This last week our govenator declared a state of emergency because of our states current water crises. We have so many crises when it comes to water, too much some years and in the case of this year, to little. We have little or no rain in summer normally, but this year we came up a little short during the winter. So now, according to The New York Times new construction projects are being put on hold across the state. Meanwhile Sacramento water companies are now encouraging neighbors to turn their water wasting neighbors in. Oh, the busy bodies will be busy this year.
Having been born and raised in this state I have been through about four other serious droughts. With every drought that comes along we learn new methods of conservation, find new plants that take our summer droughts better, and sell lots of drip irrigation equipment. I can tell you though that if the drought continues next year the nurseries here will be in the same situation nurseries in the south found themselves in last year!
One thing the article from the Times mentions is building 3.5 billion of new water supplies. Of course that's no good as " environmentalists have vehemently opposed, in part because they find dams and storage facilities environmentally unsound and not cost effective." Furthur, the "state’s agriculture industry, which uses far more water than urban areas, is being asked to contribute little to conservation under the governor’s plans. As more building projects are derailed by water requirements, the pressure on farmers to share more of their water is."
I don't know how environmentally friendly having no food to eat will be. If your thinking you'll grow your own, where will your water come from? How this state can continue to grow or even sustain the growth we have right now without new water projects is hard to understand. I am all for conservation, but we haven't had a new water project in over twenty years! The state has continued to grow during those twenty years, yet our water supply hasn't. My prediction is if the drought continues into next year that will change real fast.
We don't get any rain here during the summer anyway. All our rain comes during winter. So we are already going to be dealing with the ramifications of this drought now. Our planting season is over. Now it's people coming in for some spots of color, fertilizer, pest controls, and stuff to sustain what they already have planted. This will go on through summer until the fall planting season, which will be wimpy because the physiological effect of all the drought talk. Then winter will arrive hopefully with rain. If not, the county we live and do business in might do what it did 20 years ago. Ban all new plantings unless you are on a well! That hurts!
Our state is a state of extremes. This winter we could have floods and all this drought talk could be over, for a while. It will rear its head again and again as long as our state continues to grow people without growing our water supplies, as well as conservation. If anyone has a better answer I would be willing to listen.