Drought
worsens in western
U.S. – All of California now
in drought, cost
estimated to
be at least $7.48 billion
Drought
spread and intensified this week in seven western and central states,
including California, Oregon, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and
Oklahoma, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, a federal site that
tracks drought.
25 April, 2014,
Drought
spread and intensified this week in seven western and central states,
including California, Oregon, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and
Oklahoma, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, a federal site that
tracks drought.
This
week marks the first time in the 15-year history of the Drought
Monitor that 100% of California was in moderate to exceptional
drought.
The
cost of the drought in California is estimated at least $7.48 billion
in direct and indirect costs, according to Mike Wade, executive
director of the California Farm Water Coalition. This includes crop
losses and about 20,000 job losses tied to 800,000 acres of idled
farmland.
The
amount of acres idled equals the size of Los Angeles, San Diego, San
Jose, Fresno and Bakersfield combined — some 1,250 square miles.
Crops
such as iceberg lettuce, broccoli, bell pepper, cantaloupe and tomato
are being hardest hit, the farm coalition reports.
"If
you combine the current drought with the nearly $450 million in
damage to the state's citrus crop from a freeze last December, the
state's agriculture has really had a rough couple of months,"
says Steve Bowen, a meteorologist with Aon Benfield, a global
reinsurance firm based in London.
"If
the intensity of the drought remains prolonged, the economic cost
will surely continue to grow," he says.
The
worst of the drought in California is centered in the west-central
part of the state.
The
city of Montague, in Northern California, risks running out of
drinking water by the end of summer and has requested that all
outside watering be reduced until further notice, according to the
Monitor. This is the first time in over 80 years that this has
occurred.
More
than 60% of the West is in some form of drought. Only Montana and
Wyoming are completely drought-free.
The
main cause of the recent intensifying of the drought is a persistent
weather pattern that kept storms from the region for much of the
winter, according to meteorologist Richard Heim of the National
Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C.
The
pattern consisted of a cold trough of low pressure over eastern North
America (responsible for the cold winter) and a warm, dry ridge of
high pressure over the eastern North Pacific Ocean and western North
America, Heim said. High-pressure ridges prevent clouds from forming
and precipitation from falling.
A
study this month in Geophysical Research Letters by scientists at
Utah State University suggested that the type of "stuck"
climate pattern that caused the drought could be linked to climate
change, but much more research will need to be conducted on the
subject to reach any definitive conclusions.
The
entire state of California is now in a drought. "Exceptional"
drought -- the worst level -- is in dark brown on the map. Red,
orange and tan represent lesser levels of drought.(Photo:
U.S. Drought Monitor)
California is almost 100% dependent upon snow melt from the Sierra Nevada for it's water supply. No snow = no water. In it's natural state this place is mostly arid semi-desert except for the North Coast.
ReplyDeleteIt amazes me how fragile our wonderful house of cards is. We have excess capacity to go a couple of years with marginal snowfall. After that ??? No preparation has been made.
Climate change has all but guaranteed that a (really) prolonged drought will come. The only question is when. When that happens, Cali becomes the world's largest ghost town.