California: Drowning in a drought

On June 12, the governor of California (Arnold), Arnold Schwarzenegger, declared a state of emergency in a fertile valley in the central region, a leading agricultural production area in the state, as drought was becoming more serious. .

According to governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, the government will quickly requisition a lot of water to move to nine counties in the central valley area, from de Sacramento (130 km northeast of San Francisco) to Bakersfield (Los Angeles 170 km to the north) to limit the area. According to statistics, this place accounts for 20 billion USD of revenue / year in the agricultural sector of California state. Local authorities said that the drought here caused food prices to continue to rise, employees lost their jobs and negatively impacted the lives of people in the region. The Governor stated that the current drought situation is " critical ". This is the second year in a row, California faces drought.

The recently issued emergency will take effect within eight days for the government to extract the water and deliver it to consumers. The government is considering the possibility of applying water norms in some areas. In the city of Los Angeles, the city council approved measures to ban the lawns in the garden at the hottest hours of the day. Those who violate the ban will be fined up to hundreds of dollars. The Central Valley of California is considered to be an agricultural product not only of the state but also of the United States. It provides the US market with most vegetables, strawberries and grapes as well as 25% citrus.

Drought also caused numerous forest fires in northern California, destroying dozens of homes and threatening thousands of other buildings. According to the California Emergency Agency (OES), fire is particularly serious in Butte County, 300 kilometers north of San Francisco, causing hundreds of people to be evacuated and 1,200 houses under construction. fire threatening.

(Photo: Kcbs.com)