SACRAMENTO, Calif., Feb. 28, 2009
Droughts Ravaging California, Texas
Schwarzenegger Declares State Of Emergency As Agriculture Is Hard-Hit; Parts Of Texas Are Driest In U.S.
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Droughts have continued to dog farmers and ranchers in the Texas Hill Country. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
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.
(Calif. Dept. of Water Resources)
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.
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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.
The situation is extremely dire.
Tim Quinn, Association of California Water AgenciesSan 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.
(AP/R.W. Erdrich, Reporter-News)
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."
© MMIX, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Best-selling author Mitch Albom on his first nonfiction work since "Tuesdays with Morrie."
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See all 39 CommentsPosted 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
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.
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.......
Posted by dmw1167
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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
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 sndkzyaa at 4:54 PM : Feb 28, 2009
If you say so.
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?
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?
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.
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.
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