The drought caused by climate change is changing California, costing billions of dollars, state officials said yesterday.
California is spending $5.2 billion to upgrade its water supply system, improve water storage, and provide water to arid communities as part of a $15 billion historic spending plan to address the impact of climate change.
“Drought is part of California’s natural environment, but now it is exacerbated by the acceleration of climate change,” State Natural Resources Minister Wade Crawford said at a virtual meeting with reporters. “The record high temperatures in winter and spring this year mean that the amount of snow and water flowing into our reservoir has decreased by about 80%, which we expect based on the historical records of a century.”
The current drought in California has entered the second year, roughly equivalent to the driest year in California’s history from 1976 to 77.
Newsom declared a state of emergency in 50 of the 58 counties, and officials asked residents to reduce water consumption by 15%. Now it’s voluntary.
Crowfoot and other officials described in detail the drought at the end of the state’s “water year”. Most of the precipitation in California is between October and April, although it is now shrinking to between November and March.
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The budget funds for drought mitigation include about $1.3 billion for upgrading drinking water and wastewater systems, $200 million for expanding water circulation and cleaning groundwater basins, $180 million for groundwater management, $100 million for improving the flow of streams and rivers, and $100 million for upgrading water transmission systems in parts of the state affected by land subsidence.
California officials pointed out yesterday that there is a direct link between drought and climate change. The high temperature accelerated the melting of snow and reduced the water supply throughout the year.
The rainfall and snowfall in 2020 and 2021 are second only to 1976 and 1977.
“But what really happens behind the scenes is the performance of these high-temperature and dry soil conditions,” said Karla Nemeth, director of the California Department of water resources.
“So technically, 1976 and 77 were actually drier than 2020 and 2021, but what happened in our reservoirs, rivers and streams” was actually much lower than what happened in 76 and 77, “Nemeth said.
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She said that the amount of water flowing into the Shasta dam was the lowest on record, and the total storage of state and federal dams in Oroville, Shasta and forsson was also the lowest on record.
“This is largely due to the rise in ambient temperature… When you look at historical records, this is an exception,” nemet said. “When you really look at records starting around 2010, these are very common. So that’s the big difference here.”.
Crowfoot pointed out that the extreme heat not only puts pressure on California residents, but also on the environment, including California’s iconic Chinook salmon.
As a result, the California Department of fish and wildlife is relocating local fish and amphibians and increasing hatchery production to compensate for the loss of these species.
Crawford said that if there is a third consecutive winter drought, all parts of the state will “face big problems”.