Drought in the United States
As [link url=”https://amuedge.com/edm-monday-briefing-ongoing-drought-shootings-explosions-a-student-found/” title=”we are reminded”] of the severe drought that plagues much of [link url=”http://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2015/11/22/455751848/as-brazils-largest-city-struggles-with-drought-residents-are-leaving” title=”South America”] and the [link url=”http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/aug/27/middle-east-faces-water-shortages-for-the-next-25-years-study-says” title=”Middle East”], we need to also remember that we are not exempt from the same.
This [link url=”http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/” title=”map”] shows that we in the US are actually in pretty dire straits ourselves, and the prognosis in not pretty. Droughts throughout California and the American Southwest have become more severe over time, threatening agriculture, livelihoods, and even the ability to remain in one’s [link url=”http://time.com/4017476/a-town-without-water/” title=”home”].
This issue has been building as a looming crisis for nearly a century now–ever since the Hoover Dam was constructed and water was diverted to agricultural lands in California at an unsustainable rate. [link url=”http://www.livescience.com/51916-lake-mead-drought-photo.html” title=”Lake Mead”] is currently at the lowest levels since the 1930’s, and continues to drop. Whereas to this date, the towns running out of water have been small, and the impact to the population is limited, it will be a different story when the affected town is Las Vegas.
Necessary Actions
So we in the emergency management field have work to do. The first and most important action is to personally educate ourselves on the reality of what’s coming down the pike at us. We’re NOT going to avoid this, because the decisions that are causing it were made long ago, and the unsustainable levels of water use throughout the region may be impossible to stop, for many economic and political reasons.
The second action is to make an assessment of the coming impacts on your area of responsibility. The assessment needs to be no-holds-barred, un-sugarcoated, and not influenced by economics or politics. In other words, the unvarnished truth.
The third necessary action is to educate. Educate your citizens, educate your officials, educate your staff. Involve them in building a plan to deal with a future characterized by water shortages–admittedly a difficult task if it’s raining outside and the grass is green at the moment, but no less critical for that.
Book Review
[link url=”http://www.amazon.com/Cadillac-Desert-American-Disappearing-Revised-ebook/dp/B001RTKIUA/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1448281153&sr=1-1&keywords=cadillac+desert” title=”Cadillac Desert“]: the American West and its Disappearing Water by Marc Reisner. Written in 1993, it remains remarkable for its prescience and accuracy, and is considered a “must read” for any who seek to understand this issue.
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