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Most of California declared a ‘drought disaster’
September 22nd, 2009, 12:24 pm · 42 Comments · posted by Pat Brennan, science, environment editor
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has declared most of California a drought disaster area because of crop losses, with Orange County among them but considered indirectly affected. 
The designation covers 50 of California’s 58 counties, and allows farmers suffering losses to receive emergency loans.
Twenty-one counties are considered primary disaster areas, with 29 — Orange County among them — listed because they have boundaries adjoining the primary counties. Riverside County, which borders Orange County, is considered a primary disaster area.
It is the state’s third consecutive year of drought, and much of California, including Orange County, falls into the U.S. Drought Monitor’s “severe” drought classification.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
(Photo: Cracked bed in Lake Mead on the Colorado River in 2005; AP file.)
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All because of a fish smaller than my finger.
Which finger?
What do you think fish as big as your arm live on? Why would you want to give them up to save worthless lawns in the desert and almonds in the central valley?
Maybe if fresh water wasn’t diverted into the ocean because of the delta smelt…
Man made disaster, 1 disaster of a judge & one tasty smelt are to blame, that & bankrupt newspapers like this w/ bleeding heart tree hugging “science”( my a$$)writers that have WAY too much time on their hands.
Its real easy Brennen, open the valve, turn on the pumps, & let the BILLIONS of gallons that are now flowing into(& polluting) the oceans flow to the farms & people its intended for.
How about an article exposing this radical enviro judge for what he is, a MENACE TO SOCIETY!
I won’t hold my breath.
“never ending fight for freedom ” got it right. One errant liberal judge holds a few tree hugging fish-kissers above the good of millions of Californians. Absolute INSANITY!
I don’t see anyone conserving water!
My HOA still waters the weeds every single day
At Cal State Long Beach they run the sprinklers at lunch time!!!
I also see a lot of sprinklers on watering the sides of the freeways and road medians every day… The government needs to lead by example if this is a real crisis.
I don’t see any conservation either. At the apartment complex where I live, the lawns are watered at least four times every night (and that includes ALL adjacent sidewalks!), and even early in the morning water still runs down the street. Unfortunately it’s not an exception, streets and sidewalks are being watered at every block…Did you know that in SoCal, 60% of potable water is wasted to water landscaping? (source: a brochure that city of Fullerton sends out to the residents every year)
Ha, I can top that EASY.
My city just put in a park directly across the street from my house. 1/2 a mil. & the mexican gardeners water EVERY DAY for 25 min. The water floods the street & down the storm drain so loud it wakes up my neighbor every am @ 5 sharp. The pressure is turned up full blast, the water cascades over the curb like a waterfall.
Great park, no picknik, bikes, games w/ balls or Frisbee & every time someone tries to play fetch w/ their dog the police write tickets.
They put a monument in the center to the city council. WAFJ
Little do you know it’s all BS there is no drought- they are just looking for ways to make us pay more… Its a conspiracy… I know…
Your comment doesn’t even make any sense, never ending fight for “freedom.”
mmkay, go back to sleep moran
With all the Technology.. why Can’t they build a Canal
that takes the water from Flooded Areas and bring it to the States that have Droughts ????
That wouldn’t help Sandra. We absolutely have enough water but a judge decided that the Delta Smelt (a tiny little brown fish) would be endangered if we didn’t dump a majority of our potable water into the ocean instead of using it for the good of mankind.
Remember that when you go to vote in 2010!!!!!
Yeah Sandra, that & gravity are the two big reasons.
Stop pouring our water in to the ocean. Stop letting our Damn run free. Stop dumping water in the desert to keep dust down. Then California will have it’s drinking ater. As a side effect more rain. Did you know it CAN’T rain when dust is not in the air.
If only the population could go down by say 15-20 million people. (ILLEGALS) Deport, we need less people using water., gas, electricity, the freeays, our jobs. etc.
2nd the motion!!!!!
what he said.
Can you tell me why I pay almost $100 per month just for water? I live ina 2 bedroom condo.
1) Overpopulation
2) Stupid Useless Tree Huggers with too much power
Won’t allow dams, pipelines canals, reservoirs and Desalinization plants
3) Not punishing water wasters
You’re right Marley
They waste our water. It pours in to the Ocean. It pours in to the desert to stop dust. If we had more dust we would have more rain that is a fact. That smelt seems more important than we humans. Sad day indeed.
Ironically, this is a good development. For years, we’ve been living off waste and excess. Think of every time you noticed a broken sprinkler, a neighbor hosing down their driveway, or a family member taking incredibly long showers. We did those things because water was cheap and the foreseeable problems easy to ignore.
In a lot of countries, water is a precious commodity and we here need to start treating it the same. We should pay for water like we do our power bill. Allocate a set amounts to each household based on square foot and number of people. After a certain level, you start paying more and more for each tier you cross. Higher prices will encourage conservation (or at pump more money into water procurement).
How about you just move to one of those “other countries” & leave real American to go about their business. Ted.
With all those water mains breaking you would have swore we had enough water, they made us decrease our water pressure, meaning less water to use on everything, but its just being wasted by flooding down the streets, somethings not right
Tell the Green czar to turn the water back on and stop pumping the water into the ocean, I don’t think the ocean is drying up. We need to stop the corruption in government and then maybe we will have water.
Public policy makers are frighteningly silent about the population numbers that they expect the water system to serve. Is the government expecting that we can have an unlimited population in Southern CA and still have enough water for everyone? Where are the people who are supposed to do some basic arithmetic and decide how many people can be sustained by a finite water supply? Only then, the infrastructure planners can plan for future growth (or slow growth or none at all).
ocbear, stop putting koolaid mix in your precious H2O, Theirs plenty of water, just turn the pumps on.
You know Schartzinegger made a movie w/ a similar script, all the freaks were left to die w/o oxygen
PLEASE, Governor; don’t make us the freaks, open the valves, turn on the pumps.
This judge has already destroyed countless groves of olives, almonds & fruit trees, STOP HIM NOW!
First, stop watering lawns!!! It amazes me that people decide to live in California and insist on having always green, MUTILATED grass in front of their homes. It’s not England or midwest and you cannot have an English garden here! Stick to native, drought-resistant plants, and if you really LOVE your grass, just move out to a place where turf grows naturally, without additional watering.
Unfortunately, people are so ignorant that as long as there’s water running from the faucets, they don’t consider everything ot be allright…
[Despite obligatory water conservation, there's water running down the streets everywhere, and people STILL hosing down their driveways!]
agi, news flash, the city’s wont let you stop.
Agi: The community association CC&Rs require you to have a lawn.
No artificial turf, no “Theme gardens” (their term for native plants!) or xeriscape. No cactus gardens.
We need to pass a state law that prevents CC&Rs from outlawing responsible water conservation.
The way I see it, this is a fish that obviously can’t handle natural selection. Why do we endanger ourselves to protect the one’s that Darwin’s theory, and natures proven MO, are destined to die.
Yes it is unfortunate, but so is getting paid such low wages at a dead end job.
Stop torturing humans and let nature take its course.
Yet another example of unnatural selection… tsk.
http://www.theweeklyupdates.com/our-life/un-natural-selection-its-taking-america-by-storm/
The US House is voting on an amendment from Jim DeMint to open the pumps right now – I think Feinstein voted NO.
Sorry – it’s the Senate – Jim DeMint is Senator from South Carolina. I was just so happy to see someone is doing something to get the water turned on that I typed too fast.
http://tinyurl.com/mwezub
Pat Brennan; way to hang in there & let people speak their minds.
You’ll be top sci dog in a hurry around here w/ the right attitude.
The other “science” writer has blocked everyone w/ a brain.
His comment section has turned to a love fest w/ purdy flowers, puppy dogs, kittens,(sheep) & weather conditions from around OC.
BORING.
NOW, grow a pair & go after that judge, lets see if you can do some”investigative reporting”. Publish everything you can find here & you’ll get state if not national recognition for being a “reporter”.
YOU have the power to help change this, do you realize that?
The truth needs to get out about this guy, NOW. Don,t let someone else get the credit, do it. 70% of the population will be on your side.
Sorry, the Democrats tabled DeMint’s amendment. Boxer & Feinstein voted against turning the water on. I don’t get it. Why is it okay to ruin agriculture in California? 40-45% unemployment in the central valley. Food prices will go up. Unbelievable. Glad we left.
So glad you left! Why is it okay to ruin the delta fishery for agriculture in California? I’d rather eat fish.
DELTA FISHERY AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAHHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHHHAHAAHHAH
tHATS RICH.
I take it you don’t fish. Google “Sacramento Delta”.
The core of the problem is that there’s just too many humans on this planet.
Why don’t the tree huggers, to start, stop breeding, then there will be plenty of water for my back-yard water park?
Fresh water reserve levels for Southern California have dropped significantly over the last few years. http://j.mp/bDuUc will show you how far the water reserve levels have gone down. They have a gauge on the site with three-color zones: Blue – good, Yellow – not good and Red – bad. The needle on this gauge is dropping out of the blue zone and heading into the yellow zone. Hence using water wisely is important in our daily activities.