The California Drought: Its Impacts
All that water and there’s still a drought???
With a second consecutive dry year diminishing California’s water supply, the Golden State is descending into a deepening drought crisis. An estimated 75% of the state’s area is classified in extreme or exceptional drought, expanding through the northern reaches of the snow-capped Sierra Nevada, into the green San Joaquin Valley. Moderate drought conditions, as the mildest classification, have enveloped all of California.
Governor Gavin Newsom has declared “a drought emergency in 41 (out of 58) counties,” proving to be a major step in conserving water on a state level.
Causes
Experts claim that this “mega-drought” is a result of the dry winter, followed by a very warm and dry spring in the April-May months. Much of the state is reported to have received less than half an inch of rain since the first of April. In past years as well, the drought was believed to have been caused partly by “a mass of warm water (in turn caused by the La Niña phenomenon) in the Pacific Ocean that has drifted closer to the West Coast.” These events have all worked in collaboration to produce the drought of droughts that California is experiencing today.
Environmental Impacts
Climate change has caused the prolongation of dry spells in the past decade, causing them to be warmer and more severe than in past years. “There is not enough water available, so reservoir operators have reduced their allocations to those who have rights to that water,” states Cindy Matthews, a senior hydrologist with the National Weather Service’s office in Sacramento. Farmers have been reported to allow their fields to go fallow this spring, due to inadequacy of enough water to sustain crops through the season.
Due to irrigation water shutoff, the Lower Klamath and Tule Lake wildlife refuges, two vital areas in protecting endemic species, may face the possibility of drying up. Such a consequence would deprive millions of migratory birds of wetland habitat. “We’re likely to find far more birds in much less space, which is a recipe for disease,” stated Chuck Bonham, a state official in the wildlife protection sector. In addition, the federal government had declared that there is simply no water available to flush out the Klamath River and combat a disease killing young salmon. Freshwater species, such as salmon, are threatened by low stream levels, unable to breed and migrate; this circumstance is likely to be a repeat of 2014 and 2015 events when 95% of the juvenile Chinook salmon population perished when water temperatures in the Shasta Lake turned too hot for them to handle.
In 2014, the California drought lowered the water levels of Lake Shasta, pictured above, drastically.
Lake Shasta and Lake Oroville, both major reservoirs in northern California fed by mountain snowmelt, are at levels under the 50% threshold of their total capacity; this level is concerningly lower than “they were at this date during the 2012-2016 drought.” The snowpack of the Sierra Nevada, representing 30% of the state’s total water supply, retains water in the high altitudes of the mountains and disperses to the surrounding forests, rivers, and reservoirs in the late spring and summer when melted. However, with the everlasting droughts California experiences, the snowpack has melted off at “breakneck speed,” seeping into the dry soil or evaporating rather than feeding bodies of water. “We saw massive, rapid melt-off of the snowpack at the lower and middle elevations,” commented Chris Orrock of the California Department of Water Resources. Peaking on March 25 at 64% of the reported average is now at an upsetting 2%. With a combination of simply less snow available this year and the loss of snow and streamflow due to higher temperatures, the effects of climate change are compounding year after year to deliver increasingly debilitating blows. The northern and central Sierra Nevada is “on track to record their third-driest year on record,” and the southern experiencing its driest by far.
Our Livelihood
“We’ve lost a whole year of runoff in the water project that supplies water across California,” declared Chris Orrock, referring to the State Water Project, a storage and delivery system that serves 27 million Californian residents and irrigates the agricultural land of the Central Valley. Small cities, in particular, depend on their local reservoirs, and consequently, rain that falls in their local watersheds to fuel their livelihoods. For instance, “Marin County draws its water from the Russian River watershed, which sits at the epicenter of the current drought.” The county’s board of supervisors has tightened water restrictions, such as limiting sprinkler use and shower times, to preserve reservoir storage.
Fire Season
With the last 18 months being among the driest and warmest on record, moisture levels in natural fire fuels, such as grass and brush, are below average across California. Dead trees are abundant throughout endemic forests, yet another form of natural ignition when it comes to fire season. Experts declare that “this sets the stage for a dangerous wildfire season that could spark major fires weeks or months earlier than usual.” With California wildfires burning nearly 5 times as many acres compared to the same period last year, this threat could indeed become very real.
From all of us here at Team Gen Z, stay safe, and please consider doing your part to limit water usage!
SOURCES:
[1] California facing a drought crisis as water shortages mount and fire danger escalates. By the Washington Post.
[2] California drought enters dangerous territory. What’s ahead for fish, farms, and cities. By the Sacramento Bee.
[3] California Drought Could Mean Peak Fire Season Months Earlier Than Usual. By KPBS.
[4] The California Drought: Causes, Predictions, and Infrastructure. By DecodingScience.
IMAGES:
Shasta Lake Comparison, California Drought, 2014 [California Water Science Center - USGS]
