California's historic drought and water crisis brought on by climate change

I make this thread because after a good El Nino, Governor Jerry Brown signed another Executive Order dictating the lives on California residents on the back of the water crisis.The main premise of this thread is to counter the claim that California is in a terrible water shortage due to our current drought because of Climate Change/ Global Warming regardless of what Governor Jerry Brown says. Here are a few examples to highlight the agenda to connect the drought and water crisis with Climate Change:
California Drought Is Made Worse by Global Warming, Scientists Say
Yes, climate change has a hand in the California drought
The Climate Change ‘Bully’ in California’s Drought
STUDY CONFIRMS CLIMATE CHANGE TURNED CALIFORNIA DROUGHT INTO DISASTER, WITH WORST YET TO COME
Causes of California drought linked to climate change, Stanford scientists say
Jerry Brown on California drought: ‘Climate change is not a hoax’
Gov. Brown: California Drought Only Foretaste of Climate Change Impacts
California Drought Crisis Proves Climate Change 'Is Not A Hoax,' Says Gov. Jerry Brown
It is my opinion that this water shortage is a combination of natural climate cycles all to familiar to the state of California and devastating left-wing environmental policies. I also believe it is being used to further a UN Agenda to control the masses. I believe we have an Authoritarian as Governor of California who believes he can legislate with his pen and turn California into the premier testing grounds for that UN Agenda. That cannot be fully seen without dissecting the Global Warming legislation and Executive Orders being implemented through the Air Resource Board, so it is out of the scope of this thread. I do hope to get around to making a thread on that to show how it has turned California into the state with the highest povery rate in the nation.

Indeed California has been in a drought for a few years now, thankfully coming out of it from a good El Nino for the northern part of the state. On the other hand, this is not a first time occurence. Historical droughts have occured in California in the years 1929-34, 1976-77, and 1987-92. The driest year on record being in 1976.
www.water.ca.gov...] CALIFORNIA’S MOST SIGNIFICANT DROUGHTS: COMPARING HISTORICAL AND RECENT CONDITIONS
1976. Ah, the good old days. Jerry Brown was in his first term as Governor. A man with wacky ideas who got the name Moonbeam. Back then, the same hype was all the rage. Chicken littles everywhere. Scientists saying the Earth is broken but blaming it on Global Cooling.

In 1976, the New York Times reported that California was “so dry, brush fires have started several weeks early” and that “water is being rationed.” But in the 1970s, scientists blamed this drought on global cooling. The Times reported that climatologists “believe that the climate has moved into a cooling cycle, which means highly erratic weather for decades to come.” Scientists worried that the world’s population had gotten so high that minor “shifts in climate could be catastrophic.”

Flashback 1976: Scientists Blamed California Drought On Global Cooling
I digress, back to the current. During this drought, Governor Brown has issued a few Executives orders.
EXECUTIVE ORDER B-29-15
This Executive Order, ordered a statewide reduction of water use by %25 among other prohibitions.
Executive Order B-37-16
This executive order prohibits citizens from washing cars without a shut-off valve on their hose, using water to wash off your sidewalk or other hardscapes, among other things.
Governor Brown is using this water "crisis" to make laws against things he doesn't like. And he blames it on "Climate Change". He makes it clear that this is about changing the Californians lifestyle and uses climate change as justification.

"Californians stepped up during this drought and saved more water than ever before," said Governor Brown. "But now we know that drought is becoming a regular occurrence and water conservation must be a part of our everyday life."

California droughts are expected to be more frequent and persistent, as warmer winter temperatures driven by climate change reduce water held in the Sierra Nevada snowpack and result in drier soil conditions. Recognizing these new conditions, the executive order directs permanent changes to use water more wisely and efficiently, and prepare for more frequent, persistent periods of limited supply.

Executive Order Summary
So hopefully you can see, we here in California are in a "water shortage". It wasn't always this way. But first a little background. In the 1950-60s there was great investment and construction in California water projects. One of the things they built were the California Aquaducts which carry water from Northern California to the San francisco Bay Area through the Central Valley and on down to Southern California. The system was designed to provide water for the state's urban areas and Central Valley farming. Now a ton of that water is not flowing through as it once did. And it is because of Environmental policies and lawsuits that this is the case. Ironically, it was Governor Brown's father who was the Governor of California at the time of the Aquaduct construction. Here he is breaking ground at the Oroville site.

California Stater Water Project History
Here is a video that I think makes an excellent case for the cause of the water shortage. I wil try to provide a summary of the video in case you can't watch it.

The central theme of the video is the plight of the people of the Central Valley caused by radical environmental laws in place. A little about the Central Valley: The place has been called the most productive land in the world. One quarter of all US food is grown there. It has become one of the poorest areas of the US and towns are being devastated because the Government will not provide them with water.

a reply to: harvestdog

The Central Valley now has a poverty rate nearly 50% higher than the state average along with nearly 40% higher crime and domestic violence rate and nearly a 30% higher substance abuse rate that the state average.

Water was flowing freely and people were surviving the natural droughts until 1992. Following the passage of the Central Valley Improvement Project, environmental groups started suing. The new legislation said the means of water delivery cannot kill the fish. Using the above and the Endangered Species Act, environmental groups started attacking the Sacramento/San Joaquin river delta near the bay area. Two large pumping stations (Banks- state run, Jones- federal run) became targets. They lift water from the delta into canals and the aquaduct system. They were shut-down when Environmentalists sued saying that the pumps were killing the Delta Smelt, a 3" fish that only lives in that delta. As a result of turning the pumps off, more than 1.4 trillion gallons of delta water once used for for valley farming and towns have been flushed into the Pacific Ocean.

On a side note, that Delta Smelt isn't doing so hot even after turning the pumps off. Biologists say they will soon be extinct, a victim of natural predators sewage up river from cities like Sacremento and Stockton, and other factors not related to the pumps. One contradiction is their protecting of the non-native striped bass who is eating the endangered Smelt.

Another drain on California's water supply is the San Joaquin River Restoration Settlement Act. It takes water once used for farming, to try to get salmon back to the upper part of the river. The program is a success if 500 salmon are restored. At an estimated cost of $2 billion dollars, that is $4 million dollars a fish. What it is really costing though, is 65 billion gallons per year to the Central Valley.
Predictably, turning off the farmers source of surface water has caused them to drill deeper wells to get more groundwater. Now the government wants the farmers to come up with plans to use less groundwater. To which the the farmers only response is to fallow their land.

One farmer stated that he is only able grow on 60% of his land and with new regulations for 2020 may only be able to use 35-40%. He talked of the destruction it has had on the local economy. It is the farm's first year in 60 they won't be growing cantalopes. Normally he would have 600 acres of cantalopes with 10 people per acre working. And spend $2,500-3,000 an acre in the local economy.
Devin Nunes, Representive from the Central Valley, said that when he was running for office in 2002, environmental groups met with him to get his support of bills. They showed him a plan of 1.3 million acres reverted back to desert.

Ultimately this is a man-made drought. But not a man-made climate change drought. Even with the El Nino, environmentalists have stripped our abilty to catch the rain water. About half of the rainfall washes out to sea. Since 1970, over 30 dams have been removed from CA for fish habitat, eliminating over 100 billion gallons of storage.
Agriculture is 80 percent of water use in California. Why aren’t farmers being forced to cut back?
One aspect of this propaganda is trying to get the urban user to resent the farmer. Papers run stories misleading the public. They say farming uses 80% of the water but that is not the whole story. Farming uses 40%, urban 10%, environmental causes 50%.

And of course, we can't end this without a little hypocrisy from our limosine liberal friends in the Bay Area.

Hetch Hetchy hypocrites: The San Francisco Bay Area provides a primary support base for many environmental groups. Lucky for them, their supporters don’t have to endure the kinds of hardships these organizations have foisted on San Joaquin Valley communities. While the radicals push for ever-harsher water restrictions in the Valley, their Bay Area supporters enjoy an unimpeded water supply piped in across the state from the Hetch Hetchy reservoir in Yosemite National Park. This water is diverted around the Delta, meaning it does not contribute to the Delta’s water quality standards. Environmental groups have conveniently decided not to subject Hetch Hetchy water to any sort of litigation that would cut the supply to the Bay Area.

Man-Made Drought: A Guide To California’s Water Wars

I understand that this topic probably doesn't interest you if you don't live in California. If you live in the US, I'd at least recommend keeping an eye on California. As California goes, so goes the rest of the nation. In my opinion, this water shortage is a crisis made up out of whole cloth. They want a water shortage to force you to conserve. This is about lifestyle changes. Outlawing behavior they disapprove of, and not caring for those it hurts. I hope when Californians hear their news talking of ever increasing water rationing, they remember to blame the environmentalists and legislators who won't take these crazy laws off the books. I hope they don't blame their neighbors car or farmers trying to feed the country. Ultimately the system was designed with droughts in mind, it is just being dismantled by a regressive group of idealists and radicals.

I 'm afraid you are mistaken about the consequences of following this false narrative,they want to extort MONEY from us and lay in more UN authority on the US for their Carbon tax initiative. ALL the worlds countries are supposed to pay for that racket,our congress is blocking the pathetic attempt at usurping sovreignty.
However the cellphones are calling us both liars and such an opinion is popular with the RUBES who buy that crap.

Good example of how politicians and political parties take something that's been happening for thousands of years and assign blame.

Lots of profits involved.

a reply to: harvestdog

I've lived in California all my life and I for one would rather protect the fish that have been here for thousands of years than make them go extinct because someone wants to water their almond orchard.

Climate Change ?, nah! they sucked it dry....

Maybe Jerry should answer as to why NorCal ships incredible amounts of its water supply to SoCal, who go on to waste much of it and whose cutting back on water usage pales in comparison to what NorCal has done.

I'd like to know why California is still insistent on growing high agriculture crops such as almonds, which uses 10% of California's water. That's insane. To add salt to the wound, farmers also grow alfalfa....which uses even more water than the almond crops. One of the most vegan states in the US where eating meat can cost you your social status or job, and they grow food for cows. And we're not talking just milk cows.

Alfalfa and pasture that feed cattle consume the most water in drought-stricken California.

Amid California’s worsening drought, almonds have become the Kardashian of crops, demonized for extravagantly consuming 10 percent of the state’s agricultural water supply. Indeed, there’s a case to be made against the nut: A new report from the Pacific Institute, a nonprofit research organization, finds that almonds (along with pistachios) are among the top consumers of water, at the rate of 1.2 trillion gallons a year. (California supplies 80 percent of the world’s almonds and is the United States’ fruit and veggie basket.)

But putting a hamburger on your plate or a gallon of milk in your refrigerator makes the amount of water it takes to grow almonds look like peanuts. The crop that consumes the most water in California is alfalfa, which is largely grown as feed for cattle and dairy cows. Pasture grown for grazing livestock is the third-largest water user. That means keeping cows fat (if not happy) consumes 2.7 trillion gallons of water a year.

***SNIP***

“A shift toward a meat-driven diet does put pressure on water resources,” Cooley said. “But not eating meat is not going to solve California’s water problems, and it’s not something that will solve this drought.”

“I don’t think we can get to a place where we dictate what type of crops are grown where,” she added. “Farmers decide to grow crops based on water availability, labor, and other costs.”
www.takepart.com...

Can't dictate what types of crops are grown???????? At what point does human suffrage begat a priority of the available water?

I love almonds but I'd sacrifice my use of them. Almonds CAN be grown in other states. So can the other crops. Why the farmers are allowed to dictate such a high percentage of water usage needs to be looked at.

Oh, and the rich elite need to fill in their pools with soil and make garden pools.

We here in NorCal tighten our belts every year and what do we get for it-higher water bills.We conserve so much water,the water agencies don't make enough money.What a joke.

Double Post

Triple Post! We have a winner!

originally posted by: TheLotLizard
a reply to: harvestdog

I've lived in California all my life and I for one would rather protect the fish that have been here for thousands of years than make them go extinct because someone wants to water their almond orchard.

Then give those fish YOUR water and freaking MOVE OUT.

a reply to: harvestdog
It sounds like man came up with brainless plots to provide ample water, seemingly without proper proviso for the local fish stock who's actions are naturalistic, then again man comes up with a brainless plot to counteract the last brainless plot.
Of course, the main thrust/excuse is that humans are not part of nature, a fundamental extreme view that is being pushed down peoples throats. Could that be because humans are more subject to their conscience, especially in doing the wrong thing as custodians of the planet, and a continued need to right a wrong, just because a grouping says so, and because our out there governments insist that what they do is always the right thing..because they say so?

For sure for instance, there is climate change, that is the only legitimate claim at any time, AGW is a misnomer, an invention of one of the biggest gravy trains in history.. by scientists, a killer idea in its day, until you actually think about it. Ants make more CO2 and methane than just about anything that you can actually see as you walk down the road, (while you probably kill millions of them as you walk) along with all the other tiny stuff. That also makes the nonsense of over population of humans on the Earth er, theories, when you consider that humans could live in most places on earth bar a few, and while the whole human race could live in a very small area while the rest of the world could feed them, since the humans are out of the bloody way.

originally posted by: nwtrucker

originally posted by: TheLotLizard
a reply to: harvestdog

I've lived in California all my life and I for one would rather protect the fish that have been here for thousands of years than make them go extinct because someone wants to water their almond orchard.

Then give those fish YOUR water and freaking MOVE OUT.

Haha someone loves their water wasting almonds!

a reply to: cavtrooper7

They definitely want us poorer, that is one of the main aspects of this.The main goal is "Sustainable Development" ala UN Agendas which is code for rationing. California is at the forefront of this agenda. Hell, we already have cap-and-trade, and it's made California the state with the highest poverty rate.

a reply to: MysticPearl

NorCal used to send incredible amounts of water to So Cal, but now they just dump incredible amounts into the Ocean. Maybe we should be asking why Southern counties contracted with the government to buy the water but aren't getting it on account of a made up crisis. As far as water reductions, ask the water board, they are the ones who came out with those guidelines.

a reply to: StoutBroux

I hope you aren't serious about government dictating what a farmer is allowed to grow. That is central planning and we have enough of that here as it is.

California's top—ten valued commodities for 2014 are:
Milk — $9.4 billion
Almonds — $5.9 billion
Grapes — $5.2 billion
Cattle, Calves — $3.7 billion
Strawberries — $2.5 billion
Lettuce — $2 billion
Walnuts — $1.8 billion
Tomatoes — $1.6 billion
Pistachios — $1.6 billion
Hay — $1.3 billion

www.cdfa.ca.gov...

As you can see alpha production is directly related to California's number one farm commodity, dairy cows. Unless you are seriously worried about cow farts burning up California, why destroy it's number one farming producer?

And about the almonds, look at the yield it produces. It is the number 2 money maker. Let me ask you, if you had a farm at 100% production and government turned off you water to where now you can only use 60%, would you not try to get the biggest bang for the buck on the land they can use?

a reply to: buckwhizzle

I agree, this a a joke. A damn dangerous one. But hey, at least government is here to save us from crisis' they create.

Some 40 million people in one state using up all the water and it's climate change's fault?

C'mon, this is ATS. At least blame it on aliens or the Illuminati and provide us some entertainment.

a reply to: jjkenobi

What are you talking about? 40 million people aren't using it up, they are flushing it into the ocean. If you have read anything I posted, you would know I didn't blame it on climate change, the Governor did. This is a UN Agenda and that's no flippant theory.