What If Californias Drought Continues?
- Authors
- Publication Date
- Jul 31, 2015
- Source
- Center for Watershed Sciences John Muir Institute of the Environment
- License
- Unknown
Abstract
California is in the fourth year of a severe, hot droughtthe kind that is increasingly likely as the climate warms. Although no sector has been untouched, impacts so far have varied greatly, reflecting different levels of drought preparedness. Urban areas are in the best shape, thanks to sustained investments in diversified water portfolios and conservation. Farmers are more vulnerable, but they are also adapting. The greatest vulnerabilities are in some low-income rural communities where wells are running dry and in Californias wetlands, rivers, and forests, where the states iconic biodiversity is under extreme threat. Two to three more years of drought will increase challenges in all areas and require continuedand likely increasingly difficultadaptations. Emergency programs will need to be significantly expanded to get drinking water to rural residents and to prevent major losses of waterbirds and extinctions of numerous native fish species, including most salmon runs. California also needs to start a longer-term effort to build drought resilience in the most vulnerable areas.