No Water in the West: Climate Change and How to Combat the California Drought

Most of us know about the relentless California drought, at least in passing – we’ve seen the harrowing before/after pictures, heard the pleas of the mayor to the city to use less water, read about the lowering of the water table and the dry reservoirs. The incredible severity and length of the current drought are incontrovertible – California is entering its fourth year of record-breaking low rainfall and high temperatures, and this past year has been the state’s hottest and driest. This problem is unbelievably urgent – only twenty percent of the state’s water requests stand to be met by the state’s water management system for 2015-16.
So, naturally, there has been extensive discourse about the drought. However, not nearly enough of this discourse has focused on the impact of climate change on the drought, and how a continuation of California’s current environmental policies is not sustainable in these drought conditions. Nor have enough clear-cut and reasonable methods been put forward to reduce one’s own water usage and play a part in helping this state that is in such great need.