By: Nicolas Wright
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The water year that ended in September of 2021 was the second driest ever recorded. Many areas; and at a certain point, most of California, was in an extreme drought. Families and farmers who live off water reservoirs have been affected the most by the dry conditions. For farmers, the drought has killed their crops and soon enough they won’t have enough money for repairs or replacements for their equipment. Since they aren’t producing anything, they have no income. These dry conditions are threatening their livelihood. If the drought conditions continue or worsen, we may see problems with grocery stores and their storage of food and how to get more. The drought is going to eventually affect everyone as there will be a limited supply of fresh produce causing prices to rise. Going into 2022, January and February were known as the driest consecutive January and February on record in the last 100 years.
As of April, nearly 90 percent of California is in severe drought. California has been in a drought since 2000 and 1.5 million wildfires have occurred since then. 14 of those fires have exceeded 500,00 acres. One fire was the Camp Fire in Butte County which is considered the deadliest and most destructive fire in California’s history. 85 people were killed and over 18,000 buildings were destroyed. The August Complex that occured in August of 2020 was the largest wildfire ever recorded. It burned over 1,000,00 acres and over 900 buildings were destroyed. Over 3.7 million people have been affected by the drought and that number will continue to grow as the drought continues. We must hope that conditions won’t worsen and that we get out of this 22 year long drought. However chances are slim and there is little residents can do besides conserving water. While we can’t make it rain, we can increase our efforts of saving water by taking shorter showers and turning off faucets in between brushing teeth or washing hands. These are little things we can do, but unfortunately, until California receives more rain, we will still feel the effects of the drought.
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