Abstract
In 2015, California country and its citizens were experiencing their fourth year of severe drought. The impacts are very adverse and are reducing the economic status of the company. In the rural areas, wells and boreholes were running dry and in the wetlands of the city, rivers and other natural resources that attracted conservation and rainfall were at a high risk. For the government to solve the problem, programs were to be formulated to offers free water services to people with low income in the rural residential areas. Advanced technology modernization programs are to be formed to promote legislations procedures that will be used in addressing drought issues at present and secure more water catchments in the future. An objective is to work together by sharing ideas with the public in ways to address an alternative method in handling the nation's security water needs
Introduction
California as a country has been experiencing a lot of drought for the past four years, and the shortage affected both agricultural water uses in industries, commercial areas and urban places throughout the nation. Rise in temperature degrees is also affecting the ecosystem that depends on it for survival such as animals living in water and wildlife system making them have a slow response. With this drought affecting the whole state, leaders have been forced to review their policy operations and infrastructure methods to find solutions and improvements on how they will harvest water and store it for future use should there be another drought experienced in the country.
New state policies regarding the last 4years of drought
The government in early January 2014 gave a voluntary decrease statement as a policy of making a drought emergency in the whole nation. The water board company had all legislative powers to penalize fines to offenders on local water suppliers that refused to meet the reduction targets given by the management board. A pre-drought investment and planning in urban regions were formed to decrease usage of water in the state as a whole.
Formation of a legislative act called Sustainable Groundwater Management Act and the amendment of Proposition 1 costing the government $7.5billion water bond had an aim of improving water sustainability in the continuing drought and future preparedness in dealing with drought (PPIC 12). Managers in firms adopted effective and efficient water management policies and practices such as planting drought-resistant crops and drip irrigation using water available in boreholes to water the crops enhancing the economic status quo.
How drought affected the entire state
Drought crisis in this country has reached its fourth year. Water is an essential basic requirement in the lives of individuals, plants and animals in the environment. Farmers crops dried up which is a bad direct impact of drought making them starve for food. Different commodities increases affecting both the buyers and the farmers due to low return on scale returns on imported goods that were always estimated at a high cost (Wallander and Jekanowski 3).
Farmers were forced to spend more cash on irrigation and drilling new wells that will give an alternative means to water the crops. Companies producing hydroelectric power will also incur an increase in getting other sources of water supply, on the other hand, making additional cost price to their esteemed customers. Wildlife animals migrated to other regions where they could find water and good temperature climate favorable for their survival. With this kind of migration of the animals (NDMC 1), California loses revenues from attraction tourist sectors for there will be nothing for the foreigners to carry out a study and watch.
Soil quality became poor due to the cracking of land, and no agricultural activity could be carried out if it is irrigated. Diseases in wild animals were on a rise as they consumed insufficient food and minerals, soil and wind erosions became rampant affecting the ecosystem and the people. At the lake, ponds and reservoirs, the water level was below the sea levels and very unhygienic for human consumption (2). The citizen faced social effects that included, one, low incomes as most of the companies relying on water supply for their production will close the business premises. Secondly, some of the citizens will migrate from one city to the other to get green pastures and conducive environment for their families lowering the population census of California. Health problems were on a high rise due to lack of clean water for drinking and doing other household works. In addition to this, some children became malnourished as they were in a position to have a well-balanced diet. Finally, people feared their lives as forest could turn into a blaze that might extend to their homes leading to losing of human life (3).
How drought-affected agricultural producers
Rain shortages and severe snowfall shortage have negatively affected California’s agricultural industry by $46billion and helping increasing national awareness on future prolonged long-term water shortage experienced at the basin of Colorado River (2). In a recent research carried out by Davis D.C (4) analyzed that in 2015, the extreme drought will cost the economy of California $2.7billion in protecting it from market insolvency
Also, the drought had both positive and negative impacts on the environment all over the region. As an example, it has made the job of firefighter become hard and tiresome as the majority of the equipment used in dealing with fire emergencies consumes a lot of water (5). The drought has reduced the number of employment opportunities in business sectors and agricultural revenue in term of production costs. In 2014, manufacturers in the farming sector got 640,000 fewer acres of land that amounted to 9% lower in the pre-drought levels. It also made crop revenue to reduce by $480 million giving a 1.4% decline in 2013 harvests (Cooley et al. 3).
The Economic toll of drought for citizens and agricultural producers
Economic toll has slowed down agricultural production making some people in other regions within the state to be jobless. Some farmers were forced to irrigate their crops using groundwater pumping to protect the firm from higher costs of allowing their crops for consumption by the citizens at a greater price. Thompson (1), explained that drought in California has emerged because of insufficiency in moisture precipitation at the mountain snows leading to economic toll of $2.7 billion due to losses in agricultural products. It affects the economy negatively as researchers have found out that acres of land that will follow in 2015 will rise to 32%. The effect will also make individuals lose jobs at 18,600 high (2). As an illustration, direct costs from livestock, crops and dairy outcome revenues gave a total of $1.8billion in 2015 indicating economic losses.
In conclusion, the government in collaboration with the citizens’ implements good strategies such as forward- looking environmental drought control and management and better utilization of water information will increase the country’s ability to fight drought climate. Foreign state agencies under Incident Command System need to support drought breakout in a nation, and proper efforts should be organized in a way that it is flexible in giving emergency responses. Agricultural officials and policymakers need to work together as a team and have a plan for making good sustainable water policy use to maintain agricultural sector in California improving their per capita income it being the largest agricultural manufacturer in the U.S.
Works Cited
Zamora Amanda, Kirchner Lauren and Lustgarten. California’s Drought Is Part of a Much Bigger Water Crisis. Here’s What You Need to Know. June 25 2015. https://www.propublica.org/article/california-drought-colorado-river-water-crisis-explained
Public Policy Institute of California. Policy Priorities for Managing Drought. 2016.
http://www.ppic.org/main/publication.asp?i=1132
Cooley H, Donnelly K, Phurisamban R and Subramanian M.Impacts of California’s Ongoing Drought: Agriculture.Aug 26 2015. http://pacinst.org/publication/impacts-of-californias-ongoing-drought-agriculture/
Thompson Andrea. Drought Takes $2.7 Billion Toll on California Agriculture. June 2 2015. http://www.climatecentral.org/news/drought-cost-california-agriculture-19061
Wallander Steven and Jekanowski. California Drought: Farm and Food Impacts. Feb 3 2016.http://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/in-the-news/california-drought-farm-and-food-impacts.aspx
The National Drought Mitigation Center (NDMC).Types of Drought Impacts. May 7 2016.http://drought.unl.edu/droughtforkids/howdoesdroughtaffectourlives/typesofdroughtimpacts.aspx
