The California Drought
How it happened...
The reason for the drought is that there is a vast area of hight air pressure that is keeping the pacific winter storms from reaching California. This is called The High Pressure Ridge. This ridge is about 4 miles high and 2,000 miles long. These storms are now traveling up to Alaska and The British Columbia. Some scientists believe that this is the result of climate change (Rogers).
What's happening to the economy?
A lot of U.S. foods are grown in a California, but with the drought is causing a problem not just in California, but across the country also. Many of California's agricultural jobs will be or are being lost because lack of water is causing farmers to have to pay more for water and pay less to workers. The prices of fruits and veggies are going up nation wide, fruits are going up by 6% and veggies are going up by 3%. Another problem is the nut trees. Nut trees need to be watered constantly year round but farmers just can't pay to constantly water them, so instead they are starting to uproot a lot of the nut trees. Nut trees use up way too much water, it takes about 4.9 gallons of water to grow one walnut (Mieszkawski).
What is being done?
Some things that are being done to solve this drought problem include filtering sea water into fresh water and leftover water from faucets, showers, and washing machines are being recycled for irrigation. The mayor of California is also recommending that the residents cut back on 25% of their water uses (Tamminen).
My Opinion...
It's hard to have an opinion on the drought because it is a fact that it is a drought, but I can have opinions on decisions people make about the drought. At first, I had heard a little bit about some restrictions being made on water, and I said that its their own money and they can use all of the water that they want. This oppinion changed as soon as I got a closer look at what was really happening. I think that people should try their best to do what they can about the drought. I believe that everyone should be aware of the drought because it can and will affect people all over the country.