Droughts Ravaging California, Texas

Schwarzenegger Declares State Of Emergency As Agriculture Is Hard-Hit; Parts Of Texas Are Driest In U.S.

(CBS/AP)  Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency Friday because of three years of below-average rain and snowfall in California, a step that urges urban water agencies to reduce water use by 20 percent.

The drought has forced farmers to fallow their fields, put thousands of agricultural workers out of work, and led to conservation measures in cities throughout the state, which is the nation's top agricultural producer.

Agriculture losses could reach $2.8 billion this year and cost 95,000 jobs, said Lester Snow, the state water director.

"This drought is having a devastating impact on our people, our communities, our economy and our environment, making today's action absolutely necessary," the Republican governor said in his statement.

Mandatory rationing is an option if the declaration and other measures are insufficient.

State agencies must now provide assistance for affected communities and businesses and the Department of Water Resources must protect supplies, all accompanied by a statewide conservation campaign.

(The south fork of Feather River at Lake Oroville, pictured Feb. 3, 2009. The water level at the California reservoir is down to 37 percent of its capacity.)

Three dry winters have left California's state- and federally operated reservoirs at their lowest levels since 1992.

Federal water managers announced last week that they would not deliver any water this year to thousands of California farms, although that could change if conditions improve. The state has said it probably would deliver just 15 percent of the water contractors have requested this year.


"Exceptional" Drought In Lone Star State

Across Texas, the nation's No. 2 agricultural state, drought conditions are evaporating stock tanks, keeping many crop farmers from planting into long-parched soil, forcing cattle producers to cull their herds, and dropping water levels in state lakes.

Despite hurricanes Dolly, Gustav and Ike soaking Texas in 2008, almost every part of the state - nearly 97 percent - is experiencing some drought, according to the most recent U.S. Drought Monitor map, released Feb. 26.

Parts of Central Texas and the Hill Country - more that 8 percent of the state - are not only in exceptional drought - the most severe stage of dryness - but they are now the driest region in the country and the driest they have been since 1918. It is the only place in the U.S. experiencing exceptional drought.

San Antonio has gotten only 16.67 inches of rain since September 2007, its driest 17 months ever and about 28 inches below normal.

November, December and January were the driest statewide since 1971 for that three-month span, the fourth-driest on record. Texas averaged .32 inches of rain in January, the fourth driest in history, and about one-fifth the normal monthly total.

Statewide numbers for February have not yet been compiled.

"February's gotten nothing but worse," said Victor Murphy, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Fort Worth. "It's going to be the same gloomy numbers."

Some local numbers were available, though, and they show that none of the state's 25 largest cities got even half the normal rainfall between Dec. 1 and Feb. 25.

"That's another example of how bad things are," Murphy said. "Things just continue to get worse."

There is, however, a glimmer of hope. Forecasters say it appears the La Nina weather pattern that's kept Texas dry may be breaking up over the central Pacific Ocean.

"It looks like it's starting to weaken," Murphy said. "With that being the case, May and June, our normal rainy months, we might have something positive to look forward to."

If those rains don't materialize, the cost to agriculture could be enormous.

"It's too preliminary" to estimate what the losses could be this year, said Travis Miller, drought specialist with Texas AgriLife Extension Service.

(Flames spin into a fiery twister as a brush fire rapidly crosses a meadow in Jones County, Texas, Jan. 22, 2009. Since the beginning of the year, about 3,400 wildfires have been reported across the state, scorching nearly 105,000 acres.)

If the recent past is any indication, agriculture losses could top 2006. Drought-related crop and livestock losses were the state's worst ever for a single year, totaling $4.1 billion. Numbers on the latest drought map are worse than those for same week of 2006.

What does that mean to ranchers?

Most started culling their herds a few months ago and that will probably continue, Miller said.

Central Texas cattle raiser Gerry Shudde, who during the 2006 drought cut his small herd in half because he could no longer feed them, has six stock tanks for watering his cattle. Four of those tanks are already dry and two others, which were dug deeper after the 1950s drought, are nearly empty.

He normally plants oats and other feed grasses in his pastures to help feed his cattle during the winter.

This year, though, "there's not a seed come up on any of them yet," he said. "We go through these (droughts). It's just time for this to end."

Miller said most ranchers use supplemental feed - hay and other grazing grasses cut and harvested months ago - during winter months. This year, there is a big difference.

"It's not supplemental feed," he said. "It is the feed."

[harbinger19]

WELCOME TO "DAY AFTER TOMMORROW" ENJOY YOUR STAY. lol

[harbinger19]

And NO, nobody has a sensible reason whatsoever to give that justifies giving the government a TON of money....because they can't do a thing about climactic weather cycles...
Posted by ChgUBINOT at 4:21 PM : Feb 28, 2009

If you think that the impact of current human industrial society isn't dramatically and artificially influencing Earth's climate (for the worse) then you're a simple nut and have credible voice with which to speak.
Posted by cs4466 at 2:29 AM : Mar 1, 2009


You missed the really funny part of Rowdy's rant: That we "GIVE" the government a ton of money. She must have had too much Texas peeee to drink. We GIVE the government NOTHING. The Government WANTS...THEY TAKE.....

LOL

[harbinger19]

I agree with you, corey2444! The covenants that G_d made with Abraham are still in effect. And G_d will bless those who bless Israel, and curse those who curse Israel. Land for peace will never work... until the Prince of Peace returns on Mt. of Olives. US foreign policy is on very thin ice! Droughts are only ONE type of plague. USA must either ger right, or get ready for more!
Posted by crmahan at 12:00 PM : Feb 28, 2009


..And when God punishes Israel ? (Which He does, a lot ) The fact is, scripture also says for Gentiles or the "grafted fruit on the vine to be careful what they do--the bible speaks of God as the vineyard husbanman and states that since he must preiodically "prune" his real fruit (meaning punish and at times kill some of the children of Abraham) "how much more will he do to those who are merely grafted?

Keep on thinking when Israel is wrong that God just sucks it up--you will be in for a surprise. Wrong is wrong and God is not a respector of persons. When Israel is wrong (and sometimes they are) God smites them--he will do the same or worse to any sidekick of Israel.

[harbinger19]

'AND LET THIS BE A SIGN UNTO YOU: IN THE LAST DAYS, YOU CANNOT TELL THE SEASONS FROM THE SEASONS" (bible scripture) YEP.

[harbinger19]

Wow--first we start a bunch of wars--then comes diseases (like SARS and flesh eating bacteria and disease resistant STDs and menningitis) then comes the drought for CA so no crops...last year the flooding in the midwest--so less crops --maybe flooding this year....Then there were the aphids, lady beetles and the missing bees and now bats are dropping...

Looks like America is experiencing the 7 plagues of Egypt and then some..... Wonder whatever could we have done wrong.....wonder if maybe killing hundreds of thousands based on lies released bad karma...or maybe God got tired of us acting ugly.....or maybe the worm just turns.......

[ubrew12]

Within the LIFETIME of many farmers working the soil in California's Central Valley, conditions have turned dramatically worse. Sorry, but that is just NOT enough time for natural forces to turn the climate. (1930s DustBowl was due to poor tillage methods). Natural forces take many centuries and even millenia to take effect (other than volcano's and meteor hits). Clearly, something ELSE is going on here, and that is Global Warming.

[Professor2U]

It looks like the DUST BOWL is returning. Not only is the economy tanking and unemployment increasing, the DROUGHT continues to grow. Where will they go? Will it be as bad as the 1930's?Is this a product of global warming or just the natural CYCLE of things to come?

[ubrew12]

Antarctic sea ice acts like a d@m, holding back land-based glacial ice from falling into the ocean. That d@m is breaking.

[cydygitt1]

Almost all of the ice they say is melting is already in the water you can prove this by dropping an ice cube in a glass of water that ice will act the exact same way Polar Ice does..

Posted by dmw1167
=============

Your credibility on this subject is about as wet as your glass of ice water, since much of the ice already melting at unprecedented levels is on land like Greenland and Antarctica!

Study: Antarctic Glaciers Melting Swiftly

Warming Across Continent Could Lead To Unprecedented Rise In Sea Levels, Scientists Say

A report by thousands of scientists for the 2007-2008 International Polar Year concluded that the western part of the continent is warming up, not just the Antarctic Peninsula.

Satellite data and automated weather stations indicate that "the warming we see in the peninsula also extends all the way down to what is called west Antarctica," he told The Associated Press. "That's unusual and unexpected."

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/02/25/tech/main4827345.shtml?tag=main_home_storiesBySection

[cs4466]

have credible voice <-- woop this should read "*no* credible voice"

[cs4466]

And NO, nobody has a sensible reason whatsoever to give that justifies giving the government a TON of money....because they can't do a thing about climactic weather cycles...
Posted by ChgUBINOT at 4:21 PM : Feb 28, 2009

If you think that the impact of current human industrial society isn't dramatically and artificially influencing Earth's climate (for the worse) then you're a simple nut and have credible voice with which to speak.

[pjk12354]

You call it drought....................I call it climate change due to global warming.

[sockpuppet4]

If droughts are ravaging Texas whats that rich oil exec's wife going to do? The one that bought a million acres to start a wild horse refuge. She bought it when gas was 4.50 a gallon just because she wanted a raunch. (Yes, she called it a raunch). Shouldnt all those wild horses be getting thirsty about now? Wheres the humane money to water all those horses? Does this mean a gallon of gas is going up? She going to let them die of thirst or what?

[knyghtwolf]

Ummm, dmw1167, I think you are referring to Newton's Law's of Energy, because it cannot be created or destroyed, but it can be altered. With shifts in ocean currents due to volcanic eruptions, gas shiftings in the atmosphere, and our constant changing the environment, we are effectively killing ourselves faster and faster every day thus enabling humankind to join the ranks of extinct species such as the dinosaurs, we will probably be the next source of energy for whatever takes our place at the top of the food chain.

[888irish]

That's because Texas would be worth a higher rent.

Posted by sndkzyaa at 4:54 PM : Feb 28, 2009

If you say so.

[sndkzyaa]

if he owned H*e*l*l and Texas that he would live in H*e*l*l and rent out Texas.
Posted by barbaraf4 at 4:35 PM : Feb 28, 2009

That's because Texas would be worth a higher rent.

Who would pay to rent the other place?

[barbaraf4]

There is the story about the General who said if he owned H*e*l*l and Texas that he would live in H*e*l*l and rent out Texas.

[cs4466]

Yeah, and you STILL haven't presented me with a SOLUTION to climactic changes the GOVERNMENT can produce if we give them more money!!!

What's the government going to do? Get out their sprinkle cans and drip some water on us? Stick their finger out and stop a cat 5 hurricane?

Why does the GOVERNMENT need more money? Can anybody tell me a reason to give the GOVERNMENT more money?
Posted by ChgUBINOT at 2:08 PM : Feb 28, 2009

Would someone giving you a reason make a difference? No. That's not why you're here.

Does being ignorant come naturally to you or do you have to work at it?

[sndkzyaa]

I think God is torturing Texas.....He's just not using the waterboarding technique.....
Posted by dragonwagon5 at 1:18 PM : Feb 28, 2009

God is always torturing Texas.

Just a few years ago, we had wildfires from dry conditions on one part of the state, and flooding in other parts.

It has something to do with being the biggest state in the continental USA. We cover so much land area, it's common to have drought at one corner and a hurricane at the other one.

In Austin, we had very consistent annual rainfall. And it all fell in one day. The rest of the year not a drop of rain fell. Without artificial watering, it would be a desert.

That's Texas.

If you don't like the weather, wait a few days. Or drive 150 miles. You'll be in different weather, but you'll still be in Texas.

[ubrew12]

ChgUBINOT said: "Not a ONE OF YOU, can present me with ONE REASON that we need to give the GOVERNMENT more money thinking they can control the FREAKING CLIMATE! "

Fortunately, we don't have to convince you. You're a relic Bush-lover without a clue. History has passed you by. I can only hope you farm in CA or TX. That would be poetic justice indeed.

The rest of us will be engaged finding the solutions to problems created by Rednecks like you.