When Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was in Fresno on May 27, he declared to a crowd of several thousand people that California does not have a drought.
His comments raised more than a few eyebrows among those who have experienced the devastation that four dry years have done to the state’s grasslands, underground water supply and farm fields.
A recent report by CoBank, a national agricultural lender, put the drought into hard numbers. Last year, the drought caused California growers to fallow 540,000 acres. This year, between 300,000 and 350,000 acres will not be farmed because of a lack of water. Total losses to agriculture are estimated at $1 billion to $1.5 billion.
But Trump’s claims also ignited those who believe that water for agriculture has been shortchanged in favor of environmental policies to protect endangered fish species. They say the drought is more man-made than natural.
Scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey report that California is in its fifth year of a severe drought, based on several years of below-average rainfall and snowpack.
Source: www.fresnobee.com