May 31, 2022
Feature Story
by Tara Malhotra
One hundred percent of California is currently being affected by a drought, according to the United States Drought Monitor (USDM). The USDM also found that 95 percent of California’s population—37.3 million people—are feeling the impact of the drought. In addition, the state is experiencing the worst drought in the last 1,200 years. If this continues, California could be facing year-round fire seasons, agricultural loss, and an overall shortage of water.
This drought is caused by climate change, based on 2022 research from the USDM. Climate change creates warmer temperatures, which then speeds up and increases evaporation. With excess evaporation, soil loses its water and becomes barren.
The USDM identifies the first main threat of California’s worsening drought as more frequent wildfires. A drought results in plants becoming much more dry and flammable. This provides the perfect fuel for wildfires and therefore increases the magnitude and duration of the fires.
Cibrina Hoffman, a Brentwood School physics and chemistry teacher, reflects on how droughts can exacerbate California fires.
“Droughts are really bad because, without the water that we need, the ground gets too dry, and then it heats up much more quickly. Then, there’s perfect conditions for wildfires, and they spark much more easily,” Hoffman said.
Along with engendering intense fires, the California drought threatens agriculture. In 2022, the National Drought Mitigation Center researched how farmers do not have enough water to grow crops. In 2021 alone, California farmers lost $1.2 billion and 14,000 jobs since there were fewer crops to harvest.
Sabrina Erickson, who teaches Brentwood School’s Advanced Placement Environmental Science, expounds on how droughts slowly destroy trees and farming.
“We’ve had droughts for so many years that even the trees aren’t getting enough water. So, they’re really dry, and this leads to some of them getting sick due to bark beetles and other insects that prey on drought-stricken trees. Droughts just take everything out because everything is so dry,” Erickson said.
Droughts also alter the daily lives of California residents by limiting water supply. This substantially decreases the amount of water available for drinking, cooking, showering, watering lawns, and other activities. Millions of Californians in 2022 have been urged by Governor Gavin Newsom to cut their water consumption by 15 percent, according to American Broadcasting Company News. However, this goal has not been met.
A potential approach to solving these problems is to utilize new technologies. Founded in 1991, the Orange County Water District’s Green Acres Project is one possible solution. It aims to recycle wastewater to fight the drought. By injecting it into groundwater basins and then taking it out, it purifies and saves water. The program’s goal is to help California lose less water and reverse the effects of the drought at a much faster pace.
If California does not start taking action against the drought, the state is likely to encounter endless conflagrations, detrimental loss of agriculture and plants, and escalated water scarcity. Will California fix these problems before it is too late? Only time will tell.
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