What are we going to do once all the water is gone? Thanks to the worst drought in more than 1,000 years, the western third of the country is facing the greatest water crisis that the United States has ever seen. Lake Mead is now the lowest that it has ever been since the Hoover Dam was finished in the 1930s, mandatory water restrictions have already been implemented in the state of California, and there are already widespread reports of people stealing water in some of the worst hit areas. But this is just the beginning. Right now, in a desperate attempt to maintain somewhat “normal” levels of activity, water is being pumped out of the ground in the western half of the nation at an absolutely staggering pace. Once that irreplaceable groundwater is gone, that is when the real crisis will begin. If this multi-year drought stretches on and becomes the “megadrought” that a lot of scientists are now warning about, life as we know it in much of the country is going to be fundamentally transformed and millions of Americans may be forced to find somewhere else to live.
Simply put, this is not a normal drought. What the western half of the nation is experiencing right now is highly unusual. In fact, scientists tell us that California has not seen anything quite like this in at least 1,200 years…
Analyzing tree rings that date back to 800 A.D. — a time when Vikings were marauding Europe and the Chinese were inventing gunpowder — there is no three-year period when California’s rainfall has been as low and its temperatures as hot as they have been from 2012 to 2014, the researchers found.
Much of the state of California was once a desert, and much of it is now turning back into a desert. The same thing can also be said about much of Arizona and much of Nevada. We never really should have built massive, sprawling cities such as Las Vegas and Phoenix in the middle of the desert. But the 20th century was the wettest century for western North America in about 1,000 years, and we got lulled into a false sense of security.
At this point, the water level in Lake Mead has hit a brand new record low, and authorities are warning that official water rationing could soon begin for both Arizona and Nevada…
Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the US, has hit its lowest level ever. Feeding California, Nevada and Arizona, it can hold a mind-boggling 35 cubic kilometres of water. But it has been many years since it was at capacity, and the situation is only getting worse.
“We’re only at 38 percent full. Lake Mead hasn’t been this low since we were filling it in the 1930s,” said a spokeswoman for the US Bureau of Reclamation in Las Vegas.
If it gets much lower – and with summer approaching and a dwindling snowpack available to replenish it, that looks likely – official rationing will begin for Arizona and Nevada.
And did you know that the once mighty Colorado River no longer even reaches the ocean? Over 40 million people depend upon this one river, and because the Colorado is slowly dying an enormous amount of water is being pumped out of the ground in a crazed attempt to carry on with business as usual…
The Colorado River currently supplies water to more than 40 million people from Denver to Los Angeles (as well as Las Vegas, Phoenix, Tucson, San Diego, Salt Lake City, Albuquerque, and Santa Fe—none of which lie directly on the river). According to one recent study, 16 million jobs and $1.4 trillion in annual economic activity across the West depend on the Colorado. As the river dries up, farmers and cities have turned to pumping groundwater. In just the last 10 years, the Colorado Basin has lost 15.6 cubic miles of subsurface freshwater, an amount researchers called “shocking.” Once an official shortage is declared, Arizona farmers will increase their rate of pumping even further, to blunt the effect of an anticipated sharp cutback.
The same kind of thing is going on in the middle part of the country. Farmers are pumping water out of the rapidly shrinking Ogallala Aquifer so fast that a major crisis in the years ahead is virtually guaranteed…
Farther east, the Ogallala Aquifer under the High Plains is also shrinking because of too much demand. When the Dust Bowl overtook the Great Plains in the 1930s, the Ogallala had been discovered only recently, and for the most part it wasn’t tapped then to help ease the drought. But large-scale center-pivot irrigation transformed crop production on the plains after World War II, allowing water-thirsty crops like corn and alfalfa for feeding livestock.
But severe drought threatens the southern plains again, and water is being unsustainably drawn from the southern Ogallala Aquifer. The northern Ogallala, found near the surface in Nebraska, is replenished by surface runoff from rivers originating in the Rockies. But farther south in Texas and New Mexico, water lies hundreds of feet below the surface, and does not recharge. Sandra Postel wrote here last month that the Ogallala Aquifer water level in the Texas Panhandle has dropped by up to 15 feet in the past decade, with more than three-quarters of that loss having come during the drought of the past five years. A recent Kansas State University study said that if farmers in Kansas keep irrigating at present rates, 69 percent of the Ogallala Aquifer will be gone in 50 years.
At one time, most of us took water completely for granted.
But now that it is becoming “the new oil”, people are starting to look at water much differently. Sadly, this even includes thieves…
With the state of California mired in its fourth year of drought and a mandatory 25 percent reduction in water usage in place, reports of water theft have become common.
In April, The Associated Press reported that huge amounts of water went missing from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and a state investigation was launched. The delta is a vital body of water, serving 23 million Californians as well as millions of farm acres, according to the Association for California Water Agencies.
The AP reported in February that a number of homeowners in Modesto, California, were fined $1,500 for allegedly taking water from a canal. In another instance, thieves in the town of North San Juan stole hundreds of gallons of water from a fire department tank.
In case you are wondering, of course this emerging water crisis is going to deeply affect our food supply. More than 40 percent of all our fruits and vegetables are grown in the state of California, so this drought is going to end up hitting all of us in the wallet one way or another.
And this water crisis is not the only major threat that our food supply is facing at the moment. A horrific outbreak of the bird flu has already killed more than 20 million turkeys and chickens, and the price of eggs has already gone up substantially…
The cost of a carton of large eggs in the Midwest has jumped nearly 17 percent to $1.39 a dozen from $1.19 since mid-April when the virus began appearing in Iowa’s chicken flocks and farmers culled their flocks to contain any spread.
A much bigger increase has emerged in the eggs used as ingredients in processed products like cake mix and mayonnaise, which account for the majority of what Iowa produces. Those eggs have jumped 63 percent to $1.03 a dozen from 63 cents in the last three weeks, said Rick Brown, senior vice president of Urner Barry, a commodity market analysis firm.
Most of us are accustomed to thinking of the United States as a land of seemingly endless resources, but now we are really starting to bump up against some of our limitations.
Despite all of our technology, the truth is that we are still exceedingly dependent on the weather patterns that produce rain and snow for us.
For years, I have been warning that Dust Bowl conditions would be returning to the western half of the country, and thanks to this multi-year drought we can now see it slowly happening all around us.
And if this drought continues to stretch on, things are going to get worse than this.
Much worse.
Perk Earl on Thu, 14th May 2015 7:37 pm
It’s May and it won’t rain again until September at the earliest, so watch for that drought map to get much worse.
Apneaman on Thu, 14th May 2015 9:17 pm
The Economic Collapse blog. Great. Once they realize it’s cross posted here the retard brigade will be out in full force.
“It’s all because of the smelt!”
“It’s the libtards fault”
” If it wasn’t for the Dems we would all be millionaires”
“waah waah everyone’s to blame except me”
Apneaman on Thu, 14th May 2015 9:28 pm
Canterbury drought ‘keeps going on and on’
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/rural/273648/canterbury-drought-%27keeps-going-on-and-on%27
Apneaman on Thu, 14th May 2015 9:30 pm
From Siberia to British Columbia Arctic Wildfires Begin an Ominous Ignition
https://robertscribbler.wordpress.com/2015/05/14/from-siberia-to-british-columbia-arctic-wildfires-begin-an-ominous-ignition/
Apneaman on Thu, 14th May 2015 9:39 pm
You Just Lived Through The Earth’s Hottest January-April Since We Started Keeping Records
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/05/14/3658741/hottest-4-month-record/
Apneaman on Thu, 14th May 2015 9:40 pm
More Northwest Mountains Are Snow-Free Already As Drought Deepens
http://www.opb.org/news/article/northwest-drought-deepening/
GregT on Thu, 14th May 2015 10:28 pm
“The Arctic is ‘unraveling’ due to climate change, and the consequences will be global.”
“What Happens in the Arctic Doesn’t Stay in the Arctic.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2015/04/16/the-arctic-is-unraveling-due-to-global-warming-and-the-consequences-will-be-global/
Rich Davies on Thu, 14th May 2015 11:41 pm
Looking at other comments and many others that I have read that there is good input/deas but at the same time here in California there is a huge amount of denial as to the drought. Water is now being stolen from fire hydrants and peoples homes and as the drought continues you will be seeing more of this. Looking at aerial photos of Palm Springs alone 90% of the homes in the photos show swimming pools (use 20,000 gal on ave.) and large lawns and roughly 130 golf courses with the desert right across the street. Unless the mindset is changed and people will now need to adapt to a new era as the old days are over. The new mantra has to be preserve & conserve and those who don’t should be heavily fined, no if ands and buts. Take this issue seriously folks or you maybe looking for a new place to live where there is water.
Rich Davies on Thu, 14th May 2015 11:43 pm
Looking at other comments and many others that I have read that there is good input/ideas but at the same time here in California there is a huge amount of denial as to the drought. Water is now being stolen from fire hydrants and peoples homes and as the drought continues you will be seeing more of this. Looking at aerial photos of Palm Springs alone 90% of the homes in the photos show swimming pools (use 20,000 gal on ave.) and large lawns and roughly 130 golf courses with the desert right across the street. Unless the mindset is changed and people will now need to adapt to a new era as the old days are over. The new mantra has to be preserve & conserve and those who don’t should be heavily fined, no if ands and buts. Take this issue seriously folks or you maybe looking for a new place to live where there is water.
Perk Earl on Fri, 15th May 2015 2:18 am
“You Just Lived Through The Earth’s Hottest January-April Since We Started Keeping Records”
Ap, below is a clip from that article you posted on temperature record broken, and broken and broken… (see below).
“And in fact, with April, we have once again broken the record for the hottest 12 months on record: May 2014 – April 2015. The previous record was April 2014 – March 2015, set last month. The record before that was March 2014 – February 2015. And the equally short-lived record before that was February 2014 – January 2015.
As we keep breaking records in 2015, our headlines are going to sound like a … broken record. May has already started out hot, and it is quite likely next month we will report “The Hottest 5-Month Start Of Any Year On Record,” and that June 2014 – May 2015 will become hottest 12 months on record.”
Lawfish1964 on Fri, 15th May 2015 7:47 am
There is opportunity here. I have read much recently about the unaffordability of property in California due to the Chinese oligarchs seeking to preserve their wealth by purchasing California real estate. The story is of a 750 square foot apartment that goes for $1,500,000 and people paying $1000/month for a single bed in a 2700 square foot home shared with 19 other people.
Now would be a great time to sell your California real estate to some idiotic Chinese oligarch and move somewhere that has water. In a couple years, you won’t be able to give away California real estate. Who wants a house in the desert that has no running water, surrounded by looters and pillagers?
Dredd on Fri, 15th May 2015 8:32 am
Very informative post.
Water in balance: not too much, not too little (Why Sea Level Rise May Be The Greatest Threat To Civilization ).
IanC on Fri, 15th May 2015 11:27 am
When the neo-okies (Calis?) begin migrating out of California in huge numbers, I hope they select a place with a hot climate with plenty of water. From my own political bias, I’d like them to settle en masse in the deep South. Bring their espresso makers, gluten free feed, and Teslas to Louisiana and turn some of those states politically Purple from blood red. Who knows, they may even be able to teach the Southerners how to balance a budget.
BobInget on Fri, 15th May 2015 12:32 pm
First of all, this (water) crisis is by no means confined to the US.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/earth/11242908/Brazils-worst-drought-in-80-years-from-the-air-in-pictures.html
I’m fond of using “Oil Wars” to typify on going Mideast conflicts. More properly, most of these ‘wars’ began as water shortages.
California or Brazil won’t go to war for water.
We should however expect humans to take unprecedented steps to stay hydrated.
CA has only one year’s worth of water remaining if careful. Sao Palo is going into winter. With any luck they too could buy time.
Be assured, any and all steps to get water
delivered will cost fossil fuels.
Lawfish1964 on Fri, 15th May 2015 1:54 pm
What do you have against the south, IanC? We’re not all redneck wife-beaters. And we’re sure as hell not all Republicans. I hope those snots go anywhere but here.
drwater on Fri, 15th May 2015 2:22 pm
Parts of California are totally screwed if this goes on another year. Agriculture uses 80% of the water, so it will be hit the hardest. However, at the moment the corporate farms are planting almonds as fast as they can for export to China while wanting government bailouts for drought impacts.
The state mandated 25% cutbacks on municipal use are mostly political theatre because each individual water district actually has its own supply/demand issues to deal with. Some are in really bad shape, but many are still fine, having bought and stored water in reservoirs or aquifers before the worst of the drought.
Climate change is going to wreak havoc over the next few decades and beyond. However, in the short term El Nino is looking pretty good and the ocean temps off the California coast finally seem to be cooling, so we may get a decent storm season starting this fall.
Mike989 on Fri, 15th May 2015 5:42 pm
This is why Repubs are GROSSLY Incompetent at Government. Not one word about GLOBAL WARMING.
And, the dust bowl was a MAN MADE disaster.
Mike989 on Fri, 15th May 2015 5:43 pm
Lower prices for real estate are already in the market.
Apneaman on Fri, 15th May 2015 6:21 pm
I agree that the Republican leadership are completely living in a fantasy world and are both corrupt and incompetent. Unfortunately, so are the Dems. Didn’t hopey changey Obama just approve Arctic drilling? There is no way to keep the current system and avoid mass die back. No one is capable of that. Were way too far gone – negative carbon budget.
Here is a link to Robert Callaghan’s up to date list of the challenges-in bullet form.
http://guymcpherson.com/2015/05/presentation-in-york-england/#comment-159417
Apneaman on Fri, 15th May 2015 7:33 pm
Warm oceans caused US Dust Bowl
05 May 2015
Alvin Stone
Two ocean hot spots have been found to be the potential drivers of the hottest summers on record for the central United States in 1934 and 1936, knowledge that may help predict future calamities.
http://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/science-tech/warm-oceans-caused-us-dust-bowl
zoidberg on Fri, 15th May 2015 8:59 pm
A perfectly normal example of the regions weather variations and all some people can do is attach climate change propaganda. It’s done this BEFORE the fossil fuel era.
Apneaman on Sat, 16th May 2015 12:16 am
zoidberg sure thing, just never at this speed. Hey who needs peer reviewed papers, models, the paleo climate record, the instrument record, billions of dollars worth of satellites and other monitoring equipment in space the oceans and all over the globe and tens of thousands of Phd scientists and technicians(some people)in multiple fields expanding and refining hundreds of years and millions of hours of science when we have your non-expert assertions with no evidence to back them? We also can see with our own eyes all the changes and disasters unfolding at an ever increasing clip. It did happen before all of it and then some along with 14 extinction periods; none of which any humans were around for. Every one triggered by massive increases in CO2. If you haven’t noticed, many parts of the world are in drought, experiencing water shortages and it is growing at phenomenal speed. Enjoy the show – you can’t miss it.
drwater on Sat, 16th May 2015 12:33 am
Zoidberg,
Climate change effects due to GHGs are added on top of natural cycles. It’s not an either-or situation like most of the denial funders would like people to believe. Climate change is likely to make some of the cycles more severe, such as droughts in the Southwest US. Actually, it has already started happening. California has the worst drought in 1200 years based on tree ring data.
drwater on Sat, 16th May 2015 12:37 am
From the article AP referenced:
“Should this ocean warming reoccur in exactly the same constellation, because of climate change it is likely the temperature impacts would be even more devastating and those old records may be surpassed.”
Apneaman on Sat, 16th May 2015 12:59 am
Antarctic Ice Shelf Is A Few Years From Disintegration: NASA
“The research focused on a remnant of the so-called Larsen B Ice Shelf, which has existed for at least 10,000 years but partially collapsed in 2002. What is left covers about 625 square miles (1,600 square km), about half the size of Rhode Island.”
“The study’s lead scientist, Ala Khazendar, said analysis of the data reveals that a widening rift in Larsen B will eventually break it apart completely, probably around the year 2020.
Once that happens, glaciers held in place by the ice shelf will slip into the ocean at a faster rate and contribute to rising sea levels, scientists say.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/15/antarctic-ice-shelf-disin_n_7291782.html
simonr on Sat, 16th May 2015 1:13 am
To the Man Made Global Warming Deniers.
Assuming you are right, do you think pumping millions of tons of Carbon into the atmosphere is
a) Helping
b) Hindering
c) Carbon is in your view irrelevant
Just interested to know
Simon
zoidberg on Sat, 16th May 2015 8:48 am
Mostly irrelevant. Number one is the sun number 2 is the earths orientation in space. Then geology ie volcanos tthen atmospheric composition of which co2 is ome of many variables. Lastly correlation is not causation. The c02 might increase with a change in earth’s climate not thr other way around.
zoidberg on Sat, 16th May 2015 9:08 am
It isnt merely enough to show things are changing. We all know the climate changes a lot. What is needed is a base case to compare it against. Also more focus on the what I think are larger factors would be good. For instance large earthquakes move the earths axis. I cant even iimagine the sequence of changes in sunlight wind patterns all that butterfly effect stuff. People are blinded by what they now assume is true. How many of those scientists would puvlish anything that doesnt agree with current dogma? Peer pressure is tough to go against. Sheeple is a common term yes?
apneaman on Sat, 16th May 2015 9:13 am
So it the sun and the earths orientation that was responsible for the 14 extinction periods in the planets history and not CO2 from volcanism that all the mounds of scientific evidence points to. Assuming your little non scientific Anthony Watts theory was right, so what? Like everyone else you and yours are going to suffer and probably die early, so what are you arguing for? The continued use of fossil fuel? We were never going to voluntary stop anyway.
zoidberg on Sat, 16th May 2015 1:19 pm
Its not about justifying fossil fuel use. Its about deflating the meme of climate change to cover attempts to control the energy sector by people only interested in power and loot for themselves. It is also fun to deflate the fan boys that get sucked into supporting these plots.
Joe on Sat, 16th May 2015 1:43 pm
I realize desalination is expensive but if CA had built plants years ago how would they be fairing now? I assume no matter the cost of ocean desalination,it certainly has to be cheaper than going to the dogs.
Joe
GregT on Sat, 16th May 2015 2:18 pm
In case you haven’t been paying attention zoid, climate change is being ignored by “people only interested in power and loot for themselves”. The people in the oil and gas sectors predominately.
You may believe that you are having a fun time deflating others, but the reality of the matter is, you are making yourself look like a complete idiot.
apneaman on Sat, 16th May 2015 2:29 pm
He is real good at it Greg.
Hey zoid, what about ocean acidafication? Is that a conspiracy by tens of thousands of “liberal” marine scientists and their support staff to gain the power and loot of the sardine and king crab industries for themselves? Cue the evil scientist from a B movie laughing maniacally and rubbing his hand together.
Davy on Sat, 16th May 2015 2:45 pm
Zoid, we are smart enough to know the complexities of climate. Science has shown unequivocally what a world looks like with high carbon and we know climatic cycles. We also know the amounts involved and the tipping points becoming apparent negate any of the political motives you have concerns about. So, if we can’t do anything lets at least be honest and admit what we are doing.
Personally I feel we are already cooked. We at this point must choose which road we want to go down. We can take a chance and drastically reduce economic activity to mitigate the carbon dangers. Taking this road we will see a few billion die from a collapsed global economy. We can do business as usual maybe limp on another 5 years end any hope of a decent climate because of the extra carbon released. We will see another half billion more people we may not of had if we go into early collpase. We will likely see a collapsed economy in 5 years anyway and billions die.
As you can see from this doomed AGW climate view it is bite the bullet now and hopefully runaway climate change can be averted but we still have billions die from decreased economic activity. We can go on 5 years more lose any chance of averting runaway climate change and billions die initially with more billions dying from a destroyed climate.
How’s that for choices. Do you want to enjoy your BAU life another 5 years and likely die or bite the bullet now and maybe die maybe not? The maybe not is in a situation where climate is saved but you still have to live through the collapse.
In any case BAU is a self organizing system we cannot change. It is motivated toward growth and progress by nature. The best we can do is commit global suicide with NUK war and see what shakes out. Otherwise BAU will run its natural course and all the talk about this or that is just talk.