There was no need for the floodgates at Folsom dam, California, on Sunday
THE drought in California has escalated. The most populous US state is now so dry that it has had to cut off some water supplies. On the last day of January, faced by what may be California鈥檚 worst-ever drought, the State Water Project reduced its allocation of water for several districts to zero.
鈥淕ates will be lowered and water will not be released from reservoirs,鈥� says of the Pacific Institute in Oakland, California. But he says the affected districts do have options. They can refrain from planting crops on some farmland; they can pump groundwater if they have it; and they can look into importing water from their neighbours.
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California still has what Gleick calls an 鈥淚 hope it rains tomorrow鈥� attitude. He says Australia, which recently experienced a 10-year drought, was the same at first. But by the drought鈥檚 ninth year, the country was building desalination plants, getting rid of thirsty lawns and taking away free water rights from farmers by pricing water.
This article will appear in print under the headline 鈥淐alifornia thirstin'鈥�