User:Oceanflynn/sandbox/California Drought 2012-2015
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California Drought 2012-2015 is part of the 2012–15 North American drought. It the most severe drought faced by California in modern times.[1] By February 1, 2014, Felicia Marcus, the chairwoman of the California State Water Resources Control Board, argues that California needs to "conserve what little we have to use later in the year, or even in future years."[2] In February 2014, the California drought reached for the first time in the 54-year history of the State Water Project to shortages of water supplies. According to NASA, tests published in January 2014 have shown that the twelve months prior to January 2014 were the driest on record, since record-keeping began in 1885.[3] By June 2015, the US Drought Monitor analysis showed that while 98.71%[4] of California was under "Severe Drought", 46.73% of California was under an "Exceptional Drought"[4] warning— the most serious drought— with "[e]xceptional and widespread crop/pasture losses; shortages of water in reservoirs, streams, and wells creating water emergencies"[5] and 71.08% was under a "Extreme Drought" with "[m]ajor crop/pasture losses; widespread water shortages or restrictions."[5] According to an article published in the Geophysical Research Letters, the 2014 drought, the "most severe drought in the last 1200 years," was caused by "reduced though not unprecedented precipitation and record high temperatures."[6][7] According to Richard Howitt, a University of California, Davis professor emeritus of agricultural and resource economics, the 2014 drought was "responsible for the greatest water loss ever seen in California agriculture."[8]
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![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fb/Progression_of_the_2012-2014_historic_California_drought%2C_from_December_2013_to_July_2014.gif/320px-Progression_of_the_2012-2014_historic_California_drought%2C_from_December_2013_to_July_2014.gif)
By 2014 there was widespread concern about the economic impact of the drought on California's 44.7 billion dollar agricultural industry, which produces nearly half of all U.S.-grown fruits, nuts, and vegetables.[9] California's agricultural industry "uses 80 percent of the water consumed in the state in a normal year."[10]