
NASA: Drought Doubles Idle California Farmland
A report released by NASA this week indicated that the amount of farmland in California left idle has more than doubled in just four years due to the state’s punishing drought.

A report released by NASA this week indicated that the amount of farmland in California left idle has more than doubled in just four years due to the state’s punishing drought.

The State of California is planning to use eminent domain law to acquire hundreds of farms in the Delta for a controversial, multi-billion-dollar underground water tunnel project proposed by Gov. Jerry Brown.

In an op-ed for the Los Angeles Times, NASA senior water scientist Jay Famiglietti warned that California only has about one year’s worth of water supply left in its snowpack, reservoirs, and groundwater storage. If conservation efforts are not ramped up, and soon, the state could be facing a full-blown “crisis.”

The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) raised the annual water allocation it provides to the State Water Project (SWP) to 20 percent on Monday following several large storms that have brought much-needed rain to northern California’s reservoirs.