Drought in California

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Dec 6, 2023

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1 Drought in California PRESTON EVERETTJOHNSON DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY AND CITY AND REGIONAL PLANNING, CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, FRESNO GEOG115-16-78330-2237 DR SEGUN OGUNJEMIYO October 21, 2023

2 Drought in California Drought and how it occurs. A drought is a period considered drier than average conditions that result in water-related problems that can cause environmental harm and lower the water level in parts of areas that include ponds, lakes, and even river runoff. This can result in a low amount of precipitation in that location, which can vary yearly, but over time, the average amount becomes relatively consistent. In parts of the desert in the South, the average precipitation is less than three inches per year. In contrast, the average rainfall in the northwest is more than 150 inches per year. During this drought, the fire begins to dry out, and plants can start to die. When rainfall becomes less than usual for years or weeks, the stream flows will decline, and the water level in lakes and reservoirs begin to fall. (What causes drought?) Climate change is one of the main reasons that causes droughts in parts of the US and is one of the reasons for the freshwater supply crisis in the southwest of the United States. Climate change has increased the duration of dry periods in parts of the US, resulting in a water supply shortage. As a result, drought continues in these American areas from the southwest of Texas to California, facing severe drought with its long-term stress on the water supply. One of the significant effects of drought is the lowering of freshwater sources, including rivers, lakes, groundwater, and water storage. This lowering of the water sources can be very dangerous in certain areas, including large cities along the southwest of America. These cities sometimes use massive amounts of water to be used for power, so through the use of dams and storing this water to be used for drinking and production of goods. (Drought, Risk) Causes of California drought? One of the leading causes of drought in California is climate change. Due to the rapid

3 transformation of the environment that has been done in California due to the development of agriculture and building companies, the environment has changed drastically, resulting in water being diverted and moved to different areas. Due to this happening, water has been shifted to the extent that it is starting to become a drought in certain parts of the US because of climate change and global warming. Water has been diverted away from its usual places where it is stored, resulting in groundwater shortages and storage areas. Information gathered from the California Department of Water Resources has been researched. It found out that California is known to have a warm and dry summer. Still, it is known for its mild and wet winters through November and March, which results in the majority of its precipitation and heaviest rainfall. Most of California's rain is known to fall in the northern part of it. But thanks to the shifting climate in California, it has experienced more wet years and longer, drier years it has continued this. California has experienced drought more often since 2011 and ended this drought around 2019. The drought was known to be its most severe in 2014 during July. The CDWR categorized that 60% of California was affected during the drought of July 2014. Due to these long periods of drought, the California legislative office began to put in policies to help improve California's water through conservation efforts and Rebates for drought-resistant landscapes, and we're forming artificial turf. They even established water budgets per year and began to develop water limits for people per day to help limit water usage. (Saving the Water in California) Socio-economic impacts of drought in California One of the main impacts of the California drought was the economic and mental health impact. The research was done on multiple households in some regions of California to determine how the drought would impact them; they found out that the drought has caused an impact on people's finances and property along with their mental health, resulting in these people

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4 suffering greatly, due to the increase in drought during the time. Of California's extended drought history, they found that it affected households and increased chronic diseases in areas, resulting in people moving from California to better places with better water sources and a cleaner environment. One significant impact was property during the drought. It damaged agriculture in these areas, including grasses and farm areas, which began to dry up and die. This drought also caused many farmers of orchards to limit their water usage during their plants' growing season, which decreased their crop yield and finances. Many programs are put in place by the public health system in California to help assist people in need during the drought and satisfy even the farmers to obtain water to keep California's food source abundant through these dry seasons. Did the impact of the drought on people's mental health begin to decrease as their Peace of Mind began to diminish? Drought people reported that 20% began to seek more medical help for their household as their chronic diseases worsened as the drought continued, resulting in their finances becoming more strict and worse as they began to seek help for their mental illness. Properties and their finances began to be impacted as households in these areas began to have trees dying out and grasses began to die; these trees began falling in these areas, resulting in property damage and the destruction of city property. (Physical, Mental, and Financial Impacts) The link between drought and climate change. The warm temperatures escalating in California have increased the rate at which water evaporates, which will surface water and dry out soil and plant life. The effects of climate change it is altering the time of year for when water is available, resulting in warmer winters in California, which lowers the increase of ice that can be used for runoff from the mountains into the streams and rivers of the area. Because of this, it will decrease the snowpack, which causes problems in California. The climate change in California is making certain areas in California

5 more dry than other parts, resulting in flooding in certain areas and increasing the risk of destruction of crops and agriculture in the area because of the increase in flooding due to the long periods of dry seasons. Due to the growth of drought in California, the expenses that were put in place have increased in California significantly. The increase in drought in California has caused increased damage to California forests. The long periods of drought in California have increased the chances of wildfires, which have broken out many times in the past decade. Due to climate change, these dry periods make these areas in California so dry to the point that the forest and vegetation can't stay moist enough that they burst into flames more easily, sparking wildfires that take weeks to be put out, resulting in property damage, and releasing of CO2 into the atmosphere. (Learning to feel at home in the Anthropocene) But one of the significant things that happened to California during this year was when we started to have higher yields of rain, which resulted in flooding of certain areas in California to the point that water had to be let loose from local dams and be diverted away from places to prevent flooding; this sudden change was a result of climate change in this part of the US as the dry seasons started to become more wet and moist during those periods which resulted in damages to the agriculture industry in parts of California. (ABC News) Measures adopted by local and state governments to mitigate drought impacts. One of the things California tried to do to mitigate the drought in the area is to provide programs for the people who could not qualify to obtain bottled water by issuing assistance programs like SNAP to help the people and households who need water. (The Impact of the California Drought) California also provided programs to support local farmers with their water shortage by delivering water. Some parts of California were used to flood orchards with water to replenish the aquifer. Certain areas of California were forced to water their plants between

6 different days of the week to help preserve water usage and prevent water wasting. Mini household items like toilets and things were outfitted in certain businesses to have less water usage to help with the drought in California. The government even provided some finances to companies to help with the medication of the drought by drinking bottled water and water supplies out of state into California to help the communities struggling to obtain water for drinking and bathing. The California government provided many types of aid to local farmers and communities needing water during the dry season. California offered to tax people for overwater usage and limited their daily water to help combat this lack of water in the state. California even prevented forest fires by starting to cut down tall trees and even dead ones away from power lines and fire sources to help combat the climate change caused by wildfires.

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7 Reference ABC News , ABC News Network, abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/miracle-water-year-california- rain-snow-put-states-103699643#:~:text=El%20Nino%20affects%20weather %20patterns,National%20Oceanic%20and%20Atmospheric%20Administration. Accessed 21 Oct. 2023. Barreau, T., Conway, D., Haught, K., Jackson, R., Kreutzer, R., Lockman, A., Minnick, S., Roisman, R., Rozell, D., Smorodinsky, S., Tafoya, D., & Wilken, J. A. (2017). Physical, Mental, and Financial Impacts From Drought in Two California Counties, 2015. American Journal of Public Health, 107(5), 783–790. https://doi-org.reedleycollege.idm.oclc.org/10.2105/AJPH.2017.303695 Hess, D. J., Wold, C. A., Hunter, E., Nay, J., Worland, S., Gilligan, J., & Hornberger, G. M. (2016). Drought, Risk, and Institutional Politics in the American Southwest. Sociological Forum, 31, 807–827. https://doi-org.reedleycollege.idm.oclc.org/10.1111/socf.12274 Hoppin, K. B., & Meshes, E. (2022). Saving the Water in California: a Call for Behavior Analytic Action. Behavior & Social Issues, 31(1), 437–450. https://doi- org.reedleycollege.idm.oclc.org/10.1007/s42822-022-00108-z Keenan, S. P., & Krannich, R. S. (1997). The Social Context of Perceived Drought Vulnerability. Rural Sociology, 62(1), 69–88. Rodriguez, L., Horowitz, M., Espinoza, D., Aguilera, A., & de la Torre, A. (2015). The Impact of the California Drought on Food Security among Rural Families of Mexican Origin. Journal of Applied Research on Children, 6(2), 1–24.

8 VINE, M. (2018). Learning to feel at home in the Anthropocene: From state of emergency to everyday experiments in California’s historic drought. American Ethnologist, 45(3), 405– 416. https://doi-org.reedleycollege.idm.oclc.org/10.1111/amet.12674 “What Causes Drought?” What Causes Drought? | U.S. Geological Survey , www.usgs.gov/faqs/what-causes-drought#:~:text=When%20rainfall%20is%20less %20than,period%20can%20become%20a%20drought. Accessed 21 Oct. 2023.

Drought in California

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