{"id":1395399,"date":"2022-03-23T05:14:47","date_gmt":"2022-03-23T09:14:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1395399"},"modified":"2022-03-23T05:14:51","modified_gmt":"2022-03-23T09:14:51","slug":"california-drought-reaches-record-levels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/california-drought-reaches-record-levels\/","title":{"rendered":"California Drought Reaches Record Levels"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">10<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcalifornia-drought-reaches-record-levels%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1395399&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/dw-wp-production.imgix.net\/2022\/03\/ACD6B69C-E7E1-4FFE-A1D3-903E25188BB3_1_201_a.jpeg?w=1200&#038;h=800&#038;ixlib=react-9.3.0\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p class=\"p1\">California, along with much of the west, is experiencing a historic drought, with rainfall in January and February of 2022 hitting hundred-year lows in some areas.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The California drought is entering its third year. A survey this month from the Department of Water Resources found that the snowpack around the state is almost 40% down, and major water reservoirs in the state are <a href=\"https:\/\/cdec.water.ca.gov\/cgi-progs\/products\/rescond.pdf?TSPD_101_R0=080a69e2f7ab20005ce2479b4a079fa54810c6b3fb7a9ffedb33bf5ddeeb7ef4953592d7d3a6a36908cb18db9c143000d55608aa55d48c568dfecbad26ee9550e331e374dd47a1492789add217fb8eae8796ef6a826a7a429b0f05def480f82a\"><span class=\"s1\">below<\/span><\/a> their historical averages.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">California\u2019s Central <a href=\"https:\/\/ca.water.usgs.gov\/projects\/central-valley\/about-central-valley.html#:~:text=Using%20fewer%20than%201%25%20of,nuts,%20and%20other%20table%20foods.\"><span class=\"s1\">Valley<\/span><\/a> grows around one-fourth of the country\u2019s food, which includes around 40% of the nation\u2019s fruits and nuts, but there\u2019s already evidence that farmers are cutting back production.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\">A UC Merced study found that California farmers left around 400,000 acres of agricultural area uncultivated last year because of the shortage of water. Some experts predict that number will reach one <a href=\"https:\/\/www.abc10.com\/article\/weather\/california-drought\/california-megadrought-water-experts\/103-88b889af-7ed8-441c-8fab-1917de4be0eb\"><span class=\"s1\">million.<\/span><\/a> Most of the untouched land was in the Central Valley. California has about <a href=\"https:\/\/farmlandinfo.org\/statistics\/california-statistics\/\"><span class=\"s1\">10<\/span><\/a> million acres of cropland, meaning at least 4% of it is unused.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/news.ucmerced.edu\/news\/2022\/last-year%E2%80%99s-drought-cost-ag-industry-more-1-billion-thousands-jobs-new-analysis-shows\">same <span class=\"s1\">study<\/span><\/a> estimated that the 2021 drought cost the agriculture sector in the state around $1.1 billion and almost 9,000 jobs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\">This month, Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.ca.gov\/2022\/03\/13\/newsom-administration-boosts-state-funding-for-drought-emergency\/\"><span class=\"s1\">announced<\/span><\/a> another $22.5 million in help for what his office described as \u201can immediate drought emergency.\u201d Over a third of the funding, however, is going toward educating Californians on how to conserve water.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\">California\u2019s strict environmental regulations are a hurdle, as well. One example is the 1992 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usbr.gov\/mp\/cvpia\/\"><span class=\"s1\">Central Valley Project Improvement Act<\/span><\/a>, which earmarks 800,000 acre-feet of water for fish and wildlife each year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\">Farmers have also pushed for more reservoirs and dams to hold onto the water supply from rain, but policies have made it so that water is prioritized for the ecosystem over-farming.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The Environmental Protection Agency <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mymotherlode.com\/news\/local\/2420949\/a-federal-flood-of-funding-for-the-proposed-site-reservoir.html\"><span class=\"s1\">recently<\/span><\/a> said it will loan $2.2 billion to help create a reservoir in the northern area of the state, but that will only cover around half of the project, as the final sign-off for the funds is still up to a few years away.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\">A study published by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41558-022-01290-z.epdf?sharing_token=zsoKOVkADEj5WvvuuUYvINRgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0OkweMbawmVFM1UCLmLxuyBpGKtFJa1_BxzJ7UFQSQZ6IC1x1eTFRzyXogUeF0Hoomh0TYchaa5IufOe5BJ4tbHEfcbLXOtuVHJ5DVcAHuoBnveuytXCbcKPyDU9Yh8Aw1vJejlqGocIk1eQJHnXRBfqnUMTVT-Bfx8_KWKaOV-0f_0YMgR2YpkPjJPMc8gQtM%3D&#038;tracking_referrer=www.nationalgeographic.com\"><span class=\"s1\">Nature<\/span><\/a> estimated the drought will persist at least through 2022, and likely longer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Diane Sharp, Vice Mayor of Hanford, California, told The Daily Wire how farmers are adapting to the situation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">She said, \u201cA common survival strategy has been, where I could normally be planting lettuce or onions or garlic or processing tomatoes, I won\u2019t use my water on those crops\u2026in order to keep the vines and trees alive, they\u2019ll use all the water that they have availability to them just on the vines and trees\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cOver time, what are we going to see?\u201d she asked, \u201cWe\u2019re going to see some less availability in our grocery stores.\u201d<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s2\">Sharp added, \u201c<\/span>Part of it is how much rain we\u2019re getting. But also a big part of it is decisions that are made in Sacramento and in Washington about how much water out of state and federal projects that were built to deliver water to this area, how much water we\u2019re able to get.<span class=\"s2\">\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s2\">The Vice Mayor also described how many industries are reliant on much of the Central Valley for its food. \u201c<\/span>The consistent food that supplies those big operations has to come from somewhere, and that somewhere, to a very great degree, is the central San Joaquin Valley,\u201d she said.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s2\">\u201cW<\/span>e\u2019re blessed with this terrific soil and terrific weather. This San Joaquin Valley in particular is wildly productive and can be wildly productive. But for politics \u2014 and that\u2019s the sad truth, I guess,\u201d she noted.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest growing conservative media companies for breaking news, investigative reporting, sports, podcasts, in-depth analysis, books, and entertainment for a reason: because we believe in what we do. We believe in our country, in the value of truth and the freedom to speak it, and in the right to challenge tyranny wherever we see it. Believe the same? <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><span class=\"s2\"><i>Become a member now and join our mission.<\/i><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>California, along with much of the west, is experiencing a historic drought, with rainfall in January and February of 2022 hitting hundred-year lows in some areas.The California drought is entering<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1395399","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1395399","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1395399"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1395399\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1395399"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1395399"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1395399"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}