California’s Drought: How Does it Affect Canada?

Let’s talk California.

On February 27, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proclaimed a state of emergency and ordered immediate action to manage the state’s current water crisis:

“This drought is having a devastating impact on our people, our communities, our economy and our environment. This is a crisis, just as severe as an earthquake or raging wildfire, and we must treat it with the same urgency by upgrading California’s water infrastructure to ensure a clean and reliable water supply for our growing state.”

Even with the recent rainfall, California faces its third consecutive year of drought and must prepare for the worst – a fourth, fifth or even sixth year of drought, said Schwarzenegger. “Last year we experienced the driest spring and summer on record and storage in the state’s reservoir system is near historic lows.”

Beyond upgrading infrastructure, California needs conservation. The governor also called for a statewide campaign and asked all citizens, especially urbanites, to reduce their individual use by 20 per cent. Back in May 2008, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa rolled out a 20-year water strategy for Los Angeles that plans for enough water conservation and recycling measures to meet 100 per cent of the city’s new water demand by 2030. In February, he called for an acceleration of water use restrictions under this strategy as well as implementation of shortage-year water rates.

But how does this news affect Canada?

Lincoln Gardens, a vegetable, herb, pumpkin and u-pick berry farm in the Qu’Appelle Valley near Lumsden, Saskatchewan, is very concerned. In today’s blog entry, the farm drew attention to the implications of the state’s emergency drought management: “Water management officials have said that they will cut off water, at least temporarily, to thousands of California farms as a result of the deepening drought gripping the state.” The blog goes on:

In California, agriculture normally receives 80 per cent of the water supply managed by the federal government in order to irrigate 755,000 acres of farmland. [Now, the San Joaquin Valley, one of the country's biggest producers of vegetables] will receive only 15 per cent of the normal supply of water. Reports indicate that many farms are simply shutting down, will not be growing produce this year or maybe ever again. Those farms that will continue may be forced to use well water to irrigate. The USDA is predicting that prices of produce will shoot up this year, perhaps by 20 per cent, and that the supply may not meet the demand.

Canada, importer of many things fruit and veg, may soon feel the effects of California’s raisining. All puns aside, it’s a serious problem. As Villaraigosa has said, “Water shortages are becoming permanent realities.”

Our country, not to mention a good portion of the United States, might soon receive a nasty wake-up call. How would we cope with a sudden fresh food shortage? Lincoln Gardens suggests planting some basic foods (potatoes, carrots, tomatoes) in your own backyard and frequenting your local farmers market to Buy Canadian: “Stop looking for the cheapest price, and start looking for the highest nutritional value, i.e. FARM FRESH!”

Finally, learning from California’s crisis, we must be quicker to implement our own water conservation plans. Provinces such as Alberta are working on it, especially as it pertains to industry. At home, maybe we can expand the state limits of Gov. Schwarzenegger’s plea: let’s cut back on 20 per cent of our individual water use, too.

Kerry Freek is the managing editor of Canadian Water Treatment.