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Page added on March 16, 2015

California Is Turning Back Into A Desert And There Are No Contingency Plans

Once upon a time, much of the state of California was a barren desert. And now, thanks to the worst drought in modern American history, much of the state is turning back into one. Scientists tell us that the 20th century was the wettest century that the state of California had seen in 1000 years. But now weather patterns are reverting back to historical norms, and California is rapidly running out of water. It is being reported that the state only has approximately a one year supply of water left in the reservoirs, and when the water is all gone there are no contingency plans. Back in early 2014, California Governor Jerry Brown declared a drought emergency for the entire state, but since that time water usage has only dropped by 9 percent. That is not nearly enough. The state of California has been losing more than 12 million acre-feet of total water a year since 2011, and we are quickly heading toward an extremely painful water crisis unlike anything that any of us have ever seen before.

But don’t take my word for it. According to the Los Angeles Times, Jay Famiglietti “is the senior water scientist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory/Caltech and a professor of Earth system science at UC Irvine”. What he has to say about the horrific drought in California is extremely sobering…

As our “wet” season draws to a close, it is clear that the paltry rain and snowfall have done almost nothing to alleviate epic drought conditions. January was the driest in California since record-keeping began in 1895. Groundwater and snowpack levels are at all-time lows. We’re not just up a creek without a paddle in California, we’re losing the creek too.

Data from NASA satellites show that the total amount of water stored in the Sacramento and San Joaquin river basins — that is, all of the snow, river and reservoir water, water in soils and groundwater combined — was 34 million acre-feet below normal in 2014. That loss is nearly 1.5 times the capacity of Lake Mead, America’s largest reservoir.

Statewide, we’ve been dropping more than 12 million acre-feet of total water yearly since 2011. Roughly two-thirds of these losses are attributable to groundwater pumping for agricultural irrigation in the Central Valley. Farmers have little choice but to pump more groundwater during droughts, especially when their surface water allocations have been slashed 80% to 100%. But these pumping rates are excessive and unsustainable. Wells are running dry. In some areas of the Central Valley, the land is sinking by one foot or more per year.

Are you starting to understand why so many experts are so alarmed?

For much more from Famiglietti, check out this 60 Minutes interview.

According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, essentially the entire state is suffering drought conditions right now. And as you can see from the map below, most of the state is currently experiencing either the highest or the second-highest classification of drought…

Nearly 40 million people live in the state of California at the moment.

What are they all going to do when the water is gone?

In some rural areas, reservoirs are already nearly bone dry. And in other areas, the water quality has gone way down. For example, in one Southern California neighborhood black water is now coming out of the taps…

Residents of a Southern California neighborhood are concerned about the fact that the water flowing out of the taps in their homes is the color black. That’s right; the water coming out of their faucets is indeed black — not gray, not cloudy — but black. Inky, opaque black water that the water company says is okay to drink.

Those who live in Gardena, California, are understandably skeptical when asked to consume water that strongly resembles crude oil or something emitted by a squid. The water reportedly also has an “odor of rotten eggs or sewer smell,” according to one resident.

Perhaps you don’t care about what happens to California.

Perhaps you believe that they are just getting what they deserve.

And you might be right about that.

But the truth is that this is a crisis for all of us, because an enormous amount of our fresh produce is grown in the state.

As I discussed in a previous article, the rest of the nation is very heavily dependent on the fruits and vegetables grown in California. The following numbers represent California’s contribution to our overall production…

–99 percent of the artichokes

–44 percent of asparagus

–two-thirds of carrots

–half of bell peppers

–89 percent of cauliflower

–94 percent of broccoli

–95 percent of celery

–90 percent of the leaf lettuce

–83 percent of Romaine lettuce

–83 percent of fresh spinach

–a third of the fresh tomatoes

–86 percent of lemons

–90 percent of avocados

–84 percent of peaches

–88 percent of fresh strawberries

–97 percent of fresh plums

Without the agricultural production of the state of California, we are in a massive amount of trouble.

And of course there are other areas all over the globe that are going through similar things. For instance, taps in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paolo are running dry as Brazil experiences the worst drought that it has seen in 80 years.

The world simply does not have enough fresh water left at this point, and that is why water is being called “the new oil”. The following comes from CBS News…

It’s been said that the wars of the 21st century may well be fought over water. The Earth’s population has more than doubled over the last 50 years and the demand for fresh water — to drink and to grow food — has surged along with it. But sources of water like rainfall, rivers, streams, reservoirs, certainly haven’t doubled. So where is all that extra water coming from? More and more, it’s being pumped out of the ground.

Water experts say groundwater is like a savings account — something you draw on in times of need. But savings accounts need to be replenished, and there is new evidence that so much water is being taken out, much of the world is in danger of a groundwater overdraft.

And if scientists are right, what we are experiencing right now may just be the very beginning of our problems. In fact, one team of researchers has concluded that the Southwestern United States is headed for a “megadrought” that could last for decades…

Scientists had already found that the Southwestern United States were at great risk of experiencing a significant megadrought (in this case meaning drought conditions that last for over 35 years) before the end of the 21st century. But a new study published in Science Advances added some grim context to those predictions.

Columbia University climate scientists Jason Smerdon and Benjamin Cook, and Cornell University’s Toby Ault were co-authors on the study. They took data from tree rings and other environmental records of climate from the Southwest and compared them to the projections of 17 different climate models that look at precipitation and soil moisture. When they made the comparison between past and future, they found that all the models agreed: the next big megadrought is coming, and it will be way worse than anything we’ve seen in over 1,000 years–including droughts that have been credited with wiping out civilizations.

Needless to say, along with any water crisis comes a food crisis.

Virtually everything that we eat requires a tremendous amount of water to grow. And at this point, the world is already eating more food than it produces most years.

So what is going to happen to us as this water crisis gets even worse?

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137 Comments on "California Is Turning Back Into A Desert And There Are No Contingency Plans"

dave thompson on Mon, 16th Mar 2015 9:07 am

“So what is going to happen to us as this water crisis gets even worse?” Let me take a wild guess at this one and say, we will all die.

yellowcanoe on Mon, 16th Mar 2015 9:35 am

Once the realization sets in that the dry conditions in the American SW are going to be with us a long time and are not simply the result of a couple of years of below average precipitation, I can see pressure for large scale diversion of water from areas of North America that are still well supplied with water.

penury on Mon, 16th Mar 2015 9:45 am

Of course there is a Plan B, CA is already pushing for pipeline from the Columbia River and from the Great Lakes to keep their cities supplied.

Fulton Waterloo on Mon, 16th Mar 2015 9:54 am

That is precisely why we need to welcome even more millions of illegal immigrants into the United States! Our resources are inexhaustible, right?

forbin on Mon, 16th Mar 2015 10:09 am

come on guys ! you’ve got a glut in condensate ! best use it up diverting rivers to CA, what better way to burn it , better than driving to Walmart to buy more stuff you dont need

Oh , make them canals , think of the tourist industry ! you know pipes , well they’ll just rust and nobody will want to look at them , will they?

think of the employment it will create , throw money at the Banks , pah! it big “hoover dam” time guys !

Forbin

John Carpenter on Mon, 16th Mar 2015 10:14 am

Simple question(s). The state of California is essentially bankrupt but still insists on building monuments to its stupidity. i.e. the “high speed rail”. So… first of all where do they expect to get the money for these massive projects and number two who would want to set a precedence by selling water to a state that has a reputation of not “paying as agreed”?

Stanley P on Mon, 16th Mar 2015 10:15 am

Fire up some desalination plants. Run the 24 hours a day. Come on. Get with it. Let California pay for its own fix. They need the water. Trucks or oil tankers would work. Something for oil tankers to do when USA is self sufficient in oil.

Davy on Mon, 16th Mar 2015 10:19 am

Any large scale water diversions will be dead on arrival. No money, no time, and no public support. All other watersheds are in stress. California and our national dependence on California produce will have to adapt.

This water crisis is just another example of a predicament with no solution other than less. It is simple really less with less. Less AG, less development, less wasteful consumption. How hard is that to get your BAUtopian mind around Mr Smith Public.

There are a rainbow of adaptation and mitigation efforts well known. They all have to do with trade-offs and less with less. This will be have less now and have less as time goes on. The reason this is a crisis is BAU has no understanding of less. BAU and her sheeples only no growth or more with less.

This is the 21st century paradigm shift from growth to descent. Get used to it because almost everything will go into a long term LESS mode.

Doug on Mon, 16th Mar 2015 10:23 am

This weekend it was revealed that Rice Farmers in the Central Valley have sold their Water Rights to Southern California in a deal worth $71 Million. The farmers say that they are making more from selling the water than what they could have earned from growing their rice. And so you see, it begins…

victor crocco on Mon, 16th Mar 2015 10:34 am

If the Pacific is warming due to El Nino then the extra energy will be absorbed by the Aleutian Low. The Aleutian Low is the generator of Pacific storms moving east. The drought is over and you Californians can start filling your swimming pools. Global Warming is going to drench Cal in the next couple of years.

Rick S on Mon, 16th Mar 2015 10:40 am

I’m thinking instead of spending billions on a bullet train, maybe that money should be spent on reservoirs, dams, or may de-salinization plants that benefit all of S. CA.

JS on Mon, 16th Mar 2015 10:44 am

Desalination is the only way to make this problem go away. Diverting from the Midwest/great Lakes, whatever just pushes the problem to other areas. What happens if there is a drought in the mid west and there isn’t any water to send to Cali? California got themselves into this mess, it’s California’s issue to resolve. If those of us in the rest of the country have to adjust our eating habits, then so be it, my girlfriend and I will just do what my parents do and grow our own lettuce, strawberries, etc.

douglas harris on Mon, 16th Mar 2015 10:44 am

The desalinization plan would have worked if started 20 years ago but with bottom line economics and politics this couldn’t be done. What is going to happen is a reverse migration. Small towns are already without water and this will get much worse. People in a population that is agriculture dependent; aren’t going to be working and will leave to find work elsewhere. California will depopulate. If the desal projects are begun now, some of the 20 million who leave to go elsewhere may come back-it all depends on the length of the drought. The drought now may be replaced with an even greater drought lasting 80+ years which will reshape the USA considerably.

eddie evans on Mon, 16th Mar 2015 10:48 am

Learn to live simple so others can simply live; stop pumping out babies for the sake of ego gratification; stop pouring concrete over land and use land to peculate water when it rains; push tiny house living; talk about the environmental prospects wrecked by our generation instead of Monday night fools ball.

RuhRoh on Mon, 16th Mar 2015 10:55 am

@penury- Pure nonsense. CA is not pushing for anything of the sort mainly because the Great Lakes are a bi-national resource and Canada would never allow the lakes to be diverted to CA. It’s always hilarious to see posts that make a wild claim with no basis in fact.

2lolo on Mon, 16th Mar 2015 10:55 am

Damn.!!!! That’s Very Bad if and when California become a DESERT.!!!!! Just think all of the Freeloaders and Low-Life’s in California will be Moving into your States, City and Town.!!!!!

Davy on Mon, 16th Mar 2015 11:00 am

Yea Eddie, the Monday night football syndrome. Rome had the gladiators and the circuses. Rome had subsidized wheat for city folks. These Roman sheeples were at it u till the very end. I see no reason why we will be any different unfortunately.

You would think with all the iPhone and computers people could find the truth. The truth is elusive for those in denial. The truth will be asked about when the equivalent of the invading barbarians are at out cities doorsteps.

Sara on Mon, 16th Mar 2015 11:01 am

We live in California, but not for much longer. We have sold our home and our 2 rentals here in California. We wanted to make sure we got our money out before the land values Dump. Plus, in California, if you are renting out a home or apartment, YOU as the LANDLORD are required to ensure Fresh and Clean Water to all Tenants. This is per the California Department of Consumer Affairs Bureau of the Landlord Tenant Act.

Our Friends who live in Porterville, were in Escrow to sell their home on 2 acres for $260.000.00…..When their well went dry. Oh course Escrow fell thru. They had their land re-appraised and the appraisal was shocking to them. $52,000.00.

When we heard what had happened to our friends, we checked our City’s Water system and found that over half the Water Wells for the city had been shut down due to the wells going dry.

We sold our home and our 2 rentals shortly afterwards. More and more homes for going up for sale in California due to the water situation.

So, if you live in California…get your money while you can. We did and we will be moving in the next month or so…we are looking towards the Great Lakes area. We shall see. Better Snow, than NO Water.

See ya California

Robert Turner on Mon, 16th Mar 2015 11:08 am

It appears the US is faced with the fact of overpopulation just like Japan, China and any other overpopulated country. Some of these countries have laws to only reproduce one (1) for one (1). Married couples can only have, at most, two(2) offspring. Why not America to offset this demise. Look around , many low socio-economic families have many, many kids. Reason, more support from dear old Mr. Government. It’s so out of hand were running out of water

Robert Turner on Mon, 16th Mar 2015 11:08 am

Eduardo on Mon, 16th Mar 2015 11:08 am

San Diego is getting ready to open a desalinization plant that will supply 50M gallons of potable water per day. The plant cost $1B. The high speed rail to Fresno will be more than $65B. Seems like that money would be better spent supplying the state with water. If we do the math, that could pay for plants that could produce 3 billion gallons of potable water per day. That would probably help quite a bit.

scott hannah on Mon, 16th Mar 2015 11:11 am

So will California become the new Oklahoma?.I lived there from 1961-1976 then back again 1987-2002.It will suck when Avocados cost $6.00 each.Soylent Green is coming 🙂

Vietnam Vet on Mon, 16th Mar 2015 11:12 am

No surprises here. I attended a global climate change impact briefing for Sacramento city officials back in 2003 which prompted me to move out of California. Predictions include both drought (disappearing snowpack) and massive flooding – and with Sacramento #2 in the country at risk from flooding (after New Orleans) that was a wakeup call.

Took me until summer 2006 to find a place to move and sell my property. In any event, the “worst case” scenario predicted to occur 2050 (47 years out at the time) is happening a little over 12 years later.

morrow on Mon, 16th Mar 2015 11:14 am

It,s time right now to put up a security check point on all highways and roads leading from California to the east and it should be built right at the eastern border of California. Anyone trying to come across that border will be shot.

tom h. on Mon, 16th Mar 2015 11:14 am

people will adjust, in time. one way or the other. the clever, or lucky, will look for the silver lining and try for it.

Rodster on Mon, 16th Mar 2015 11:16 am

Central Planning at it’s finest! This is what happens when you develop a State that is essentially a desert. Then you have a major City, Las Vegas and the State of Nevada who decided they too can build a City and State in desert conditions.

Jim on Mon, 16th Mar 2015 11:17 am

We have a glut of oil at the present time. Why not stop with the food for alcohol (methanol) and use the land to grow the food california is now not able to water. The mid west has lots of farmland and water.

JeanS on Mon, 16th Mar 2015 11:21 am

How about just accepting that IT IS a desert and working working with nature instead of against it. Take a look outside of town. That’s what the climate will naturally support. The desert has its own beauty if you look for it and going with the elegant architecture of a desert type landscape is a lot easier than trying to keep tropical plants and thirsty grass where they don’t belong. Nature is going to win, anyway.

Kenz300 on Mon, 16th Mar 2015 11:21 am

Finite resources meets any ever expanding population……….

The world keeps adding 80 million more mouths to feed, clothe, house, and provide energy and WATER for every year…..

Keep cutting that pie into smaller and smaller pieces until we all starve to death……

Monte Cristo on Mon, 16th Mar 2015 11:22 am

Do not look to California planners and decision makers to solve this pending disaster, to the contrary they are contributors to it…
In the 1980s San Diego Gas and Electric imposed fees on consumers to fund and build a desalination plant down in the Imperial Desert. After spending about $160 million on it, they shut it down because it was not profitable and then sold the entire operation to Saudi Arabia for a pathetic total of USD $5 million. Now some of the same San Diego planners have these massive condo and high density development plans in place that will require hundreds of millions acre feet of water that does not even exist, and they pay these fools that craft such nonsense USD $175,000.00 per year…and included in the preposterous high density and development planning is over 100 million gallons per month of sewage that would be generated they have no treatment plant to handle!!

.45 ACP on Mon, 16th Mar 2015 11:28 am

California is making great plans to combat this problem. We are building a high speed train that nobody will use, we are pushing to get more and more illegal aliens into the state, and we are passing more and more laws to push businesses out of CA. And we are making sure our desert golf courses are nice and green for Obama and others who can afford to play golf on private courses.

.45 ACP on Mon, 16th Mar 2015 11:28 am

Sharon Remmers on Mon, 16th Mar 2015 11:31 am

You know, instead of wasting time and money on high speed railways to places that don’t have water either, how about getting started on building desalinization plants and pipelines BEFORE the rest of the aquifers and water sources are completely used up? We still have huge oceans and rising sea levels. Maybe we should consider using that to our advantage, rather than our demise? After all, we’re the ones that screwed with the perfection and balance of Nature to begin with.

JFK on Mon, 16th Mar 2015 11:36 am

California is a smaller version of the exact same response of the WORLD , about how mankind has become NO Shepard of EARTH. Mankind has become so over taken by EVIL selfish desire in such mass numbers,mankind can not help themselves or even agree on how to help themselves escape from the consequences of EVIL ways in so many individuals that now dominating mankind. California shall keep on doing what it does until it kills itself. Just as mankind will. A EVIL cancer Parasite does not know or care about the host.

hopposai on Mon, 16th Mar 2015 11:44 am

if cali is so important for farming then leave the farmers and let them use the water, and move out the millions upon millions of people who waste it on a lawn not designed for the desert and a pool where it all evaporates.

martin on Mon, 16th Mar 2015 11:45 am

Here is the real issue at stake, as you know CA cannot fix this entirely, they may Band-Aid it, but the dominoes are going to begin to fall.

It’s called massive bank failures on homes at 10 times there real value, plus pension failures to all, no water, no work, no taxes, no government, no pensions.

People will walk away from homes and banks will stop funding homes with no water, and banks will fail in mass scale, but don’t forget who is holding the 401K funds, banks fail, everyone fails.

35-40% of home loans are in CA, and 90% just got refinanced to the hilt, once the rich start migration out of CA, the state is a black hole that cannot be repaired.

Trust me, ever heard of the great depression, CA is the next one in the history books, it’s not if, it’s when.

jack eddins on Mon, 16th Mar 2015 11:48 am

I live in Phoenix, AZ and I am very worried. Not only because the drought might make its way to Arizona but that 1o,ooo,ooo+ people just might be moving east out of California all at once. Many if not most of them are going to find themselves stuck of trapped here in Arizona with no where to go and no one wanting or helping them. I myself am ready to move with in an hour, don’t know yet where to go but I am ready.

Randy Kohn on Mon, 16th Mar 2015 11:50 am

California always has been a desert! Just because you get water from some place else, water a desert, and make it green doesn’t make it not a desert.

Clarence on Mon, 16th Mar 2015 11:55 am

“The world simply does not have enough fresh water left at this point,”

The world simply has too damn many people at this point. Why don’t you stop ignoring the gorilla in the room and address the real problem behind the pollution problem?

BobInget on Mon, 16th Mar 2015 11:56 am

By combining solar and natural gas energy, desalinization works.
Hybrid Power plants are sprouting the world over.

Nevertheless, even a dozen pipelines from desal plants supply only Southern Cal cities, NOT Central Valley agriculture.

Water is not oil. Water is not finite. So called “waste” Water will be recycled for AG use.
Cities come equipped with central water distribution and collection infrastructure.

New ‘grapheme’ filters are making desalination increasingly practical. Doubtless
with techies the world over working on the problem, improvements will come.

While causes of drought, super-storms,
may be in contention, the reality is not.

Insurance companies report on natural disasters regularly. Earthquake activity
is reported as ‘normal’. IOW’s there are no more or fewer (powerful) earthquakes today then past.

Climate related disasters are a different story.
Without question the planet is experiencing
climate changes, getting worse over time.

Drought is, without doubt, the baddest of all weather related disasters.

steve on Mon, 16th Mar 2015 12:03 pm

What the hell do you expect, when over the years you allow 20M illegals in the state for an environment that is ecologically limited, morons. Stop all immigration now you may have a chance, keep allowing uncontroled immigrantion there will riots in the streets. It is the government

Frank on Mon, 16th Mar 2015 12:09 pm

Simple Solution – Move to Michigan – 4 seasons resort state…..plenty of water to go around…my cottage (which I rent occasionaly is on Lake Superior. Toooooo Badddd for Califoria. No worries here.

CabooseStyleHome.com

Orawczyk on Mon, 16th Mar 2015 12:10 pm

Once an aquifer suffers prolonged depletion from overuse, the structural support of the crust of the land above the aquifer fails to hold the weight, and the land surface collapses into the void where the water used to be. This results in a reduction in capacity of the aquifer forever – regardless of future supply and demand. The consequence of this does not bode well for future generations. Mother Nature will follow the path of least resistance to solve the challenges of over population and climate change on her own. Of course her solution will likely require the depopulation or extinction of most life as we know it – to include our own.

DNMOORE on Mon, 16th Mar 2015 12:11 pm

California once the center of innovation is way past its prime. No major water projects(DAMS) since New Melones in the 1970’s and twice as many people. Bad leadership is the problem. Too many far flung idea’s that do not pan out, uncontrolled spending, taxes way to high, productive people and business leaving in droves. You can’t legislate water, so the politicians are out of luck. Lived there for 50 years and left, no looking back.

sheila wheeler on Mon, 16th Mar 2015 12:11 pm

Water to grow FOOD is essential!! Farmers are not to blame for water consumption – they are of great service!!

Using 7,000 gallons of water for the building of one well to frack for oil is NOT!

Who will win THAT discussion?

JIM MERRY on Mon, 16th Mar 2015 12:11 pm

BETTER START BUILDING PIPE LINE FROM CANANDA OR ALASKA TO DROP INTO UPPER AQUA DUCTS LET IT RUN THROUGH OUR WATER SYSTEMS

JIM MERRY on Mon, 16th Mar 2015 12:12 pm

START THINKING ABOUT USING SALT WATER FOR OUR WASTE WATER START THINKING EVERYONE

Glenn Dorsey on Mon, 16th Mar 2015 12:18 pm

This is really to bad. Survival requires planning, foresight and adaptability. Better get with California.

C. J. Hall on Mon, 16th Mar 2015 12:22 pm

FINALLY an article that admits climate changes are NATURAL, and can have cycles of 1000 years !!!
“California’s natural state is desert”, and it will revert. So be it.
Lose the golf courses, cut back irrigated farming, manicured lawns, etc. NOW. Build Reverse Osmosis plants – NOW. Probably enough water can be made for drinking, and for electronics companies, etc. that don’t use it much. However, there will be an exodus. Where will the illegal farm workers go?

Lawfish on Mon, 16th Mar 2015 12:32 pm

This just reinforces the fact that I made the right decision growing my own food. Need lettuce? Go out the back door and cut some. And the peas are producing more than my family can eat right now. Gotta love it!

Why anyone ever thought growing food in a desert was a good idea is beyond me.

California Is Turning Back Into A Desert And There Are No Contingency Plans

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