ECOLOGY AND ENERGY PRODUCTION

ECOLOGY AND ENERGY PRODUCTION

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

The map that reveals the world is running out of water:The drought that has swept California is now threatening the state’s drinking water supply

 

 

 

The map that reveals the world is running out of water:

 

 

Satellite images reveal a third of global groundwater basins are overstressed

  • Arabian Aquifer System, an important water source for more than 60 million people, is the most overstressed in the world
  • Researchers say it's unclear how much water is left in most hard hit aquifers

Satellite data show people are overdrawing water from some of the world's largest groundwater basins.

Researchers from the University of California, Irvine say it's unclear how much water is left in the most overburdened aquifers.

The problem is expected to worsen with climate change and population growth.

Groundwater storage trends for Earth's 37 largest aquifers from UCI-led study using NASA GRACE data (2003 – 2013). Of these, 21 have exceeded sustainability tipping points and are being depleted, with 13 considered significantly distressed, threatening regional water security and resilience, Nasa found

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Groundwater storage trends for Earth's 37 largest aquifers from UCI-led study using NASA GRACE data (2003 – 2013). Of these, 21 have exceeded sustainability tipping points and are being depleted, with 13 considered significantly distressed, threatening regional water security and resilience, Nasa found

THE WORST HIT AREAS

The Arabian Aquifer System, an important water source for more than 60 million people, is the most overstressed in the world.

The Indus Basin aquifer of northwestern India and Pakistan is the second-most overstressed, and the Murzuk-Djado Basin in northern Africa is third.

California's Central Valley, used heavily for agriculture and suffering rapid depletion, was slightly better off, but was still labeled highly stressed in the first study.

Using measurements taken by NASA's twin Grace satellites, scientists found the most overstressed groundwater basins were located in the driest regions.

Arabian Aquifer System in the Middle East, which serves more than 60 million people, was considered the most stressed in the world followed by the Indus Basin aquifer of northwestern India and Pakistan.

The farm-rich Central Valley in California was considered highly stressed.

The two studies were published online Tuesday in Water Resources Research, a journal of the American Geophysical Union.

This means that significant segments of Earth's population are consuming groundwater quickly without knowing when it might run out, the researchers conclude.

'Available physical and chemical measurements are simply insufficient,' said UCI professor and principal investigator Jay Famiglietti, who is also the senior water scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

'Given how quickly we are consuming the world's groundwater reserves, we need a coordinated global effort to determine how much is left.'

The studies are the first to comprehensively characterize global groundwater losses with data from space, using readings generated by NASA's twin GRACE satellites.

GRACE measures dips and bumps in Earth's gravity, which are affected by the mass of water. In the first paper, researchers found that 13 of the planet's 37 largest aquifers studied between 2003 and 2013 were being depleted while receiving little to no recharge.

Eight were classified as 'overstressed,' with nearly no natural replenishment to offset usage.

Another five were found to be 'extremely' or 'highly' stressed, depending upon the level of replenishment in each.

Those aquifers were still being depleted but had some water flowing back into them.

The most overburdened aquifers are in the world's driest areas, where populations draw heavily on underground water.

Climate change and population growth are expected to intensify the problem.

'What happens when a highly stressed aquifer is located in a region with socioeconomic or political tensions that can't supplement declining water supplies fast enough?' asked Alexandra Richey, the lead author on both studies, who conducted the research as a UCI doctoral student.

'We're trying to raise red flags now to pinpoint where active management today could protect future lives and livelihoods.'

San Luis Obispo County in California: Rancher Jon Pedotti walks on the cracked remains of a parched lake bed of his 1,561-acre ranch located along San Simeon Creek in the Santa Lucia Mountain foothills of Cambria that are brown from drought.

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San Luis Obispo County in California: Rancher Jon Pedotti walks on the cracked remains of a parched lake bed of his 1,561-acre ranch located along San Simeon Creek in the Santa Lucia Mountain foothills of Cambria that are brown from drought.

WEST ANTARCTIC IS MELTING 3 TIMES AS FAST AS A DECADE AGO

The Amundsen Sea has long been thought to be the weakest ice sheet in the West Antarctic.

A study published in December suggests the barren region is haemorrhaging ice at a rate triple that of a decade ago.

Researchers believe that the melting of glaciers in West Antarctica, which contain enough water to raise sea levels by at least a metre, may be irreversible.

The findings of the 21-year study by Nasa and the University of California, Irvine claim to provide the most accurate estimates yet of just how fast glaciers are melting in the Amundsen Sea Embayment.

Scientists found the rate by taking radar, laser and satellite measurements of the glaciers' mass between 1992 and 2013.

They found they lost an average 83 gigatons per year (91.5 billion US tons), or the equivalent of losing the water weight of Mount Everest every two years.

The research team, which included co-authors from NASA, the National Center for Atmospheric Research, National Taiwan University and UC Santa Barbara, found that the Arabian Aquifer System, an important water source for more than 60 million people, is the most overstressed in the world.

The Indus Basin aquifer of northwestern India and Pakistan is the second-most overstressed, and the Murzuk-Djado Basin in northern Africa is third.

California's Central Valley, used heavily for agriculture and suffering rapid depletion, was slightly better off, but was still labeled highly stressed in the first study.

'As we're seeing in California right now, we rely much more heavily on groundwater during drought,' said Famiglietti. 'When examining the sustainability of a region's water resources, we absolutely must account for that dependence.'

In a companion paper published today in the same journal, the scientists conclude that the total remaining volume of the world's usable groundwater is poorly known, with estimates that often vary widely.

The total groundwater volume is likely far less than rudimentary estimates made decades ago.

By comparing their satellite-derived groundwater loss rates to what little data exist on groundwater availability, the researchers found major discrepancies in projected 'time to depletion.'

In the overstressed Northwest Sahara Aquifer System, for example, time to depletion estimates varied between 10 years and 21,000 years.

'We don't actually know how much is stored in each of these aquifers. Estimates of remaining storage might vary from decades to millennia,' said Richey.

'In a water-scarce society, we can no longer tolerate this level of uncertainty, especially since groundwater is disappearing so rapidly.'

The study notes that the dearth of groundwater is already leading to significant ecological damage, including depleted rivers, declining water quality and subsiding land.

Groundwater aquifers are typically located in soils or deeper rock layers beneath Earth's surface.

The depth and thickness of many large aquifers make it tough and costly to drill or otherwise reach bedrock and understand where the moisture bottoms out. But it has to be done, the authors say.

 

 

 The punishing drought that has swept California is now threatening the state’s drinking water supply.

Run dry: A boating speed limit buoy stands out on the dry bed of Black Butte Lake last month

 

Run dry: A boating speed limit buoy stands out on the dry bed of Black Butte Lake last month

With no sign of rain, 17 rural communities providing water to 40,000 people are in danger of running out within 60 to 120 days. State officials said that the number was likely to rise in the months ahead after the State Water Project, the main municipal water distribution system, announced on Friday that it did not have enough water to supplement the dwindling supplies of local agencies that provide water to an additional 25 million people. It is first time the project has turned off its spigot in its 54-year history.

 

State officials said they were moving to put emergency plans in place. In the worst case, they said drinking water would have to be brought by truck into parched communities and additional wells would have to be drilled to draw on groundwater. The deteriorating situation would likely mean imposing mandatory water conservation measures on homeowners and businesses, who have already been asked to voluntarily reduce their water use by 20 percent.

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A once-submerged car at a California reservoir. Jim Wilson/The New York Times

“Every day this drought goes on we are going to have to tighten the screws on what people are doing” said Gov. Jerry Brown, who was governor during the last major drought here, in 1976-77.

This latest development has underscored the urgency of a drought that has already produced parched fields, starving livestock, and pockets of smog.

“We are on track for having the worst drought in 500 years,” said B. Lynn Ingram, a professor of earth and planetary sciences at the University of California, Berkeley.

Already the drought, technically in its third year, is forcing big shifts in behavior. Farmers in Nevada said they had given up on even planting, while ranchers in Northern California and New Mexico said they were being forced to sell off cattle as fields that should be four feet high with grass are a blanket of brown and stunted stalks.

Fishing and camping in much of California has been outlawed, to protect endangered salmon and guard against fires. Many people said they had already begun to cut back drastically on taking showers, washing their car and watering their lawns.

Rain and snow showers brought relief in parts of the state at the week’s end — people emerging from a movie theater in West Hollywood on Thursday evening broke into applause upon seeing rain splattering on the sidewalk — but they were nowhere near enough to make up for record-long dry stretches, officials said.

“I have experienced a really long career in this area, and my worry meter has never been this high,” said Tim Quinn, executive director of theAssociation of California Water Agencies, a statewide coalition. “We are talking historical drought conditions, no supplies of water in many parts of the state. My industry’s job is to try to make sure that these kind of things never happen. And they are happening.”

Officials are girding for the kind of geographical, cultural and economic battles that have long plagued a part of the country that is defined by a lack of water: between farmers and environmentalists, urban and rural users, and the northern and southern regions of this state.

“We do have a politics of finger-pointing and blame whenever there is a problem,” said Mr. Brown. “And we have a problem, so there is going to be a tendency to blame people.” President Obama called him last week to check on the drought situation and express his concern.

Tom Vilsack, secretary of the federal Agriculture Department, said in an interview that his agency’s ability to help farmers absorb the shock, with subsidies to buy food for cattle, had been undercut by the long deadlock in Congress over extending the farm bill, which finally seemed to be resolved last week.

Mr. Vilsack called the drought in California a “deep concern,” and a warning sign of trouble ahead for much of the West.

“That’s why it’s important for us to take climate change seriously,” he said. “If we don’t do the research, if we don’t have the financial assistance, if we don’t have the conservation resources, there’s very little we can do to help these farmers.”

The crisis is unfolding in ways expected and unexpected. Near Sacramento, the low level of streams has brought out prospectors, sifting for flecks of gold in slow-running waters. To the west, the heavy water demand of growers of medical marijuana — six gallons per plant per day during a 150-day period— is drawing down streams where salmon and other endangered fish species spawn.

“Every pickup truck has a water tank in the back,” said Scott Bauer, a coho salmon recovery coordinator with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. “There is a potential to lose whole runs of fish.”

Without rain to scrub the air, pollution in the Los Angeles basin, which has declined over the past decade, has returned to dangerous levels, as evident from the brown-tinged air. Homeowners have been instructed to stop burning wood in their fireplaces.

In the San Joaquin Valley, federal limits for particulate matter were breached for most of December and January. Schools used flags to signal when children should play indoors.

“One of the concerns is that as concentrations get higher, it affects not only the people who are most susceptible, but healthy people as well,” said Karen Magliano, assistant chief of the air quality planning division of the state’s Air Resources Board.

The impact has been particularly severe on farmers and ranchers. “I have friends with the ground torn out, all ready to go,” said Darrell Pursel, who farms just south of Yerington, Nev. “But what are you going to plant? At this moment, it looks like we’re not going to have any water. Unless we get a lot of rain, I know I won’t be planting anything.”

The University of California Cooperative Extension held a drought survival session last week in Browns Valley, about 60 miles north of Sacramento, drawing hundreds of ranchers in person and online. “We have people coming from six or seven hours away,” said Jeffrey James, who ran the session.

Dan Macon, 46, a rancher in Auburn, Calif., said the situation was “as bad as I have ever experienced. Most of our range lands are essentially out of feed.”

With each parched sunrise, a sense of alarm is rising amid signs that this is a drought that comes along only every few centuries. Sacramento had gone 52 days without water, and Albuquerque had gone 42 days without rain or snow as of Saturday.

The snowpack in the Sierra Nevada, which supplies much of California with water during the dry season, was at just 12 percent of normal last week, reflecting the lack of rain or snow in December and January.

“When we don’t have rainfall in our biggest two months, you really are starting off bad,” said Dar Mims, a meteorologist with the Air Resources Board.

Even as officials move into action, people who have lived through droughts before — albeit none as severe as this — said they were doing triage in their gardens (water the oak tree, not the lawn) and taking classic “stop-start-stop-start” shower.

Jacob Battersby, a producer in Oakland, said he began cutting back even before the voluntary restrictions were announced.

“My wife and I both enjoy gardening,” he wrote in an email. “ ‘Sorry, plants. You will be getting none to drink this winter.’ ”

 

 

 

The disappearing reservoir: Nasa timelapse reveals how 15 years of climate change and overuse have transformed Lake Powell

  • A new Nasa video document changes in the northeastern reaches of Lake Powell between 1999 and 2015
  • At the beginning of the series in 1999, water levels were relatively high, and the water was a clear, dark blue
  • Today, the reservoir at Arizona-Utah border is 45 per cent below 'full pool' capacity due to West's water crisis

Lake Powell, a meandering reservoir that sits along the border between Arizona and Utah, is a striking reflection of the West's water crisis.

The lake is currently 45 per cent below its capacity, and a severe drought has left a 'bathtub ring' at the bottom of its impressive rock formations.

Now, a timelapse from Nasa has revealed the astounding change that's occurred to the lake in just 15 years as a result of overuse and drought.

Scroll down for video

‹ SLIDE ME ›

Slide the bar right to see Lake Powell in 1999, when water levels were relatively high, and the water was a clear, dark blue. Slide the bar left to see what the lake looks like today. Scientists believe the reservoir is 45 per cent below capacity

The images document changes in the northeastern reaches of Lake Powell through images taken by Landsat satellites between 1999 and 2015.

At the beginning of the series in 1999, water levels in Lake Powell were relatively high, and the water was a clear, dark blue. The sediment-filled Colorado River appeared green-brown.

In the early years of this image series, water levels began to drop, with the declines first apparent in the side canyons feeding the reservoir which thinned and shortened.

By 2002, the lake level had dropped far enough that the exposed canyon walls created a pale outline around the lake.

Dry conditions and falling water levels were clear in the image from April 13, 2003. Lake Powell's side branches had all retreated compared to the previous year's extents.

NASA captures the drop in Lake Powell's water level since 1999

 

Now, a timelapse from Nasa has revealed the astounding change that's occurred to the lake in just 15 years as a result of overuse and drought

On the left is Lake Powell in 2000, and on the right, the lake five years later.  In the latter half of the decade, the drought eased and recipitation was better, but still slightly below normal in the Upper Colorado River Basin

SCIENTISTS WARN OF MEGA-DROUGHT RISK IN WESTERN US

Long-lasting mega-droughts could occur with increasing frequency in the western US later this century if no action is taken to rein in climate change, researchers said.

Mega-drought is defined as any drought as bad as the worst already seen in the 20th century, but lasting 35 years or more.

The study by Cornell University is the first to predict that the coming intense dry spells could exceed the decades-long mega-droughts that occurred centuries ago and are blamed for the demise of certain civilisations in 13th century.

'I was honestly surprised at just how dry the future is likely to be,' said co-author Toby Ault from Cornell University. 'I look at these future mega-droughts like a slow moving natural disaster.'

Water levels in Narrow Canyon had dropped enough to show canyon floor features not visible in earlier images.

By 2004, the reservoir's northwestern branch is isolated from the main reservoir; the shallow water upstream could not crest raised areas in the lakebed.

Lake Powell's water levels plummeted in early 2005, according to the U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Reclamation.

The northwestern side branch of Lake Powell remained cut off from the rest of the reservoir. In the main body of Lake Powell, water pooled along its eastern edge, while large expanses of dry canyon floor were visible in the west.

In the latter half of the decade, the drought eased and recipitation was better, but still slightly below normal in the Upper Colorado River Basin.

The lake level began to rebound; only the 2008 image appeared to deviate from the trend toward rising water levels.

While the lake was significantly higher in 2011 and 2012 than in 2005, a comparison of the side canyons reveals that the level was still not back to 1999 levels, when the lake was near full capacity.

Significant amounts of snowfall over the winter of 2010–2011 meant more water for Lake Powell, and this effect lasted into the spring of 2012.

But since 2012, snow- and rainfall totals have been abnormally low as the region suffered through persistent drought.

The reservoir has lost water from overuse and drought for most of the past 15 years. Some 20 million people drink water from the reservoir

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The reservoir has lost water from overuse and drought for most of the past 15 years. Some 20 million people drink water from the reservoir

‹ SLIDE ME ›

Slide the bar right to see the lake in 2002, and left for 2013. By 2002, the lake level had dropped far enough that the exposed canyon walls are seen as a pale outline

Lake Powell provides water to Nevada, Arizona, and California, which has been experiencing its own drought problems

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Lake Powell provides water to Nevada, Arizona, and California, which has been experiencing its own drought problems

Inflow to Lake Powell has been minimal, and by April 2015, the reservoir stood at 42 percent of capacity.

Today, the lake, from which the Colorado eventually snakes through Grand Canyon National Park, has lost 4.4 trillion gallons of water in a recent drought.

A century of river flow records combined with an additional four to five centuries of tree-ring data show that the droughts over the past two decades were not unusual; longer and more severe droughts are a regular part of the climate variability in that part of the continent.

But global warming is expected to make droughts more severe in the future.

Even in 'low emission' climate scenarios, models predict precipitation may decline by 20-25 per cent over most of California, southern Nevada, and Arizona by the end of this century.

Lake Powell provides water for Nevada, Arizona and California, the last of which has seen large areas in 'extreme' and 'exceptional' drought levels and is trying to restrict how much water residents use.

Seven states and 40 million people get water from different parts of the river's basin, which extends into the southern reaches of Wyoming.

Many climate scientists think that the Southwest is also due for a megadrought this century that would far outlast the current phenomenon.

Lake Mead, the reservoir next to Hoover Dam, shrunk to 39 per cent of its capacity last year and was at its lowest level since the dam was built in the 1930s.

To help the other reserve keep a steady supply, Lake Powell will release 8.23 million acre-feet (2.68 trillion gallons) downstream over the course of this year.

The lake 

The lake in 2014

‹ SLIDE ME ›

Scroll the bar right to see what the lake looked like in 2004, and left to see its transformation 10 years later, following devastating droughts in the surrounding region

Lake Powell, which is the country's second-largest reservoir, now has a white bathtub ring in its canyons from dropping water levels

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Lake Powell, which is the country's second-largest reservoir, now has a white bathtub ring in its canyons from dropping water levels

This map shows the severity of the drought in the western US, with 'exceptional' drought in dark red, 'extreme' drought in red and 'severe' in orange. Drought levels are based off precipitation and moisture indices

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This map shows the severity of the drought in the western US, with 'exceptional' drought in dark red, 'extreme' drought in red and 'severe' in orange. Drought levels are based off precipitation and moisture indices

Lake Powell is a reservoir on the Colorado River, sitting on the border between Utah and Arizona. It is the second largest man-made reservoir by maximum water capacity in the US behind Lake Mead

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Lake Powell is a reservoir on the Colorado River, sitting on the border between Utah and Arizona. It is the second largest man-made reservoir by maximum water capacity in the US behind Lake Mead

 

 

Could Lake Mead dry up? Shocking pictures reveal how Hoover Dam reservoir is shrinking so fast it could threaten Las Vegas water supply

When it was created in 1935 by the building of the Hoover Dam, Lake Mead was the largest artificial lake in the world.

But the glorious Nevada lake, which has provided decades of water sports and boating, has lost 4 trillion gallons of water in the past 14 years.

Satellite photos that chart the effect of a drought that began in 2000 and is starting to threaten the Las Vegas water supply reveal the dramatic extent to which the reservoir has dried up. 

Scroll down for video

Full to the brim: The water level in Lake Mead, a man-made reservoir created by the Hoover Dam, has fallen from the high level pictured above

Full to the brim: The water level in Lake Mead, a man-made reservoir created by the Hoover Dam, has fallen from the high level pictured above

Drop: More parts of the dam, and a deep white bathtub ring on the rocky edges, shows the dramatic fall in the water level

Drop: More parts of the dam, and a deep white bathtub ring on the rocky edges, shows the dramatic fall in the water level

Las Vegas' water supply, Lake Mead, is drying up

The lake provides water to 20 million people in southern Nevada, California and Arizona, with Las Vegas channeling 90 per cent of its supplies from Mead.

It is a popular tourist destination, where families flock to its shores to swim, go boating, and fish for the 40lb striped bass that live there.

But the reservoir, which is capable of holding 9.2 trillion gallons, is running low, and experts say it is expected to drop a further 20ft in the coming year.'This was all underwater. I mean boats were everywhere. There was a whole marina here,' Pat Mulroy, of the Southern Nevada Water Authority, told CBS News.

'It's a pretty critical point. The rate at which our weather patterns are changing is so dramatic that our ability to adapt to it is really crippled,' she added.

The deep white 'bathtub' ring that is already clearly visible along the rocky edges of the reservoir is expected to become wider this year.

If it does, Nevada and Arizona will be subject to automatic water supply cuts. The water level is dropping so low that one of the pipes that takes water to Las Vegas could soon be visible.

Beginning: A satellite image taken in 2000, the year the drought began, shows the shoreline of Lake Mead

Beginning: A satellite image taken in 2000, the year the drought began, shows the shoreline of Lake Mead

Receding: A satellite image taken in the same month in 2003 shows an already dramatic reduction

Receding: A satellite image taken in the same month in 2003 shows an already dramatic reduction

Dry land: Aerial images taken in May 2000, top, and May 2004, show how the receding water cut off two marinas

Dry land: Aerial images taken in May 2000, top, and May 2004, show how the receding water cut off two marinas

Shrinking: A 14-year drought has lowered the water level of the reservoir, which supplies water to Las Vegas and parts of California

Shrinking: A 14-year drought has lowered the water level of the reservoir, which supplies water to Las Vegas and parts of California

Tracked: The red outline in the bottom right image shows how Lake Mead has shrunk from 1990, top left, to 2009, bottom left

Tracked: The red outline in the bottom right image shows how Lake Mead has shrunk from 1990, top left, to 2009, bottom left

Super size: When it was created in 1935, Lake Mead was the largest man-made reservoir in the world

Super size: When it was created in 1935, Lake Mead was the largest man-made reservoir in the world

Drop: A deep white bathrub ring has been exposed as the ongoing drought lowers the water level

Drop: A deep white bathrub ring has been exposed as the ongoing drought lowers the water level

 

 

 

 

This summer, the United States has experienced its worst drought in more than half a century. The Mississippi River is approaching record lows, as far as 20 feet below normal. Throughout the Midwest, meager corn harvests began on the some of the earliest dates ever recorded. Corn and soybean farms are producing far smaller yields this year, which will affect livestock production and impact food prices worldwide -- especially in developing nations, where even a small rise in the cost of grains can be devastating. Collected below are images of a very dry and dusty Midwest, where residents hope that remnants of Hurricane Isaac might bring at least a little relief.

Rancher Gary Wollert pauses before heading out for work near Eads, on the plains of eastern Colorado, on August 23, 2012. The nation's severe drought has been especially hard on cattlemen, made worse when Congress recessed for 5 weeks without passing disaster relief legislation. Most of the high plains areas of eastern Colorado and virtually all of Nebraska and Kansas are still in extreme or exceptional drought, despite recent lower temperatures. (John Moore/Getty Images)

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Darren Becker sifts through arid topsoil under a ruined crop on the family farm in Logan, Kansas, on August 24, 2012. Like many Kansas farmers whose profits have been wiped out by the record drought, the Beckers are working hard to hang on to their farm, which has been in their family for five generations. (John Moore/Getty Images) #

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Severely damaged corn stalks due to a widespread drought, at sunset on a farm near Oakland City, Indiana, on August 15, 2012.(Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images) #

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Tony Frost of Frost Farms (not pictured) tops off a stock tank with water for his cattle in Tallula, Illinois, on August 3, 2012. After months of drought, the central Illinois creeks and ponds that the 300 Frost Farms cows drink from are dry or close to it. Frost has to buy and haul water, about 4,000 gallons a day, split up in four trips to different pastures. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman) #

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A combine harvests corn in a field near Coy, Arkansas, on August 16, 2012. Federal weather forecasters say drought conditions appear to be leveling off, although it is likely to continue at least through November. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston) #

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Pieces of mulched corn stalks fly through the air as a crop cutter mows down the remnants of a drought-ravaged crop to sell as livestock feed in Wiley, Colorado, on August 22, 2012. (John Moore/Getty Images) #

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Farmer Jay Sneller unloads mulched corn at a feedlot operated by JBS Five Rivers Colorado Beef in Wiley, Colorado, on August 22, 2012. The severe drought dried up most of eastern Colorado's farmland, forcing many farmers to cut their crops early to sell as feed and recoup some of their losses. (John Moore/Getty Images) #

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A storm approaches the drought-affected Quivira National Wildlife Refuge in Hudson, Kansas, on August 7, 2012.(Reuters/Jeff Tuttle) #

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Firefighters battle a wildfire near the town of Noble in Cleveland County, south of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on August 4, 2012. Wildfires burned out of control in Oklahoma, destroying homes and shutting down highways in a state that suffered 18 straight days of 100-plus degree temperatures and persistent drought. (Reuters/Garett Fisbeck) #

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A sugar maple tree shows signs of scorching at the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe, Illinois, on August 2, 2012. Many of the garden's 2.5 million plants have required extra watering during the summer's triple-digit heat. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green) #

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A gust of wind picks up dust in the remains of a poor harvest of soybeans. Wrapped plastic, the bales of soybeans will help ranchers feed their cows during the lean months that may come if there is no rain.(Photo/ Julie Denesha For The Washington Post) #

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Vacationers seek refuge from the heat on a sand bar along the Platte River near the Louisville state recreation area in Nebraska, on July 17, 2012. Low water flow due to lack of precipitation has exposed large areas of the river bed. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik) #

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Boats sit near a dock on the dry, grass-covered bottom of Morse Reservoir in Noblesville, Indiana, on August 1, 2012. The reservoir is six feet below normal levels. More than half of U.S. counties now are classified by the federal government as natural disaster areas mostly because of the drought. The U.S. Agriculture Department on Wednesday added 218 counties in a dozen states as disaster areas. That brings this year's total to 1,584 in 32 states, more than 90 percent of them because of the drought.(AP Photo/Michael Conroy) #

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Rancher Gary Wollert inspects a dead cow on dry grasslands near Eads, Colorado, on August 22, 2012. Many cattle in the area have contracted respiratory infections due to the wide temperature swings in this summer's heatwave and drought. While most cases have been cured, some have been fatal. (John Moore/Getty Images) #

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Dry stalks of corn, ravaged by drought, stand in a failed corn field near Colby, Kansas, on August 24, 2012. Most of Kansas is still in extreme or exceptional drought, despite recent lower temperatures and scattered thunderstorms, according to the University of Nebraska's Drought Monitor. (John Moore/Getty Images) #

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A dead carp lies in one of many dried up pools at Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area, in Great Bend, Kansas, on August 7, 2012.(Reuters/Jeff Tuttle) #

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A cow walks near a dried-up pond in a drought-ravaged pasture near Eads, Colorado, on August 22, 2012. The severe drought has dried up most of eastern Colorado's natural grassland, forcing many ranchers to sell off much of their livestock early to feedlots, which fatten up the cattle for slaughter. (John Moore/Getty Images) #

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Farmer Jay Sneller displays an ear from a drought-ravaged corn crop in Wiley, Colorado, on August 22, 2012.(John Moore/Getty Images) #

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The shoreline of the Arkansas banks of the Mississippi River near Greenville, Mississippi, are exposed and give witness to the extent of the drought, on August 21, 2012. Officials with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers say low water levels that are restricting shipping traffic, forcing harbor closures and causing towboats and barges to run aground on the Mississippi River are expected to continue into October. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis) #

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As drought continued to parch much of the United States in August 2012, the Mississippi River approached historically low water levels in several portions of its middle and southern reaches. As of August 20, a towboat and its barges had run aground in the main river channel, forcing its closure near Greenville, Mississippi. The grounding backed up shipping traffic and left close to 100 vessels waiting for the channel to re-open and allow passage up and down the river. The Advanced Land Imager (ALI) aboard the Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite captured this view of the Mississippi River near Greenville on August 20, 2012. For scale, the barges and towboats are strung together into chains that can be up to 1,000 feet (300 meters) long and 100 feet (30 meters) wide. Many towboats and barges were tied up along the shores, waiting for clearance to move north or south. Towboats must continually idle their engines while waiting, at a cost of nearly $10,000 per day according to Time magazine. (NASA Earth Observatory/Jesse Allen, Robert Simmon, Mike Carlowicz, and Rick Robertson, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) #

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An old car, exposed by record low water levels, is pulled from a Mississippi River bank at LeTourneau Landing in Vicksburg, Mississippi, on August 16, 2012. Local fishermen reported to authorities seeing the car Wednesday at a spot frequented by many area fishermen. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis) #

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A spray of sand laced water shoots out from the Dredge Jadwin, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers vessel that is clearing out some of the silt and left over mud and debris from last year's record flood on the Mississippi River and cutting a deeper channel for barges and their towboats to navigate north of Greenville, Mississippi, on August 22, 2012. Coast Guard Capt. William Drelling said Wednesday that authorities would inspect the channel near Greenville, then reset navigation buoys allowing barge traffic to resume on a limited basis as both federal agencies deal with the continued drought that has lowered the river.(AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis) #

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A much needed storm system rolls over starved corn fields in Elburn, Illinois, on July 31, 2012. (AP Photo/Robert Ray) #

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Josh Cussimanio, a wildlife biologist with the Missouri Department of Conservation, walks on parched earth as he monitors the water levels in the Ducks Unlimited Presidents' Marsh at Four Rivers Conservation Area. During the worst drought in three decades, much of the water in the wetland has been reduced and habitat for waterfowl has decreased.(Photo/ Julie Denesha For The Washington Post) #

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A couple canoe on Mark Twain Lake during sunset in Missouri on July 13, 2012. (Reuters/Adrees Latif) #

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Joseph Perazzo, owner of Grass is Greener Lawn Painting, works on a lawn in Irvington, New Jersey, on July 25, 2012. With drought spanning about two-thirds of the nation from California to New York, some residents and businesses in normally well-watered areas are taking a page from the lawn-painting practices employed for years in the West and South to give luster to faded turf. (AP Photo/Grass is Greener Lawn Painting) #

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Drought-stricken cotton plants near Pocasset, Oklahoma, on August 22, 2012. The current U.S. Drought Monitor shows 90 percent of Oklahoma in extreme or exceptional drought, the two worst categories. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki) #

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A yellowing field of corn, near Blair, Nebraska, on August 16, 2012. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik) #

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A firefighter sprays water during a burn operation in Boise National Forest near the community of Featherville, Idaho, on August 22, 2012. The Idaho fire was one of dozens burning across 10 parched western states, with Nevada, Idaho, and California each seeing hundreds of thousands of acres charred. (Reuters/Kari Greer/U.S. Forest Service) #

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Water from an irrigation system sprays flowering cotton plants on the farm of Allen Entz in Hydro, Oklahoma, on August 16, 2012. Even with the irrigation system to help with the drought, the high temperatures in the area have affected the crop, as it can take 35-40 hours for the center pivot irrigation system to make it back to irrigate any particular plant. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki) #

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Cattle graze at sunset on drought-ravaged grassland near Wiley, on the plains of eastern Colorado, on August 22, 2012.(John Moore/Getty Images) #

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A boat dock now rests in mud at Morse Reservoir as water levels drop due to the current drought near Cicero, Indiana, on July 19, 2012. State officials declared most of the state a natural disaster area. (Reuters/Chris Bergin) #

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Darren Becker and his son Charlie, 19, stand in a drought-parched pond on the family farm in Logan, Kansas, on August 24, 2012.(John Moore/Getty Images) #

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Steve Connole fishes in the Missouri River in Helena, Montana, on August 1, 2012. More anglers are fishing on larger rivers and earlier in the day as heat and drought lead to restrictions on several small streams in Montana and in Yellowstone National Park.(AP Photo/Matt Volz) #

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A message on a restaurant sign in Burlington, eastern Colorado, on August 23, 2012. The ongoing drought has devastated the area's agricultural economy, but also affected a broad spectrum of businesses across the plains. (John Moore/Getty Images) #

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Three generations of Becker farmers - Loyd, 86, Charlie, 19, and Darren, 47 stand in a drought-parched field on the Becker farm in Logan, Kansas, on August 24, 2012. Like many Kansas farmers affected by the record drought, the Beckers are working hard to hang on to their farm, which has been in their family for five generations. The record-breaking drought, which has affected more than half of the continental United States, is expected to drive up food prices by 2013 due to lower crop harvests and the adverse effect on the nation's cattle industry. (John Moore/Getty Images

 

 

 

 

Most of the “the golden state” is now parched, baked and dried far beyond any historical precedent. Reservoirs are nearly empty, streams are drying up, and forests are dying by the day. Catastrophic fires will also continue to decimate California due to the engineered drought.

Dane Wigington
geoengineeringwatch.org

Much of the state went through all of 2013 with no significant rain. Why? What will it take to wake people up to the “weather warfare” being waged on them? Geoengineering reduces overall global rainfall totals (though it can also trigger regions of torrential flooding). Intentionally caused drought is weather warfare, period. There is a great deal of disinformation out there already and its getting worse by the day. Even some of the biggest “alternative news sites” are helping to “tow the line” for the global elite by putting out articles on drought and “global cooling” which make no mention of the climate engineering at all. Yet, on the other hand, these same “news sites” claim to be aware of climate engineering and they say they are against it. Which is it? How can they be aware of the geoengineering programs and yet put out climate article after climate article without so much as mentioning the elephant in the room that is climate engineering? The articles from these “alternative media sites are even claiming all the chaotic weather is just “normal cycles”. This is exactly what corporate media does, so who’s side are these alternative media sites on? How is it possible that any weather in a completely engineered climate system is “normal”?

Is This The End Of The Road?

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Many are finally beginning to wake up to the fact that the something is very wrong with the weather. Many are finally realizing something profound is happening in our skies. Some are now finally making the decision to get involved with the fight to raise awareness of the lethal climate engineering programs, but are we already too late?

Have the geoengineers already pushed Earth’s natural systems past the point of no return? Based on all available data, the answer is very likely yes. The damage already done to our planet from anthropogenic activity, which includes geoengineering, has guaranteed us a planet that is much less hospitable than the one we have known. However difficult the future looks, we could yet perhaps preserve the planet’s ability to support life if we can stop climate engineering. This battle must be won or all will be lost.

No Natural Weather

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It is imperative that we all work together toward the goal of making the population as a whole understand that virtually all their “weather” is being completely manipulated. That there is NO NATURAL WEATHER at this point. That we are all the victims of “weather warfare” and many of us will soon be climate refugees if we are not able to bring the climate engineering to light and to a halt. On top of all this we are all literally being poisoned by the toxic metal fallout from these programs, but that’s another story.

Geoengineered Drought, Target California

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The recent NOAA map above illustrates an unprecedented pattern of precipitation or lack thereof. Almost the entire country is shown at above normal precipitation while California looks like it has a virtual “bullseye” of below normal rainfall predicted (scheduled). One can draw their own conclusions from this map, does this pattern really look natural?

map-1

The NOAA map above is about as unnatural as it gets. Welcome to global geoengineering.

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The true severity of the drought in the west is not accurately reflected in the “drought monitor” map above. The actual conditions on the ground are much much worse as California has been descending into ever worsening drought for 7 years now. This season to date there has been no significant rain at all.

haarp

HAARP ionosphere heating facility in Alaska. There are numerous ionosphere heating installations around the globe that are used to manipulate the jet stream into historically unprecedented patterns. The manipulated jet stream is one of several primary factors relating to the climate chaos now being inflicted on planet Earth.

With the combination of constant aerosol spraying and ionosphere heater utilization (HAARP) the climate engineers have effectively cut off the flow of moisture to the state of California. Why? There are likely a number of probable reasons. First, California is possibly a climate “sacrifice zone”. This means that California is collateral damage for the constant parade of engineered snow storms being whipped up further east in the US. The rain blocking high pressure ridge that the climate engineers have locked in place over the western US and the eastern Pacific pushes the jet stream straight north, carrying the moisture with it before rain can come anywhere near California. This moisture then travels as far as Alaska and the Arctic.  The jet is then turned back south as it wraps clockwise around the HAARP/ionosphere heater created dome of high pressure. Then, it is pumped all the way down to the southern US carrying heavily sprayed and chemically ice nucleated moisture with it which enhances the artificial cool down of the eastern US.

polar vortex

Another part of the puzzle is likely this, a population that has no water and can not grow any food does not tend to be in a position to effectively protest the crimes of it’s government. California has historically grown so much food for the nation that the catastrophic drought has very far reaching ramifications. Control the food supply and you control the population. There is also the growing effort by the government to take control of water rights in California and other regions in the west. The climate engineers literally have California by the throat and it does not appear they are going to let go anytime soon. The weather makers can drought California into a desert from top to bottom, we are well on our way to this already. Forests that were green and lush only ten years ago are now wilting, withering, and in many places have already died. In addition to the almost total lack of rain in California caused by the climate manipulation, the jet sprayed aerosols utilized in the geoengineering programs are desiccants. These are materials that adhere to all available moisture in the atmosphere creating very low humidity on the ground under many conditions which further dries out the already parched state. Now lets add the constant record high temperatures that often go along with consistent high pressure. All things considered, its a recipe for creating a dust bowl out of a once beautiful state. Its a method for bringing the population of this state to their knees.

Where Are The Geoengineers Concentrating Their Efforts,
And How Cool Are They Making The Planet Overall?

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The NASA temperature analysis map above should make clear where the climate engineers are most focused in their efforts to create a “cool down”. This map illustrates recent temperature trends as compared to the 30 year average. The NASA map clearly shows the only “cooler” places on the planet compared to the long term average. These areas of below normal temperatures are a direct result of massive geoengineering efforts such as those described above. If the temperature variations on this map seem unnatural, they are. Though the US media is trying frantically to convince its population (with considerable success) that the world is in a deep freeze, this is patently false from a global perspective. The radical swings in temperatures and conditions will persist and worsen as the climate engineers literally tear Earth’s natural life support systems apart. The climate engineers can and are radically cooling huge areas, but at the cost of a greatly worsened overall warming and a completely decimated climate system.

What Can We Do?

Everyone can and must help with this all important battle. All must get up off the bench and assist in the critical effort to raise awareness. Get organized with others in your community. Get educated (this means examining real data, not headlines), get credible information to hand out, hold viewings of documentary films like “Look Up” from film maker George Barnes, do whatever it takes to sound the alarm. If we can simply bring the climate engineering crimes to the light of day, and reach critical mass of awareness, the dominos that keep these programs in operation will start to fall.

       

The year 2013 was the driest in California's recorded history, and predictions for 2014 aren't much better. Three consecutive years of below-normal rainfall have left reservoirs at a fraction of their normal depth, seriously threatening farms in the state that grows half the nation's fruits and vegetables. California Governor Jerry Brown has declared a drought emergency and signed a $687 million drought-relief package into law, and 125 additional firefighters have been hired already in anticipation of a dangerous upcoming fire season. One bright spot: gold prospecting. Amateur prospectors are flocking to the Sierra Nevada foothills, taking advantage of lower water levels to search for gold in riverbeds that have been unreachable for decades.

Houseboats are docked at Bridge Bay in Shasta Lake, which is 100 feet (30 meters) below its normal levels, in Shasta, California, on January 23, 2014. Now in its third straight year of drought conditions, California is experiencing its driest year on record, dating back 119 years, and reservoirs throughout the state have very low water levels. (Reuters/Robert Galbraith)

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A car sits in dried and cracked earth of what was the bottom of the Almaden Reservoir on January 28, 2014 in San Jose, California.(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) #

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Snow cover in the Sierra Nevada mountain range in California in January 2013 (left) and January 2014 (right), compared in this combination of NASA satellite photos. (Reuters/NASA) #

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A Marine stands his ground as one of the helicopters accompanying U.S. President Barack lands in Firebaugh, California, on February 14, 2014. President Obama pledged to speed federal assistance to help California recover from a crippling drought that is threatening the critical agriculture industry in the No. 1 farm state. (Reuters/Kevin Lamarque) #

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President Barack Obama speaks to the media on California's drought situation on February 14, 2014 in Los Banos, California.(AP Photo/Los Angeles Times, Wally Skalij) #

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Shasta Lake, 100 feet below its normal levels, seen behind Shasta Dam with Mount Shasta in the background, on January 23, 2014.(Reuters/Robert Galbraith) #

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Visitors look over the foundation of a structure from the Gold Rush era town of Mormon Island, now uncovered by receding waters at Folsom Lake -- at 17 percent of its capacity -- in Folsom, California, on January 22, 2014. (Reuters/Robert Galbraith) #

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A sign posted near an almond farm in Turlock, California, on February 25, 2014. As the California drought continues and farmers struggle to water their crops, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation officials announced that they will not be providing Central Valley farmers with any water from the federally run system of reservoirs and canals fed by mountain runoff.(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) #

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A worker with Better Than Real Artficial Lawns installs an artificial lawn in front of an apartment building in San Jose, California, on January 30, 2014. Artificial lawns have emerged as a water saving alternative for Californians who have been asked to voluntarily reduce water by twenty percent as California is experiencing its driest year on record. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) #

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The sun rises over an oil field on the Monterey Shale formation, where gas and oil extraction using hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is on the verge of a boom near Lost Hills, California, on March 24, 2014. Critics of fracking in California cite concerns over water usage and possible chemical pollution of limited ground water sources as California farmers are forced to leave unprecedented expanses of fields fallow in one of the worst droughts in California history. (David McNew/Getty Images) #

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A tractor moves an uprooted almond tree into a shredder at Baker Farming in Firebaugh, California, on February 25, 2014. Almond farmer Barry Baker had 1,000 acres, 20 percent, of his almond trees removed because he doesn't have access to enough water to keep them watered as the California drought continues. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) #

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An empty boat marina at Folsom Lake, at 17 percent of capacity, in Folsom, California, on January 22, 2014.(Reuters/Robert Galbraith) #

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Visitors take photographs at the bottom of Folsom Lake on January 22, 2014. (Reuters/Robert Galbraith) #

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The low water level of Morris Reservoir, visible on the backside of Morris Dam on the San Gabriel River in the Angeles National Forest near Azusa, California, on January 22, 2014. (David McNew/Getty Images) #

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Robert Silva, 72, Mayor of Mendota, California, explains how the state's drought is sure to drive up unemployment in his rural farming town during an interview on January 30, 2014. Five years ago, the last dry year and height of the national recession, farm workers lined up for free food as unemployment exceeding 40 percent in Mendota. Silva fears that this year the food lines will be even longer. (AP Photo/Scott Smith) #

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A dog hangs around an abandoned farmhouse near Bakersfield, California, on February 6, 2014. California farmers are struggling with diminishing crop water and whether to plant or to tear out permanent crops which use water year-round. About 17 rural communities could soon run out of drinking water and politicians are pushing to undo laws that protect several endangered species. (David McNew/Getty Images) #

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Rocky shores are exposed by the low waters of San Gabriel Reservoir on the San Gabriel River in the Angeles National Forest on January 22, 2014. (David McNew/Getty Images) #

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Proprietor Marc Mondavi demonstrates dowsing with "divining rods" to locate water at the Charles Krug winery in St. Helena, California, on February 13, 2014. As water supplies shrink during California's historic drought, vineyard owners and other farmers are looking to an ancient, yet scientifically discredited, source for finding water: dowsers. Also known as water witches, dowsers use so-called "divining rods" made of copper or wood, pendulums or other items to find water deep underground using nothing more than their own intuition. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg) #

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Morning traffic makes its way toward downtown Los Angeles along the Hollywood Freeway past an electronic sign warning of severe drought on February 14, 2014. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel) #

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A sign from wetter times warns people not to dive from a bridge over the Kern River, which has been dried up by water diversion projects and little rain, on February 4, 2014 in Bakersfield, California. (David McNew/Getty Images) #

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Tim Amavisca, 38, and his daughter Hailey, 15, use a sluice box to trap gold flakes on a textured rubber mat as they search for gold along the Bear River near Colfax, California, on March 4, 2014. Amavisca is among the amateur prospectors that have flocked to the Sierra Nevada foothills, taking advantage of the lower water levels to search for gold in riverbeds that have been unreachable for decades. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli) #

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California rancher Nathan Carver delivers hay to his herd of beef cattle, seen giving chase across the brown-dirt fields of Carver's ranch on the outskirts of Delano, in California's Central Valley, on February 3, 2014. At this time of the year normally, the fields would be covered in lush green grass but the drought has reduced the land to a parched moonscape, and now Carver must spend money to buy hay to feed his herd. Carver remembers tales his grandparents told of the Dust Bowl years in the 1930's, but this is as bad as he has ever seen it in his lifetime, he said. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images) #

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Chinook salmon smolts are pumped into a tower that separates fish from the water at the Coleman National Fish Hatchery in Anderson, California, on March 25, 2014. Workers trucked approximately 420,000 of the 30.4 million Chinook salmon that will be transported to locations downriver due to the extreme drought. Salmon are typically released from hatcheries into the Sacramento River and its tributaries between April and June to begin their migration into the Pacific Ocean, but this year water levels in the Sacramento River and its offshoots have dwindled to dangerously low levels. (Reuters/Nick Adams) #

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Thousands of juvenile salmon are dispatched into a holding tank in the Sacramento River in Rio Vista, California, on March 25, 2014. The salmon were trucked more than 200 miles (321 km) from a hatchery on the northern part of the river, as drought conditions in the state have made the river impassable to the young fish. (Reuters/Robert Galbraith) #

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A houseboat is removed from the disappearing water at Bridge Bay in Shasta Lake, which is 100 feet (30 meters) below its normal levels, on January 23, 2014. (Reuters/Robert Galbraith)

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