Check out these dramatic Before & After shots depicting the impact of the long drought we've been experiencing out west. People keep flocking to the Golden State, but this migration obviously creates a strain on the nature resources, particularly with the current depleted water supply. 2011: Here, the Green Bridge passes over Lake Oroville near the Bidwell Marina. Notice the trees and shrubs that grow right against the man-made lake's edge... Fast forward to 2014 and even the massive pillars holding up the bridge can be completely seen at the lakes edge, where a wide swath of parched dirt spans between what's left of the water and the tree line. 2011: The marina at Oroville Lake is the picture of serenity. Recent serious storms in Northern and Southern California have helped give the state a very small reprieve during the 3-year drought, but the effects have been described as a 'drop in the bucket' 2014: Much of what was once an engorged reservoir is now gone at Oroville. Shockingly, only a handful of Central Coast dams have fallen below the historically low 1977 levels. Most dramatic… 2011: Here, the Enterprise Bridge spans the Lake Oroville in Butte County, California. 2014: Here, the Enterprise Bridge spans the same reservoir, which has dwindled to a mere trickle in 2014 as California is forced to draw alarming amounts of water from its vanishing reservoirs.
Wow, those are dramatic changes! They remind me of the pics of Lake Mead they'd show when I lived in Vegas.
Without water, just about everything comes to a standstill. Dire situation to say the least. Sure hope the upcoming winter provides relief in the form of snow in the mountains and gentle rains to fill the lakes. I wonder if/when people will start to leave because of the lack of water?
Don't blame it on people moving to the state though. It's farmers and agribusiness. It's politically unpalatable to take away water rights from farmers, but it's coming. Rice farmers in Texas have had their water usage cut back due to the drought here. This of course assumes CA is letting water out the reservoirs for downstream farmers. Here's a pie chart I found for CA freshwater use. But California is definitely in a bad draought
Oh, absolutely the lion's share goes to agriculture. My point in mentioning the influx of people continuing to come to California is the increasing demand it puts on the local water agencies, who are already strained, competing for the 'leftovers.'
Nicely done Kevin, those are some very dramatic photos there! It's bad this year even up here in Tahoe, and sadly the real fire season is still ahead of us... This was the public boat launch in Kings Beach back in early June. Of course, it's lower now. For those interested here's a link to an article with a little history on Sierra droughts from our local free newspaper Moonshine Ink: http://www.moonshineink.com/news/tahoe-sierra-drought-weather-perspective-and-history
You all need to stay out of the NW. We don't need you coming here and drinking up all of our water too.
I remember the 3 year drought in the mid to late seventies. Water was rationed, and anyone who exceeded the limits had a restrictor put on their water meter. They could still get water, but only at a trickle. California's population was much smaller then than it is now. Should such a drought happen today, we would be in very serious danger of running out of water. Environmental concerns typically block the construction of new dams, so the only alternative is to halt or reverse the population increase. There are too many people in CA today, more than the environment can support. It is a matter of rainfall and weather patterns more than anything else. Sure, we could limit agricultural water use, but that would cause food shortages, skyrocketing prices and great harm to the state's economy.
The drought in the 70's was hard times, I think we are in the same situation now. You are so correct.
Compare that to the Aral sea, where the water was diverted for agricultural use. For scale, from the bottom left to the top right of each picture is about 150 miles. The left is 1989, the right 2008.
Done. However, drinking wine to save water puts additional pressure on wineries to grow more grapes in order to make more wine, which mean more irrigation = less water.... What a vicious circle!
Your logic is impeccable. That being said, New York will ship you barrels of our best fruit of Noah from the Finger Lakes in exchange for equal parts of your main cash crop.
