California May Have Hit Its Driest Point In 500 Years, And The Effects Are Frightening
▻http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/30/california-drought-effects-500-years_n_4647529.html
California is dry as a bone, and the effects are like something out of an apocalyptic film.
Cities are running out of water. Communities are fighting over what little water there is. Local governments are imposing rationing coupled with steep fines. Fires are ravaging the state. Entire species and industries are threatened.
For California, 2013 was the driest year since the state started measuring rainfall in 1849. Paleoclimatologist B. Lynn Ingram says that, according to the width of old tree rings, California hasn’t been this dry for about 500 years.
La pénurie ranime de vieilles guerres pour l’eau : prélèvements agricoles pour l’irrigation, projets de transfert du nord au sud,…
With the drought in full force, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and three Republican congressmen from Central California proposed emergency drought legislation to allow farmers to pump irrigation water from the protected delta. Their effort was unsuccessful, but they have vowed to try again. In addition, the governor, in conjunction with state agencies, has proposed a plan that would cost from $25 billion to as much as $67 billion to build two 30-mile underground tunnels to ensure water delivery from Northern California to Southern California.
Environmentalists vehemently oppose both propositions, arguing they will destroy the delta’s ecosystem. Instead, they say governments should legislate efforts to capture more rain and conserve and recycle water (which Brown hasn’t mandated, but is encouraging).
While farmers fight to water their land and environmentalists fight to protect ecosystems, social activists are advocating for disadvantaged communities in parts of the state where low-income minorities have poor quality drinking water. Furthermore, as farmers and ranchers cut back, their employees, who are predominantly Latino, lose jobs.