Special Report

The relentless California drought

The drought continues in California, all of the counties in the Golden State now qualify for natural disaster assistance with 95 percent of the state in at least severe drought and 58 percent in Exceptional Drought.  Steve Maddox milks cows and raises grapes and almonds in the Central Valley, he says they hope this is “the third year of a three-year-drought and not the third of a many-year drought.”

Maddox has wells on his farm which he has been able to use to replace the water he would normally get from the state water district.  While it has been enough to keep his operation going, it has drawn the water table down by about ten feet.  He says other areas of the state have seen their water table drop 100 feet.

Despite the drought, California milk production has been consistently running above year-ago levels, Maddox says “With these kind of milk prices, milk production will come.”

Part of the problem is that California has not made improvements to the water retention system in decades; “California has not built a dam in 40 years yet the population has doubled in that time.”  He also notes that while agriculture has cut back on water use by idling five percent of farmable land, but the cities have not done their share.  “The Governor, back in early spring, asked everyone to cut back 20 percent, I think L.A. increased 8.”

Governor Jerry Brown signed legislation last month giving the State the authority to regulate groundwater use in areas where it is being depleted faster than it is being replenished.  The law requires the establishment of local groundwater sustainability agencies by 2020 or 2022 and for those areas to achieve sustainability by 2040.

Maddox talks about the situation: