California Ag Faring Well Considering Drought

Taylor Hillman Drought, Water

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California agriculture as a whole is doing pretty well considering how hard the drought has hit the industry and that’s proven by the talk at conferences around the state.


Faring Well Considering Drought

Center for Watershed Sciences Director Jay Lund says California statistically has done pretty well considering water availability challenges but you don’t have to crunch the numbers to see that resilience. He says conversations at agriculture events around the state are revolving around the drought less often and shows that farmers and ranchers are finding a way to get by during those challenges.

Latest Drought News from CA.gov
The State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) adopted a resolution today authorizing the allocation of $5 million in funds to help residents on private wells and small water systems who are facing water emergencies.

The funds, which will be administered by nonprofit organizations, will help individuals that have an immediate drought-related water shortage or outage. The $5 million will fund interim and permanent solutions such as new wells, well rehabilitation, and consolidation into new or existing public water systems. The funding will expand and augment the existing grant and low-interest loan program nonprofit organizations are currently offering through a U.S. Department of Agriculture-funded program.

On Nov. 13, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr.’s Executive Order directed the State Water Board to use up to $5 million of the $15 million appropriated from the Cleanup and Abatement Account for drought-related drinking water emergencies to assist those on private wells and small water systems.

California has been dealing with the effects of an unprecedented drought. To learn about all the actions the state has taken to manage our water system and cope with the impacts of the drought, visit Drought.CA.Gov.