Drought in California – Why 77 percent of the Western US is abnormally dry
The Western US is in the midst of yet another dangerous dry spell. The drought has been building over the past year, and since November, a greater stretch of the West has been in the most severe category of drought than at any time in the 20 years that the National Drought Mitigation Center has been keeping records. … Ryan Jensen saw the impacts of California’s last major drought firsthand while working for the Community Water Center in the San Joaquin Valley. When residential wells ran dry, students had to shower in their school locker rooms. To keep toilets running, some rural households relied on hoses slung over fences from their neighbors.
Related articles:
- Associated Press: California gets another round of late-winter rain and snow
- ABC10: Cold weather system bringing more rain, low snow to Northern California
- Fresno Irrigation District: Dry Winter Conditions Prompt Postponing FID’s Water Deliveries
- Georgetown Gazette: Snowpack below average
- AccuWeather: Rain, snow to storm the West Coast
- ABC15 Arizona: How experts say climate change is impacting Arizona snowpack, water supply
- The Denver Post: “They’re getting bigger, faster”: Colorado braces for what’s next after last year’s explosive wildfires