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California 's Continuous Drought Not Only Affects California

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California’s continuous drought not only affects California, but essentially impacts the entire food system. Could you imagine an entire state unable to contribute to the growing demands of a thriving economy? As California enters its fifth year of drought the consequences of an ever depleting natural resource, water, continues to negatively impact landscape plants, agricultural production, wildlife, and the economy. The lack of water in California has the potential to have a devastating effect on an ever thriving economy. For centuries the world has depended upon the land as their number one resource. The threat of not being able to cultivate that land could trigger a chain of catastrophic events that would reach far beyond …show more content…

What that says about California’s ground water as a whole is that it is depleting. Ground water has always been an alternative source of water in times of drought, however the continuous use of ground water is having a negative impact on the California landscape. For instance, an article posted on Thinkprogress.org, discussing the, issues of ground water and drilling concluded that, “Deep drilling is beginning to mar the California landscape, lowering water tables and causing the ground to sink” (Geiling). With the Pacific Ocean lining the California coast line some may ask why can’t sea water be filtered and used as a source of free water. This is actually an alternative that has been researched and even put into use in places such as the Netherlands, Aruba, the Middle East and even right here in the U.S. This process is called desalinating seawater. Saltwater in its pure form cannot be used for drinking water and is deadly to plants, however if it goes through the process of desalinating it can be used. With California desperate for water Carlsbad, California decided to construct a desalinating plant. An article on NBCNEWS website states that the plant can produce “50 million gallons of freshwater a day from the sea and pour it into a water system that serves 3.1 million people”

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