...California Water Crisis California is the third largest state in the United States and the nation’s leading agricultural producer and has been for the last 60 years. Located on the west coast, its agriculture provides millions of jobs and generates close to $27.6 billion dollars in sales annually. With California being the leader in agricultural production, a lot of water is a necessity and the biggest user of water in California is, you got it, the agriculture industry. Before 1922, 6 of the 7 states, including California, which are visited by the Colorado River, signed the Colorado River Compact. This was an agreement among the states governing the allocation of the water rights to the river’s water. California’s rapid growth in population and agriculture began to cause concern for other Colorado River Basin states who feared that California would established priority rights to the river water. The Imperial Valley, located in Southern California, was already relying heavily on the Colorado River for significantly agricultural development (www.usbr.com 2012). For years, California has had their fair share of problems regarding the amount of water that had supposed to been allocated to them or surplus water that the other states never used. In the 1930’s, Southern California’s rights to the river water were thought to be settled and solidified when several agencies signed water delivery contracts with the Secretary of the Interior. The contracts stated the priorities...
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...California's Water Crisis The state of California has dealt with many problems, one of the most major ones being the drought. California has dealt with droughts for many years now. The current drought isn’t the first,it's one of many. Myself along with many hope it is the last. Do the people in California have what it takes to solve the problem? California gets most of their water supply from the aqueduct,colorado river, sacramento, and from water conservation. The Los Angeles Aqueduct receives water from the Eastern Sierra Nevada. The aqueduct now gets the supply from basins and snow covered mountains within the state. This water comes from far distances just to get to anyones place. The colorado river provides water for the upper part of calfornia. The state gets water from sacramento, the surface water found their is about 85 percent and groundwater is about 15 percent. Thirty to forty percent of ground water is used by the state(aceplumbing). The most significant droughts recorded are from 1929-1934, 1976-1977, 1987-1992, 2011-present (California Department of Water Resources). According to the article the year 2014,overlapping the driest calendar year, ended September 30 the states 3rd driest in 119 years of record. The weather has a lot to do with the drought. The state has been struggling for a very long time. There has been a few ideas to try and fix the issue but those ideas are not enough because obviously the drought keeps...
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...Water is probably one of the most important things to man, but what would happen if we ran out? The current drought in California is affecting many people’s lives and it is slowly just becoming worse. Although, it may not only be affecting California. An excerpt from the Article “Water Controversies Boil Over” states: “In the coming year, 46 nations risk violent conflict over water and climate-related crises, and 56 other countries face political instability, according to a study by International Alert, a British advocacy group. The United Nations says water wars may be more likely in the future than wars over oil. Fights over water-some small, some as large as California—are occurring across the globe. …Solving these conflicts requires us to accept that water does not belong to anyone. It belongs to all.” (Weiser, 5) Weiser here is stating that California is place going through a lack of water....
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...The Californian Drought Crisis This section of the paper will outline the current Californian drought crisis, taking the position that climatically, it is a combined result of lower than average precipitation and higher than average temperatures and that the population, in residential, commercial and agricultural settings place an excessive demand upon the state’s water supply. Working together, these stressors have a collective effect in causing the drought crisis in California since 2012. 2015 marks California’s fourth consecutive year of severe drought. The last two years alone have been the driest and warmest individual years since records began in 1895, with ten of the last fourteen experiencing below normal levels of precipitation (Howitt, et al., 2015) (Mann & Gleick, 2015). From autumn 2013 to spring 2014, central and southern California experienced some of the lowest precipitation on record, it is said that the impacts...
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...Major Water Scarcity in California And it’s Effect on the American South West This essay explains the lack of precipitation in South West America and its effects on California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico. It also explores the numerous alternatives that could be used in order to solve this water crisis. The cause of the drought in California is the lack of snowfall in the Rocky Mountains, which caused the river to evaporate. As temperatures are rising, it causes water to evaporate and dry out soil that we need to plant crops. Authorities are reducing the flow from Colorado’s two reservoirs, Lake Powell, which supplies the upper Colorado Basin, and Lake Mead, which supplies Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Evidence suggests “For the...
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...nt1320 The State of California is in its worst water drought to date, many are affected by the water shortage including farm crops, and small cities. The management of the states water resources are not up to standards; however; their efforts of water conservation are improving. The state of California has issued state-wide regulations for water use, but many cities are taking it a step further. The City of Fresno is in a stage two storage contingency plan, which regulates outdoor water usage. According to the city of Fresno's website (www.fresno.gov) the watering schedule allows residences and local business to water outside on specific days Depending on the last digit of their street numbers. For example; street numbers ending in ODD numbers can water on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Street numbers ending with EVEN numbers can water on Wednesdays and Sundays. Also watering can only happen from the hours of 7:00pm to 6:00am. Anyone who is caught not following the water restrictions in the City of Fresno can face a $500 daily fine. In Madera county, the city has declared a stage four plan to conserve water. This means that watering outdoors is prohibited, even parks and other recreational facilities. Their goal is to reduce water usage in half. If water usage is being abused the board of supervisors can increase the penalties. The states government is also trying to request a bond that will allow the state to build reservoirs and aboveground water storages including a dam...
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...Clark English 201C 13 May 2015 Man-Made Water Crisis Over the past several years the state of California has been suffering from a drought that has left behind many farmers in the dust with their fallowed crops. The Central Valley, located in the heart of California, is home to a vast variety of crops that feed the world. The valley has taken the blunt of the hit caused by the recent drought as many farmers have received zero allocations of their contracted water along with many water wells drying up. The lack of water not only has an affect on farmers but anyone else that enjoys the succulent foods that articulate from California’s farms. As the lack of rainfall has had an influence on the current shortage of water, it is not the only factor contributing to it. “In 2009, the department of Fish and Wildlife ordered restrictions on the water run-off, which began the now six-year-old policy of sending billions of gallons of fresh water annually into the Pacific Ocean” (Hill). With California’s extensive need for water, legislation needs to transpire in order to use what precipitation we do receive to be allocated effectively and efficiently. California has been known for many substantial reasons, ranging from the Gold Rush of 1849 to its beautiful coast line that attracts many tourists. One important piece that always seems to be overlooked is the agricultural industry that thrives in the Central Valley. California produces much of the nations food; 99 percent of...
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...PAC -10 CONSULTING | Water Crisis: Extracting Surplus from a Deficit To: Dr. Lee Cerling, Director of Research and Communications From: Jordan Pinkus Date: [ 9/29/2010 ] Re: PAC-10 Overview of Water Crisis: Key Opportunities How to Use This Memo Template Global shortages of potable water have signaled an emerging crisis. The shortages impact developed and developing nations, though the evidence is harshest in the developing world. Despite available drinking water and seemingly abundant domestic water supplies, the United States faces increasing and accelerating shortages. However, in this era of crises (global warming, the energy crisis, the financial crisis), a crisis means business opportunity. 1,4 The average resident of the United States uses 616 gallons per day. Comparatively, this ranks United States second to Canada for per capita consumption. However, the United States population is approximately 10 times that of Canada and therefore total domestic consumption exceeds Canadian several times over, ranking first globally. The scale of water demands strains the hydrologic cycle, which governs the replenishment of fresh water, thereby jeopardizing long-term water resources. 3 Meeting the United States’ water demands traditionally required engineering solutions to a consistent question: Where can we get more water? However, continued strain on resources reveals the need for more than the quick fixes engineers have always turned to. 1 Water-conservation solutions...
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...Zarate Professor Foster English 100 November 21, 2013 “Desalination of Seawater” Water is extremely essential to every human in this world. The scarcity of water has increased in the past decades due to the overpopulation of humans. Today, we found ourselves in a critical stage where most people have not realized the consequences for the future generations. The government is investing economic resources to find innovative methods to produce fresh water. The process that removes salt from sea waters is the desalination of sea waters to breed freshwater. This process of converting seawater to clean water has caused an answer too many countries. Countries from the Middle East where there is a massive crisis of clean water, they are recurring to this cost-effective process to the solution of the water crisis. Humans cannot drink salty water, but saline water can be made into freshwater, which people need every day to live. The process is called desalination, and as the lack of fresh water grow more countries will use it to provide drinking water. Fresh water will be in short supply in some part of the United States and the world. As the population continues to grow, the lack of fresh water will appear more frequently. In many desert regions of the world including United States, the drought of fresh water resources has been critical, and it will be increasingly influential in the future. The water problem needs to be considered seriously as fossil energy resources to continue the...
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...This book connects to modern society because of the Flint Water Crisis. People who are having to deal with the Flint Water Crisis clearly don’t have to go through as bad circumstances as everyone during the Holocaust, but it connects to it because of how the people of Flint have to be cut off from water just like depending on what camps you were in during the Holocaust, you got cut off from food. The reasons why they got cut off from these things were obviously completely different. People of Flint got cut off from their water because of lead in the water and everyone during the Holocaust got cut off from food because they were Jews and they weren’t being treated as normal humans during this time. The Flint Water Crisis hasn’t killed even close...
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...given current environmental crises like global warming and municipal water system failures. The common theme of corrupt corporations seeking to make money at the expense of human health continues to play out on a national and global scale. Erin Brockovich sheds light on the public health issue of clean drinking water, something most view as a human right. It’s a film that many can relate to and can serve as a case study in Environmental Law and Public Health. Purpose of the Film The exact details which reveal why the film was made are unclear. Erin Brockovich mentions being approached by a writer and film studio in the 1990s, however, there is no mention of why they chose to tell her story. One can assume the writer and film studio felt the David and Goliath story of a small town legal secretary taking on a large corporation, was worthy of dramatizing. Their hunch was correct and the film was nominated for an Academy Award. Appropriate Audience This film would suit a wide range, from teens to the 60 plus crowd. There is some swearing so it's not appropriate for children; parents will have to decide if it's ok for their teenage children. Erin Brockovich is a great case study for those studying environmental law or public health. It’s also relevant to anyone studying business or ethics. The science has been called into question, yet the fundamentals of leading an inquiry into a community's drinking water remain relevant today. Public Health Issue Given recent developments...
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...The California drought has claimed to be a big epidemic for this state of dreams. This drought alone has been said to put many residents in a panic of what's to become of their beautiful state, but many wonder just how this crisis began in the first place. Residents and other American’s thought of ways just how this possibly terrifying ordeal came to be. Some say it is manmade, others believe it is due to the environment while a few believe it is the way for the big businesses and the rich to gain extra money or extra water. The facts will show us each of their arguments, but the truth is up to the people themselves. The droughts claimed current state can lead anyone to their own beliefs of the matter. For instance, California water usage website gives a list of current events of the presumed drought. California Water Usage says the drought is currently in its fourth year making 2014-2015 the warmest years on record. On April, the 1st the department of water resources stated that the snow packs is now at 5%; which they presume is the...
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...the crisis of the drought, one controversial issue has been the conflict between water reductions. On the one hand, Justin Sullivan argues that this drought has been a difficult burden since people will argue about who cuts more of their water usage. He states, “People will say, ‘What about the farmers?’ Farmers will say, ‘What about the people who water their lawns”. As we all know outdoor use of water wastes much more water that is not even necessary. Some examples include: watering lawns, washing cars, watering gardens, and cemeteries over watering their grass. Sullivan argued that Mr. Brown stated that California would enforce these water restrictions and have a 25 percent cut in water consumption. People should value the importance of water and it should not be wasted on the contrary, it should be used in only the most necessary things. On the other hand, Damon Winter contends that the 25 percent of water reduction does not apply to farms and they are the ones who consume a great amount of the state’s water. Others like for example Mark Hertsgaard, maintain that the water is priced more cheaply than it should be; therefore, it encourages over consumption which leads people to waste water. My own view of this drought is if we the people don’t make changes and save water the drought will eventually worsen since their won’t be any people cooperating and trying to make a difference. When it comes to the topic of who has the right of using most of the state’s water, most...
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...Environmentalists are said to be one of the main problems that causes the drought in California and they are defending themselves. Environmentalists have a problem with farmers and agriculture. It is point out that environmentalist tried to preserve the federal guideline that limiting water supplies from the north to the south California while farmers said they were restricting important source of water supplies from reaching places that need the water (“Facing Drought, California”). At this point, it can be seen that environmentalists and farmers have their right point of view about the water supply. One side supposes to preserve water for fishes and this can help fishermen survive while the other is against that people need more water than...
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...This year, California is experiencing its worst drought ever recorded in history. “The drought is so dire that experts are considering adding a fifth level to the four-tiered drought scale” (Hamblin, 3). Due to the constant dry heat during the winter and the rise of global warming, California’s water supplies has become limited. In California, there are three major water sources that they use: snowpack, reservoirs, and groundwater. “This year the snowpack is at a record low, just 5 percent of normal. Reservoirs are doing a bit better, at about two-thirds of normal. Groundwater has made up some of the difference, and is being pumped at a rate thirty-four percent above normal” (Holthaus, 2). As a result of over-pumping, the integrity of the...
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