Drought threatening US food supply
Print Edition
In the valleys of central California, the search for water has turned into an all-out obsession as the region suffers through a drought that could threaten the US food supply.
Residents have watched with dismay as verdant fields have turned into brown, dusty plains, leaving shriveled trees, dying plants and exasperated farmers.
Much of California, and of the broader US West, has suffered through years of lighter-than-usual precipitation and a particularly dry winter.
State and local authorities, fearful that there may not be enough water for city dwellers or wildlife, have abruptly cut supplies to farms, provoking anger and consternation.
Along the roads between major farming operations, billboards have popped up everywhere, urging: “Save California’s Water.” They accuse the authorities of “dumping ... our water in the ocean.”
Growers complain that the state’s Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, is strangling them under a mountain of pointless restrictions, leaving them unable to fill their usual role of supplying America’s supermarkets.
“I had two wells dry up last week,” said 28-year-old Nick Foglio, a fourth-generation farmer and feed broker. He has 800 hectares of alfalfa going dry. He said he worries that with “the wrong political agenda, we’re simply going to starve ourselves and probably the rest of the world.”
But amid dire signs of a worsening crisis, California passed emergency legislation last week to prevent thousands of people — mostly farmers — from diverting streams or rivers.
“In a year when Mother Nature doesn’t make it rain, there is no water for them,” said Jeanine Jones, of the California Department of Water Resources.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 娌狪CP璇侊細娌狪CP澶05050403鍙-1
- |
- 浜掕仈缃戞柊闂讳俊鎭湇鍔¤鍙瘉锛31120180004
- |
- 缃戠粶瑙嗗惉璁稿彲璇侊細0909346
- |
- 骞挎挱鐢佃鑺傜洰鍒朵綔璁稿彲璇侊細娌瓧绗354鍙
- |
- 澧炲肩數淇′笟鍔＄粡钀ヨ鍙瘉锛氭勃B2-20120012
Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
