5 Ways to Bust California’s Drought

665 Words2 Pages

The California water drought has been declared a crisis by the governor of California. 2013 was the driest year on record, and California could be running out of water. Californians should be water wise, and their use, or no use, of water will have an enormous impact on this drought. They can use the techniques published in a recent Time article called, 5 Ways to Bust California’s Drought, to reduce their water use. Landscape techniques, alternate water sources, and the personal conservation of water can reduce the use of water, and can have a positive change on this water crisis.
Landscaping techniques, such as drip irrigation and xeriscaping can reduce California's use of water immensely. Eighty Percent of the state’s developed water supply is used on agriculture, but much of that eighty percent is wasted because of sprinkler systems. The water sprayed from sprinkler systems often evaporates, and more water is wasted to water the plants. A drip system is specifically placed at each plant and lets the water seep into the roots, so no water can be wasted through evaporation. This would require less water to be used on plants, because more is actually reaching the roots, saving the rest of the water for California. Xeriscaping is a type of “dry landscaping.” This means that materials and plants, such as native plants, succulents, gravel, and water flowers are used to design a beautiful outdoor space, instead of using grass which consumes an average of about fifty-seven inches of rain per year. Grass needs to be watered frequently, using up California’s water supply, but a dry landscape would use little to no water, benefiting California. Farmers and Homeowners can employ these landscaping techniques to reduce the use of California...

... middle of paper ...

...d in California’s houses.
Drip irrigation, xeriscape, desalination, water recycling, personal water conservation, and the change of household appliances are all techniques that would have a positive effect on California’s drought. Because of the constantly growing population, the demand for water is constantly growing. To make sure that this water crisis doesn’t become vital, Californian’s should think it is their duty to help improve the situation. These improvements can be made in farmers, landscapers, and the everyday citizen. Everyone should do their part in employing these techniques, whether they take the simple approach of shortened shower times or a costly approach, and re-design their outdoor spaces to be xeriscaped and use drip systems. California’s water is precious, and it is the duty of California Citizens implement solutions to bust the water drought.

Show More
Related

  • Water in the San Joaquin Valley

    2901 Words  | 6 Pages

    Behind Millerton Lake, lies an existing structure made up of concrete of 319 foot high, this dam is called the Friant Dam. In the San Joaquin Valley below the project's authority of Fresno, Madera, Kern, and Tulare; the water holds and deliver up to a million acres. In 1933 and throughout 1934, the state couldn't find enough contributors to buy revenues bonds to complete the project. Luckily, the River and Harbors Act of 1935 by the United States Congress came through and financed under the United State Army Corps of Engineers.

    Read More

  • History and Future of Wyoming’s Droughts

    990 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Great Basin of North America and Wyoming specifically, is known for its arid and semi-arid environment, as well as prolonged and sometimes severe droughts. Drought is the prolonged and abnormal deficiency of moisture with the concomitant decline in runoff to a level significantly lower than usual (Guldin 1989). The history of droughts in Wyoming has been uncertain in the past, but recent studies of tree rings in the Big Horn Basin of Wyoming have given insight to droughts as far back as 1260A.D. (Gray et al. 2004). Looking at tree ring records in Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) and limber pine (Pinus flexilis) trees, Stephen Gray and his colleagues discovered that droughts which have been experienced in Wyoming since the 1750's, are weak in severity and length when compared to those since. The most severe drought period in Wyoming’s history occurred from 1262 to 1281. The droughts of the 1930’s and 1950’s, which have been used as benchmarks for all other droughts in the United States in recent times (Woodhouse et al. 2002), are ranked 149th and 28th respectively in comparison (Gray et al. 2004). The five top ranking droughts for 10, 15, and 20 year periods are all prior to the 1800’s, with the four driest single years being 1263, 1274, 1278, and 1280 (Gray et al. 2004). This indicates a change in precipitation patterns in the Big Horn Basin area of Wyoming since the 18th century, as all recent droughts have been mild when compared to those of Wyoming’s past.

    Read More

  • The Phoenix, Arizona Water Shortage

    862 Words  | 2 Pages

    Fact: Arizona is in a 10-year drought. Fact: The city of Phoenix has a water problem that has nothing to do with lack thereof. A hundred years ago or more humans would just drink from a river or stream, but today we need purified, cleansed, and filter water. We do, as a state have a water treatment system in place but the faculties periodically need maintenance and must be shut down to receive it. The Water Department and their puppet master Frank Fairbanks the city mangers have been playing Russian roulette with the citizen of Phoenix. The bet you ask, will the shut down of facilities due to maintenance leave the citizens of Phoenix with a contaminated water system. We learn the answer to that question on the 25 of January the city council and water department both lost that bet. The water supply was contaminated, water had to be boiled to make in safe and long showers were not advisable. How can we as voters keep this from happening again? The short answer is building another water treatment facility, for the details read on.

    Read More

  • Water Consumption In Phoenix

    687 Words  | 2 Pages

    Increase in water consumption is a topic usually discussed inasmuch as this problem affects many cities. Phoenix is located in the State of Arizona, with around 540 square miles. Moreover, according to official site of City of Phoenix, the city ranks as one of the fastest-growing cities in the nation with approximately 1.4 million people. The city of Phoenix, although it is being in an arid area, has a per capita consumption lower than expected. The consumption of water is essential for life; however, what have to be analyzed is the withdrawal of water; furthermore, the capacity of regeneration of water resources mainly for future generations, which is the concept of sustainability. There are many aspects that would influence the consumption of water; however, each city has its own particularities. Although, Phoenix when analyzed as totality does not have an excessive consumption; it is a peculiar city and if an analysis is done in small scale, such as neighborhood, it is possible to identify the major consumer of water. “Determinants of residential water demand reflect both indoor and outdoor use and including size of the houses, if the houses have swimming pools, lot size, and the prevalence of gardens and vegetation that require water.” (Elizabeth A. Wentz & Patricia Gober, 2007). In addition, according to Phoenix City, since 1881, when the city was officially incorporated, until today’s date, the city of Phoenix has been improving its own capacity to provide water for the population. Phoenix can reach 2.2 million people by the 2030 (Census Boreau, 2010). A challenge for the future is to find new resources to provide water for the population even in severe drought.

    Read More

  • Consequences of the Drought in the Central Valley

    1007 Words  | 3 Pages

    On the heart (center) of California is a flat area with miles and miles of farms and up to 230 different crops. The central valley agriculture is essential to the United States; it not only delivers almost half of the produce but also helps the economy by also giving more job opportunities (California Department of food and agriculture, 2014). Many families depend on the central valley agriculture to survive economically in the United States. It is a well-known fact that rain and snows in the Sierra Nevada Mountains are a very important element in the central valley. No rain in the central valley can cause many devastating issues to occur quickly. Recently in the year of 2013 California received less rainfall than years before. The small amount of water the central valley is receiving is harming not only to the land but humans and animals as well. It’s destroying the habitats of animals with forest fires caused from the dry spells occurring. The central valley is going through a drought, so much that around this time of year the central valley usually accumulates enough rain for the necessities in the valley, agriculture for example. This year, however, has been different, the central valley hasn’t received enough water and this has caused a drought in the valley. Water is an important element in this world for not only human life, but for the environment in general, a shortage of water supply can bring issues to the environment and those living in it. The central valley holds the largest percent of class one soil, not only that, the valley grows a third of all the produce being grown in the United States, that’s more than 230 crops that are being grown in the central valley. However, this drought isn’t only affecting the resident...

    Read More

  • The Colorado River Basin Drought

    1664 Words  | 4 Pages

    Americans today tend to believe that the Colorado River drought has been a recent occurrence, although drought relief strategies have been implemented since early 1997. To summarize, in the book The Colorado River Basin Drought Planning and Organizations, Colorado is named as the original state to acquire a drought relief plan. For instance, various assume water levels are diminutive in the Colorado and blame is due to the previous ten years of drought throughout the United States. Although it is true that water levels are at a record low, initial plans in the early 1920’s to introduce manufactured structures into the water basin is the original reason Colorado’s water system began to be compromised. It follows, then the supplementary natural

    Read More

  • Yuma: Beginning Anew

    904 Words  | 2 Pages

    An interesting fact that most people may not know about Yuma is that it has the Guinness World record for being the sunniest city on earth. When looking at the annual weather report, one see that Yuma normally has 305 days of sunshine with 3 inches of rain annually. This may lead some to think that "the Southwest is the hottest and driest region in the U.S., where the availability of water has defined its landscapes, history of human settlement and modern economy" (Davis). It is amazing to think of how water has indeed shaped the way Yuma has succeeded in industries like agriculture. To keep expectations up, farmers have been developing creative irrigations systems for the crops to better adapt to the desert heat.

    Read More

  • California Drought: The California Drought

    1268 Words  | 3 Pages

    Zara Beadle METR 113 16 December 2015 Final paper California Drought The California drought has been extremely harmful to the states’ air quality. Since 2012, California has seen the worst drought conditions in 1,200 years and it is severely affecting air quality (California’s drought, 2015). As of 2015, the cities of Hanford, Merced, Modesto, Fresno, Yuba City, Lancaster-Palmdale, Chico, Sacramento, and Bakersfield have experienced exceptional drought coverage (Pestano, 2015).

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On California Drought

    1604 Words  | 4 Pages

    For about five years California has experienced above average temperatures and a lack of rain. This lack of rain and snowfall has caused California to become increasingly dry, starting arguments over whose right to water is more important and who needs to be more mindful with their use of water. Farming in California truly began during the gold rush when water was redirected to land where food was grown for those looking for gold (Siegler, 2015). The farmers that have stayed on that land now have senior water rights (“Water wars”, 2015). Farmers that settled their land before 1914 are those with senior water rights (Terrell, 2015). Governor Jerry Brown has called for a cut in water use by one-quarter percent to people living

    Read More

  • Tulare Lake Hydrologic Region

    1126 Words  | 3 Pages

    From the 16.5 MAF of groundwater pumped annually in the state of California, 39% will be used for agriculture, 41% will be used in the urban sector, while 18% will be used to manage the state’s wetlands (DWR 2015). The Central Valley alone uses 74% of all extracted groundwater, where the Tulare Lake Hydrologic Region is the greatest groundwater user (DWR 2015). Since the state’s topography and hydrological conditions vary throughout the state, the amount of precipitation that the state receives will vary. Some areas lack access to enough water to meet water demands, so the state and federal water projects help by importing water. When the amount of surface water from the state and federal water projects does not fully meet local water demands,

    Read More

  • Water Shortages in the US

    952 Words  | 2 Pages

    This is not a problem which is limited to the developing world either, as even the United States has also been experiencing the effects of water shortages in recent years. In the US, the average citizen uses more than three times the amount of water as many European countries (Data 360). A key difference between the US and the European continent is the geographical variation. A majority of the large cities in America where water is becoming more scarce are located in the West and are surrounded by arid landscapes, although it should be noted that shortages are not limited to this area alone (The Atlantic). Most water usage in the country is reserved for irrigation of farmland, general landscaping, and home use (EPA). It is estimated by the EPA that the average family uses over 400 gallons of water every day, and that the cumulative volume of water used in homes is much less than the former two greatest uses. Not only is extreme overuse a problem, but seasonal droughts have become increasingly frequent throughout the US. Here, we will look more closely at the causes, effects, and implications of water shortages across the United States and beyond.

    Read More

  • Nestle Water Case Study

    1386 Words  | 3 Pages

    Every individual should have access to free potable water; sadly it isn’t true for many. California suffered its worst drought in 1200 plus years in 2013, the mega food corporation was operating plants in the state and harvesting water during the driest year in California’s

    Read More

  • The Effect Of Evaporation In California

    546 Words  | 2 Pages

    Due to the decreased rainfall in the past five years for the state of California, drastic measures have gone into effect to save every last drop of fresh water available to the population. According to 119 years of records, the average rainfall per year for the state has also been the worst ever recorded. With such a large decrease of rainfall, California has began community based projects to help save water by setting rules within households and schools for the amount of water that can be used daily. Water related uses also account for a sizeable amount of electricity, along with natural gas and fuels that are burnt each year. Besides the community based projects, California has began to turn towards major water sources and reservoirs with projects to decrease evaporation in those sources of water.

    Read More

  • California Drought Essay

    466 Words  | 1 Pages

    California is one of the most diverse and beautiful states in America with 223 different animal species and an estimated 6,300 native plants. Right now California is facing one of the most severe droughts ever to be recorded which is threatening not only all of us living in the Golden State but the plant and animals inhabiting it as well. Many say dams and reservoirs might be the answer to our problems. Being almost 35 years since the last dam was built in California, supporters are pushing for a new dam-building era. But, before moving ahead it's important to look to the past to see why California stopped building dams in the first place.

    Read More

  • The Water Crisis and Solutions

    1481 Words  | 3 Pages

    There is a global shortage of drinking water. A person might wonder how this can be if seventy percent of the earth’s surface is covered by water. Most of the Earth’s water is unsuitable for human consuption. Ocean water is salt water, which makes up 97.5% of all water on the planet. Freshwater is only 3.5% of all the water on Earth. Drinking water is sourced from bodies of freshwater.

    Read More

More about 5 Ways to Bust California’s Drought

Open Document