The Ongoing Drought Crisis: A National Perspective

We're joined today by our old friend meteorologist Jim Cantori, who's here to help us understand the scope and severity of the ongoing drought crisis affecting the United States. Jim, welcome back! It's good to see you again. So, how bad is the problem? Well, first of all, water is the new gold. Take a look at the drought monitor, and you can see about a third of the country is in drought. Places like Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, into California, Nevada - the darker the colors, the worse the drought.

California alone is facing an unprecedented crisis, with 80% of the state in the worst kind of drought possible. This is particularly concerning because California is the leading producer of food for the country, and the Central Valley region is responsible for growing a significant portion of our produce, including celery, grapes, almonds, and garlic. In fact, according to an eight-year running total, Los Angeles has recorded its lowest amount of rainfall since 2005, with records dating back to 1877. This lack of rainfall means that the snowpack in the mountains is also severely depleted, which is essential for feeding the valley.

As a result, farmers are having to pull tremendous amounts of water out of aquifers to hydrate the landscape, but these aquifers are actually sinking, exacerbating the problem. Jim notes that when it comes to agriculture, we need to think about conservation and using water wisely. He highlights the importance of taking measures such as xeroscaping and drip irrigation to reduce water waste.

However, the drought crisis is not just affecting agriculture; it's also having a devastating impact on wildfires. With the combination of drought and human activity, the risk of wildfires has increased significantly, leading to some of the worst fires in recent history. Jim emphasizes that this is a classic case of "wildland-urban interface," where fire is no longer seasonal but rather year-round.

When it comes to conserving water, Jim notes that we need to think about the supply and demand gap. While we can't control rainfall or snowfall, there are measures we can take to conserve water. For example, desalination near the coast could be a viable option for cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco. However, this would not be cost-effective for larger cities like Phoenix or Las Vegas.

So, where do we go from here? According to Jim, conservation is key. We need to take extreme measures such as restricting water usage, implementing xeroscaping and drip irrigation, and exploring alternative methods of generating clean water. He cites the example of Wichita Falls, Texas, which is currently in a drought catastrophe. The town has implemented strict measures to conserve water, including restrictions on washing cars, watering lawns, and even serving water in restaurants.

In fact, in Wichita Falls, water that would normally be flushed down the toilet is being cycled through and used for drinking purposes. This highlights the extreme measures that some towns are taking to survive this crisis. If these measures can help Wichita Falls thrive, they could also serve as a model for other communities across the country.

The situation is dire, but by understanding the scope and severity of the drought crisis, we can begin to develop effective solutions. As Jim notes, if we don't take action now, we risk facing even more severe consequences in the future. Thank you, Jim, for painting a vivid picture of this national crisis.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enthe ongoing drought in this country means that more americans in more states are affected and to understand just how big the problem is we're talking to our old friend meteorologist jim cantori jim welcome back good to see you same here so how bad is the problem it's bad yeah first of all water is the new gold you think big time take a look at the drought monitor here and you can see about a third of the country is in drought places like kansas oklahoma texas into california nevada the darker the colors the worse the drought california alone if you look at that 80 percent of the state is in the worst kind of drought possible and that's where we grow our food and the food thing is interesting right because we think of california we think of all the people but we do know that there are areas of california like this central valley region that provide a lot of produce i mean 80 90 percent of our celery and our grapes and our almonds and our garlic all come from this area if you look at an eight year running total in los angeles going back to 2005 it is the lowest amount of rainfall they've ever recorded these records go back to 1877. wow so if you don't have rainfall more than likely you don't have snowpack in the mountains the snowpack is what feeds the valley and so they're pulling tremendous amounts of water out of those aquifers to hydrate the landscape sure and those aquifers are actually sinking so it's a big problem with our agriculture but when i think of california i also think about the wildfires these have to be related right yeah worst possible combination first of all we've moved into the wildland interface now you've suppressed fires and you've added a drought on top of that there's no more beginning and end of fire season it's year round and when they burn they burn fast and they burn hot so what do you think people out there crossing their fingers just hoping for a deluge let's just pour on them i think they are but that's the worst thing we could get because that ground is like cement right now and when that water comes down it's just going to run off it's not going to seep in so you need a slow steady uh year's worth of rainfall if you will and that's going to sink into this so even a big rain is not going to help us okay so we got an issue where we have to figure out the supply and demand and we know that a lot of the supply comes from this snow pack up in the mountains right yeah places like las vegas the snow from colorado runs down the colorado river into lake mead you were just out there you saw how low that was very low so this is about conservation this is about taking our water and using it wisely but wait hang on a second because i mean obviously we can't control the supply in terms of snowfall or rainfall but what about things like richard was talking about with desalinization at least near the coast that would work for los angeles and san francisco but you're not going to put a pipe all the way to phoenix or all the way to las vegas that's just not cost effective okay so then we got to get to the man which is the conservation and we just saw some conservation measures tearing out those lawns xeroscaping drip irrigation is that our future what if you don't have snowpack the worst case scenario is probably right here in wichita falls texas they're in a drought catastrophe right now they have no ocean they have no mountain snow so when you're down 40 inches in rainfall which they are you're talking about extreme measures so they're having you know essentially restrictions on everything you can't wash your car you can't water your lawn as a matter of fact if you go into a restaurant you can't even be served a glass of water it's just like that it's that bad unless you ask for it it's illegal illegal that's crazy and the weather the measures are really extreme here we're talking about water that you flush down the toilet is being cycled through and they're actually drinking it they're taking sewer water making it into potable that's what they're doing so is that a precursor for the level of conservation that we're going to be doing throughout this country it is if towns like wichita falls are going to survive really you paint a pretty dire picture but it's good information thank you my pleasure\n"