Lake Powell is within just a few feet of its low level ever observed since it was first filled. Early season fires have already torched over 400,000 acres in Colorado and California’s reservoirs are 50 percent lower than they should be at this time of year before summer has even officially begun.
Each year Lake Oroville helps water a quarter of the nation’s crops, sustain endangered salmon beneath its massive earthen dam and anchor the tourism economy of a Northern California county that must rebuild seemingly every year after unrelenting wildfires.
But now the mighty lake — a linchpin in a system of aqueducts and reservoirs in the arid U.S. West that makes California possible — is shrinking with surprising speed amid a severe drought, with state officials predicting it will reach a record low later this summer.
Several industry leaders recently expressed agricultural water concerns to California Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis. After touring Fowler Packing’s facility in Fresno County, Kounalakis participated in a roundtable discussion with industry members. Representatives from the California Fresh Fruit Association (CFFA), Western Agricultural Processors Association, California Citrus Mutual, and others were all in attendance. Congressman Jim Costa also participated in the discussion. CFFA President Ian LeMay said it was a beneficial meeting, where issues related to drought and the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) were highlighted.
With three quarters of the state now in extreme drought zones, dwindling water supplies are forcing many California water agencies to take restrictive measures to conserve water. In the Bay Area, Marin County was the latest to declare a state of emergency as parched conditions had ranchers trucking in water from elsewhere.
Yet compared to rural parts of California, the water supplies for San Francisco and the East Bay, are in healthier shape. But it’s not because San Francisco or the East Bay are getting much more rain than the rest of the state.
Tensions have been building in Klamath Falls in recent weeks over a drought that is devastating farmland, fish deemed sacred to native tribes, and wildlife. The Klamath Basin, along the Oregon-California border, has a complex history. Drought and fights over water aren’t new.
The West is locked in the grip of a 20-year megadrought, with the Colorado River approaching record-low flows.
The seven states in the Colorado River basin—Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming in the upper basin and Arizona, California and Nevada in the lower—established drought contingency plans in 2019 for managing and operating the river in the ongoing crisis. They’re the latest piece of the “Law of the River,” which allocates water to the seven states.
California farmers and ranchers are preparing for a difficult growing season as the state faces drought conditions. The California Board of Food and Agriculture met on Tuesday to discuss ways to help farmers and ranchers, as well as to discuss the proposed $5.1 billion included in the governor’s budget to address drought challenges and water infrastructure. After back-to-back dry years, the state’s water supply is strained, forcing farmers like Joe Martinez in Solano County to figure out ways to get the most out of their water.
Nearly half of the country — from the Pacific coast to the Great Plains and upper Midwest — is experiencing moderate to exceptional drought conditions. That’s expected to get worse throughout the summer. As William Brangham reports, it’s the western states in particular that are taking the hardest hit, and the possibilities for devastating wildfires are at an all-time high.
Between Las Vegas and Arizona, Lake Mead, the body of water that is fed by the Colorado River, dropped below 1,075 feet on Tuesday. The low water marks are signaling what could be the first-ever water shortage on the Colorado River, CNN reports.
The lake’s levels show a continuing decline, according to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR), and any hope of recovery won’t happen until at least the end of 2022.
Joe Del Bosque is leaving a third of his 2,000-acre farm near Firebaugh, California, unseeded this year due to extreme drought. Yet, he hopes to access enough water to produce a marketable melon crop.
Farmers across California say they expect to receive little water from state and federal agencies that regulate the state’s reservoirs and canals, leading many to leave fields barren, plant more drought-tolerant crops or seek new income sources all-together.
