Drought in California - Case Study GCSE Geography A

from textbook

when was a state of emergency declared

january 2014 by the governor which means new laws are put in place to help deal with drought’s impacts

how many counties in california does the state of emergency effect

39 counties currently even though 19 counties dropped out in september 2024

what caused the drought

period of lower rainfall/snowfall caused a distinct drop in water supplies in the west of the usa

what made the drought worse

most of california’s water comes from the colorado river which provides water to 6 other states, where states had extracted more water than they received leading to a reduction in availability which combined with a very level of waste and over-use made it scarce

how does subsidence show

as surface water flows decrease there’s most extraction from groundwater aquifers to maintain supplies which changes the land level to be lower and damages infrastructure like the San Joaquin Valley

where and how were areas affected by seawater intrusion

Santa barbara and is when natural groundwater flow is reversed due to lack of flow and so groundwater supplies are contaminated making them unusable/costly

how are environments impacted

since water can be diverted for domestic/agricultural use. wetlands and rivers receive less water and so these environments suffer leading to reduced biodiversity and fish/birds dying due to significant environmental/hydrological changes

what was the drought accompanied by

a period of very warm, windy weather across the state leading to wildfires which also dries out vegetation making the fire easier to spread due to the wind aswell. these fires damage the environment, ash contaminates water supplies, and infrastructure is damaged

what is a major impact of the drought in california on food production

california is a major supplier of food, vegetables and dairy products and in a dry climate this is made possible by irrigation, pipelines and channels

how have farmers adapted

by taking land out of production or pumping groundwater supplies from ever-deeper supplies whereas others conserve irrigation and focus on higher value crops

what were the impacts of the drought on the agricultural industry

in 2022, california farms lost an estimated 1.2 billion dollars, an increase from 810 million dollars last year

nearly 20,000 jobs lost due to the drought

increased food prices

farmers have to deal with seawater contamination and wildfires

how were california’s power supplies affected by drought

lower water levels reduce the amount of hydroelectric power and thermal power stations also require a huge amount of water coolant, with growing demands for energy the state is looking for new sources

what have been some responses to the drought

-limiting water supplies in the winter to build up reverses for the summer

-warning areas if they will receive less water

-reducing water supplies down to the minimum for public health and safety

-installing salinity control points in crucial areas to prevent saltwater contamination

-running education programmes to encourage people to use less water

-increased monitoring of rivers to check the impacts of drought on ecosystems

what was the size of hurricane sandy

Hurricane Sandy weakened to category 1 tropical cyclone, but grew in size to 1,600 km diameter with air pressure 940 mb.