Historic drought hitting US food supply

REEDLEY, California－In the valleys of central California, the search for water has turned into an all-out obsession as the region suffers from a drought that could threaten US food supply.

Residents watched with dismay as verdant fields turned into brown, dusty plains, leaving shriveled trees, dying plants and exasperated farmers.

Much of California, and the broader US West, has suffered years of lighter-than-usual precipitation and a particularly dry winter.

Also, more than 6,000 wildfires have burned around 2,347 square kilometers of land in California this year, according to Cal Fire's 2021 Incident Archive. The state and most of the US West are in the grip of a severe drought of historic proportions.

Fearful that there may not be enough water for city dwellers or wildlife, state and local authorities have abruptly cut supplies to farms, provoking anger and consternation.

Along the roads between major farming operations, billboards have popped up everywhere, urging to "Save California's Water". They accuse the authorities of "dumping… our water in the ocean".

Growers complain that Gavin Newsom, the state's governor, is strangling them under a mountain of pointless restrictions, leaving them unable to fulfill their usual role of supplying US' supermarkets.

"I had two wells dry up last week," said 28-year-old Nick Foglio, a fourth-generation farmer and feed broker.

Worsening climate crisis

Standing in a dusty field near Fresno, Foglio is worried that with "the wrong political agenda, we're simply going to starve ourselves and probably the rest of the world."

Reacting to dire signs of a worsening climate crisis, they passed new emergency legislation to prevent thousands of people－notably farmers－from diverting streams or rivers.

When the authorities cut off water supplies, farmers find themselves forced to rely on wells dug deep into the ground costing several thousand dollars. They draw groundwater from subsurface pools hundreds of feet deep. But even with that, they eventually run dry.

"The situation is pretty terrible," said Liset Garcia, who relied on well water to irrigate half her farm.

She has been waiting for weeks for a well-drilling service－which has more work than it can handle－to make it to her farm in hopes of finding even a small new supply of water deep in the ground.

Heat has destroyed several of her crops. "It becomes even a luxury to have food," she said.

Scientists said there will even be more extreme and frequent episodes of drought with climate change, further jeopardizing food security.

Agencies via Xinhua