California in 2014 experienced the worst drought in recent years. She forced local authorities to introduce a state of emergency.
State Climatic Conditions
The climate of California belongs to the Mediterranean type of subtropical zone. It is characterized by hot and dry summers. Summer temperatures above +30 ° C are common, with no precipitation at this time. In the off-season, the amount of moisture lost slightly increases. But the main time to replenish moisture reserves is winter, when a large amount of snow falls in the mountains. In the spring, melt snow flows into rivers, lakes and reservoirs. It is they who become the main source of water for the whole summer for the population and the state economy. Snow replenishes soil moisture in fields and pastures.
Causes of Water Shortage
The summer of 2013 also turned out to be very arid. As a result, water bodies became shallow, water reserves decreased. The hope of replenishing their resources did not materialize, since winter was not snowy. In California as a whole, the level of snow was not higher than 13% of normal. River flow has plummeted.
The reason for the lack of snow was a zone of high atmospheric pressure, which stretches along the entire Pacific coast of the United States. This anticyclone usually does not "survive" until winter, but this year it lingered and became an obstacle to the moist air masses coming from Alaska. Humid air was forced to circumvent this barrier, which led to heavy snowfalls in other parts of the United States. This is exactly what caused the worst drought in California. The photo shows that in the winter of 2014 (left), snow fell several times less than in 2013 (in the right picture).
California drought inflicts severe blow on farmers
Farms suffered the most from water shortages. The state of California provides almost half of the country's crop of vegetables, with three quarters of the water used to irrigate fields, plantations of grapes, almonds, and olives. Many fields remained un sown in spring due to lack of moisture in the soil. The owners of the plantations directed the available water only to support the growth of trees so that they would not die from drought, and did not have to think about high yields.
During spring and summer, almond plantations and vineyards on tens of thousands of hectares perished.
State livestock has also suffered heavy losses. Due to the lack of water, farmers had to reduce livestock numbers, selling them cheaply. Grass on slopes not fed by precipitation burnt out. To maintain the livestock of cattle, it is necessary to import hay from other states, and farmers did not expect such expenses.
Farmers cried out for help to the state and US government, but this was not enough. Many ranchers lost everything they had. And dozens of farming families were forced to leave for other states.
Severe Drought Causes Industrial Problems
State industry also suffered damage from the drought. The lack of snow led to severe shallowing of rivers and lakes, which in turn caused disruptions in the state’s hydropower plants. Power supply during peak hours has become irregular. As a result, industrial enterprises were forced to reduce production.
Forest fires - satellites of drought
The drought in the United States was a record in its strength. Its consequences were amplified by a strong fire hazard. Throughout the spring and summer of 2014, state residents spent as if on a powder keg. Forest fires in this dry climate are common, but terrible drought increased the risk of fire several times. Tree branches that dried out due to waterlessness flashed instantly from any fire, whether it was an abandoned cigarette or a lightning strike during short-term thunderstorms that occurred in places.
Fires often approached farms and cities, houses burned. Firefighters were forced to use special helicopters to extinguish. The problem was further aggravated by the fact that less than a third of the volume of water from conventional reserves remained in the state’s water bodies.
As a result, firefighters often had to choose whether to extinguish a forest fire itself or to prevent its spread towards settlements.
Ashes from forest fires cover the dried up river bottom. When it rains, the surface of the water will be heavily polluted.
Violation of ecological systems
The California drought, which has become the strongest over the past century and a half, has upset the ecological balance. Some species of plants and animals living in the state’s water bodies, including the sturgeon population, were endangered. The number of birds settled in the vicinity of rivers and lakes has decreased. Cases of wild bears entering the settlements have become more frequent, and they cannot find food on the lands scorched by the sun. Of the plants, the greatest concern is the relict trees of the preglacial era - giant sequoias, preserved only in the United States.
Due to the drought, the already rare vegetation on the steep slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountains has dried up. Earth, no longer held together by its roots, is scattered by the hot wind. If precipitation begins, which are often stormy in nature, then it will simply be washed away by streams of water. Many hectares of vineyards may be left without fertile soil.
The famous Colorado River no longer carries its waters to the Pacific Ocean. The residual water after the irrigation fence, after being detained by the Hoover Dam to replenish the reservoir, disappear in the swamps into which its lower course has turned.
In short, California was on the verge of an environmental disaster. How much it will be possible to recreate natural ecosystems after the end of the dry period and how much it will cost, experts do not undertake to predict. Moreover, the 2014 California drought has already caused such material damage to the entire state that it will take several years to restore production levels.
Saving water is the main way to deal with drought
The state of emergency introduced in California also determined measures for the economical use of available water supplies. Some of them are advisory in nature, and large fines are imposed for non-compliance with individual ones. For example, California residents were advised not to waste water on watering lawns around the house. And those who are not satisfied with the dry grass in his private estates, it is recommended to use artificial turf.
The bans touched washing cars, and the state has a very large fleet of personal cars. It is forbidden to fill the pools with such scarce water. For violation there is a large fine. Many residents do not imagine a hot California summer without swimming in the pool, so they prefer to pay a fine, but do it their own way. Given the fact that the resort towns of the Pacific coast are inhabited by no means poor people, one can imagine the effectiveness of such prohibitions.
