California's Droughts Direct Result Of Newsom's Policies

By Rachel Morris | Monday, 08 August 2022 12:00 PM
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California's Droughts Direct Result Of Newsom's Policies

Gov. Gavin Newsom has mismanaged California's harsh, prolonged drought during his time in office, while the state's farms face diminishing yields, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., told Fox News.

"I think Gavin Newsom has failed when it comes to water," McCarthy, who represents a District in California's Central Valley, said.

For the second time in nine years, California is suffering a generational drought – a period of dryness so harsh, they're commonly considered to only occur once per generation, according to Erik Ekdahl, the California State Water Resources Control Board's deputy director for water rights. The Golden State has also survived a megadrought – a drought that lasts longer than 20 years – since 2000, Ekdahl said.

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"I think the state has actually done some remarkably good planning and preparation and implementation for drought," Ekdahl told Fox News.

Regardless, farmers' yields and, therefore, their businesses, are diminishing, said Sam Parnagian, a third generation California Central Valley farmer. Over one-third of the country's vegetables and two-thirds of its fruits and nuts are grown in California, according to the state Department of Food and Agriculture.

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"You'll go see tens of thousands of acres that used to have nuts, almonds, pistachios, and they're just bare," Parnagian told Fox News. "It's just all dust."

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California saw a temporary ceasefire from drought in 2019, just months after Newsom took office, according to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Drought Center. But by 2021, the state fell into extreme drought on a wide scale – and it could get worse.

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"There's a very real prospect for a fourth year and potentially a fifth year of drought," Ekdahl told Fox News.

Newsom, a Democrat, needed to use the drought-free period to prepare, McCarthy said.

"You should store it in the abundant years to have it for the years coming forward when it comes to drought," McCarthy, a Republican, told Fox News. "That would show you good management."

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McCarthy's district includes part of Kern County, 70% of which is characterized as facing "exceptional" drought conditions, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Exceptional drought, the most intense and devastating type of drought, can lead to widespread wildlife death, the removal of orchards, increased chances of wildfire and low crop yields, according to NOAA.

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Newsom outlined a 142-step plan in 2020 to make California more resilient to drought. It included long-term projects such as new water storage construction, surveying for new water sources and the deconstruction of dams.

Many of those haven't been built, according to a progress report published in January. Ekdahl said many of the water projects could take years to be completed.

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"They haven't built any new water storage, no new dams," McCarthy told Fox News. They continue to let water go out into the ocean." Newsom's office did not respond to a request for comment.

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