droughts lasting up to 200 years. According According to the 2020 Census, there are now nearly 79 million residents of this country.

“Water, it’s the dumbest thing in the world,” Shellenberger said. “It’s easy to store water, just dig a bigger hole, build higher walls.”

California’s slow reactive measures to manage the state’s water crisis, however, gave way to a missed opportunity. The natural disaster could have been used by state leaders to obtain a crucial natural resource. But instead, the storm knocked out power. Hundreds of thousands They failed to prevent the weather event from becoming a loss for residents, reportedly resulting in at least 17 deaths.

Tristan Justice is The Federalist’s western correspondent. He has also been a writer for The Washington Examiner as well as The Daily Signal. Real Clear Politics also featured his work.