Drought Destroys Crops in 11 States

EXTREME WEATHER & CLIMATIC EVENTS
EXCEPTIONAL DROUGHT
RISING TEMPERATURES
FISHERY DISASTERS
CROP DISASTERS
MULTIPLE STATES OF EMERGENCY
SCENARIOS 900, 800, 555, 444, 111, 071, 03
.

Crop Disasters Declared for 62 Additional Counties across 11 states

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated a total of 62 counties in 11 states as crop disaster areas due to losses caused by the worsening drought.

The disaster designations are as follows:

• Arizona: Apache County
• California: Del Norte County
• Colorado: Archuleta, Dolores, La Plata, Montezuma, Conejos, Mineral, San Juan, Hinsdale, Rio Grande and  San Miguel counties
• Idaho: Blaine, Camas, Canyon, Fremont , Minidoka, Ada, Custer, Jefferson, Owyhee, Bingham, Elmore, Jerome, Payette, Butte, Gem, Lincoln, Power, Cassia, Gooding, Madison, Teton, and Clark counties
• Montana: Beaverhead, Gallatin and Madison counties
• New Mexico: Rio Arriba and San Juan counties
• Oregon: Coos, Curry, Douglas,  Josephine and Malheur counties
• Texas: Matagorda, Brazoria, Calhoun, Jackson and Wharton counties 
  
• Utah: San Juan County
• Washington: Ferry, Kittitas, Chelan, King, Pierce, Douglas, Lincoln, Stevens, Grant, Okanogan and Yakima counties
  
• Wyoming: Teton County
  

Crop Disasters 2014

Beginning January 10, 2014 USDA has declared at least 2,081 separate crop disasters across 29  states. Most of those designations are due to the worsening drought.

• Those states are Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah and Washington, Wyoming. [FIRE-EARTH has documented all of the above listings. See blog content.]

Notes:
i. USDA trigger point for a countywide disaster declaration is 30 percent crop loss on at least one crop.

ii. The total number of counties designated as agricultural disaster areas includes both primary and contiguous disaster areas.

iii. Counties may have been designated crop disaster areas more than once due to multiple disasters.

iv. The U.S. has a total of 3,143 counties and county-equivalents.

v. The disaster designations posted above were approved by USDA on July 2, 2014.

California Drought Disasters

• Drought Spells More Crop Disasters for Five States May 22, 2014
• Southern Sierra Loses Snow Cover May 27, 2014
• California’s Snow Story: Going, Going … May 21, 2014
• Severe – Exceptional Drought Plague 100% of California  May 16, 2014

Other Drought Disaster Links

• Drought Destroys Crops in Texas, Utah, Colorado June 26, 2014
• Drought Crop Disasters Declared in 10 States  May 29, 2014
• Crop Disasters Declared in 11 States May 16, 2014
• Drought
• Agricultural Disasters Index

Severe – Exceptional Drought Plagues 100% of California

EXTREME WEATHER & CLIMATIC EVENTS
EXTREME & EXEPTIONAL DROUGHT
CRITICALLY LOW SNOWPACK WATER CONTENT
CRITICALLY LOW GROUNDWATER LEVELS
WATER FAMINE
CROP DISASTERS
DESTRUCTIVE WILDFIRES
SCENARIOS 03, 101
MULTIPLE STATES OF EMERGENCY
.

All of California Falls into Severe – Exceptional Drought

Drought conditions are forecast to exacerbate as a heat wave settles in this week, said US Drought Monitor. Increases on water demand and the increased risk of fire will intensifies as the heat soars.

Source: US Drought Monitor.

Calif Wildfires

Nine major wildfires are burning in San Diego County, Southern California, forcing tens of thousands of people out of their homes.

A Week Ago …

Vital groundwater provides up to 60% of California’s water supply during droughts

California groundwater resources are at historically low levels, and recent groundwater levels are more than 100 feet below previous historic lows in some parts of the state, according to a recent report released by the California Department of Water Resources.

About 30 million Californians, over three quarters of the state’s population, receives at least part of their drinking water from groundwater, said California Water Foundation.

Groundwater is the only supply available for some regions during drought, and it’s critical to the state’s agricultural economy.

Drought causes water famine leading to crop disasters. It degrades water quality, and leads to surface and groundwater level declines, land subsidence, soil erosion, intense wildfires, humongous dust storms, and spread of disease.

30 Percent of California Water Comes from Snowpack

Snowpack provides about a third of the water used by California’s cities and farms. As of  May 15, 2014, the California statewide water content of snowpack (weighted average) stood at only 9% of normal for this date, and just 5%  of April 1 average, according to the Department of Water Resource.

Snow Water Equivalents – Statewide Summary

Provided by the California Cooperative Snow Surveys – Updated May 15, 2014 08:38PDT

Statewide Summary
Statewide Average SWEQ: 2″
Statewide Percent of April: 5%
Statewide Percent of Normal: 9%

May 14, 2014

Average snow water equivalent:  2″
Percent of April 1 average: 6%
Percent of normal for this date: 10%

May 5, 2014

Average snow water equivalent:  3″
Percent of April 1 average: 9%
Percent of normal for this date: 13%

Tragedy of the Commons

Between 2003 – 2010, California’s groundwater “overdraft” averaged almost 2.5 million acre-feet per year, and more than triple that amount (nearly 8 million acre-feet per year) in 2012 (a dry year) and 2013 (a critically dry year), according to Hydrologic Modeling Center at the University of California.

[An acre-feet is about 1.23 million liters. Editor ]

“This overdraft is, in many respects, a ‘tragedy of the commons:’ the accumulation of what could be viewed individually as benign actions, i.e., small amounts of pumping, that has broad impacts extending beyond individual pumpers,” said the report.

[Overdraft: The condition of a groundwater basin in which the  amount of water withdrawn by pumping exceeds the amount of water that recharges the basin over a period of years during which water supply conditions approximate average. Because groundwater is extracted at a higher rate than it is replenished over this period of time, groundwater levels decline persistently under this condition.]

The report has identified the following potentially devastating effects associated with the depletion:

Land Subsidence. Groundwater pumping can cause deformation of the land surface, leading to subsidence. The sinking or deformation of land could in turn cause:

• Increased coastal and inland flooding
• Reduced conveyance capacity of canals, aqueducts, and flood bypass channels
• Damage to buildings, roads, bridges, pipelines, levees, wells, and other infrastructure
• Development of earth fissures, which can damage surface and subsurface structures and allow for contamination from the surface to enter shallow aquifers

During the 1960s and 1970s, parts of the Central Valley experienced a drop of more than 25 feet due to groundwater pumping. Occurrences of land subsidence have been discovered in many areas across the state, costing billions of dollars to the federal and state government, farmers, irrigation districts, and local agencies to repair. Subsidence continues in many of these areas as discussed in “Land Subsidence from Groundwater Use in California” LSCE, Borchers & Carpenter (2014), sometimes at near historically high rates.

Increasing energy costs. Overdraft has caused groundwater levels to drop hundreds of feet in certain areas of the state. As groundwater levels drop, water users must pump from greater depths, increasing energy used to operate pumps and thereby increasing costs and greenhouse gas emissions.

Water quality degradation. Overdraft can damage water quality through a variety of mechanisms. It can allow saltwater intrusion, as has occurred in Pajaro Valley, the Central and West Coast Basins, and elsewhere, or draw in adjacent plumes of pollution. The interconnection between surface water and groundwater means that contamination in one may migrate to the other. Ironically, by over pumping groundwater to meet a current need, water users may be contaminating the aquifer and effectively reducing their future groundwater supplies.

Streamflow depletion impacts on surface water rights and ecosystems. Many aquifers naturally release water into surface water bodies. When groundwater is depleted the aquifer may instead draw from adjacent or connected surface water bodies like lakes, rivers, streams and wetlands; this reduces streamflows and lake levels.
Streamflow depletion impacts surface water right holders, degrades aquatic habitats and harms the flora and fauna that depend on these habitats. For example, partly due to groundwater overdraft, the lower Cosumnes River recently has been completely dry throughout most of the salmon migration period and impacting surface water flows into the Delta.

Related Links

• LAST CHANCE TO DECORPORATIZE, REHUMANIZE April 27, 2014

First State of Emergency Issued in January

Governor Brown proclaimed a State of Emergency on January 17  amid the worsening statewide drought.  He called the “really serious,” adding that 2014 could be California’s third consecutive dry year. “In many ways it’s a mega-drought.”

Second State of Emergency

Brown proclaimed a second State of Emergency on April 25, 2014 to “redouble state drought actions, and has called on all Californians to redouble their efforts to conserve water.”

“We are playing Russian roulette with our environment,” said Brown.

However, it’s doubtful whether he knows exactly how many bullets there are in the cylinder, contends FIRE-EARTH.

California State Resources

• Electronic snowpack readings –  http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cdecapp/snowapp/sweq.action
• Electronic reservoir readings – http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cdecapp/resapp/getResGraphsMain.action
• Water Conditions – http://www.water.ca.gov/waterconditions/
• California Drought Page – http://www.water.ca.gov/waterconditions/drought/

FIRE-EARTH 2009 Forecast: Desertification of California in the Near Future Is Almost a Certainty – with the critical phase occurring by as early as 2011.

[NOTE: The above forecast and most of the links posted below have previously been filtered/censored by Google, WordPress and rest of the Internet Mafia. Editor]

• California: Biggest Desert in N America August 16, 2009
• Warning: California Is Being Mojavefied! January 30, 2009

 

California Groundwater Levels 100 Feet Below Previous Historic Lows

EXTREME WEATHER & CLIMATIC EVENTS
EXTREME & EXEPTIONAL DROUGHT
CRITICALLY LOW SNOWPACK WATER CONTENT
CRITICALLY LOW GROUNDWATER LEVELS
WATER FAMINE
CROP DISASTERS
SCENARIO 03
TWO STATES OF EMERGENCY
.

Vital groundwater provides up to 60% of California’s water supply during droughts

California groundwater resources are at historically low levels, and recent groundwater levels are more than 100 feet below previous historic lows in some parts of the state, according to a recent report released by the California Department of Water Resources.

About 30 million Californians, over three quarters of the state’s population, receives at least part of their drinking water from groundwater, said California Water Foundation.

Groundwater is the only supply available for some regions during drought, and it’s critical to the state’s agricultural economy.

Drought causes water famine leading to crop disasters. It degrades water quality, and leads to surface and groundwater level declines, land subsidence, soil erosion, intense wildfires, humongous dust storms, and spread of disease.

30 Percent of California Water Comes from Snowpack

Snowpack provides about a third of the water used by California’s cities and farms. As of  May 6, 2014, the California statewide water content of snowpack (weighted average) stood at only 13% of normal for this date, and just 9%  of April 1 average, according to the Department of Water Resource.

Snow Water Equivalents – Statewide Summary

Provided by the California Cooperative Snow Surveys – Updated May 6, 2014 06:37PDT

Average snow water equivalent:  2″
Percent of April 1 average: 9%
Percent of normal for this date: 13%

May 5, 2014

Average snow water equivalent:  3″
Percent of April 1 average: 9%
Percent of normal for this date: 13%

The monthly snow survey on May 1, 2014 showed the average water content in the northern Sierra snowpack that helps fill the state’s major reservoirs at a dismal 7 percent for this time of the year.

Tragedy of the Commons

Between 2003 – 2010, California’s groundwater “overdraft” averaged almost 2.5 million acre-feet per year, and more than triple that amount (nearly 8 million acre-feet per year) in 2012 (a dry year) and 2013 (a critically dry year), according to Hydrologic Modeling Center at the University of California.

[An acre-feet is about 1.23 million liters. Editor ]

“This overdraft is, in many respects, a ‘tragedy of the commons:’ the accumulation of what could be viewed individually as benign actions, i.e., small amounts of pumping, that has broad impacts extending beyond individual pumpers,” said the report.

[Overdraft: The condition of a groundwater basin in which the  amount of water withdrawn by pumping exceeds the amount of water that recharges the basin over a period of years during which water supply conditions approximate average. Because groundwater is extracted at a higher rate than it is replenished over this period of time, groundwater levels decline persistently under this condition.]

The report has identified the following potentially devastating effects associated with the depletion:

Land Subsidence. Groundwater pumping can cause deformation of the land surface, leading to subsidence. The sinking or deformation of land could in turn cause:

• Increased coastal and inland flooding
• Reduced conveyance capacity of canals, aqueducts, and flood bypass channels
• Damage to buildings, roads, bridges, pipelines, levees, wells, and other infrastructure
• Development of earth fissures, which can damage surface and subsurface structures and allow for contamination from the surface to enter shallow aquifers

During the 1960s and 1970s, parts of the Central Valley experienced a drop of more than 25 feet due to groundwater pumping. Occurrences of land subsidence have been discovered in many areas across the state, costing billions of dollars to the federal and state government, farmers, irrigation districts, and local agencies to repair. Subsidence continues in many of these areas as discussed in “Land Subsidence from Groundwater Use in California” LSCE, Borchers & Carpenter (2014), sometimes at near historically high rates.

Increasing energy costs. Overdraft has caused groundwater levels to drop hundreds of feet in certain areas of the state. As groundwater levels drop, water users must pump from greater depths, increasing energy used to operate pumps and thereby increasing costs and greenhouse gas emissions.

Water quality degradation. Overdraft can damage water quality through a variety of mechanisms. It can allow saltwater intrusion, as has occurred in Pajaro Valley, the Central and West Coast Basins, and elsewhere, or draw in adjacent plumes of pollution. The interconnection between surface water and groundwater means that contamination in one may migrate to the other. Ironically, by over pumping groundwater to meet a current need, water users may be contaminating the aquifer and effectively reducing their future groundwater supplies.

Streamflow depletion impacts on surface water rights and ecosystems. Many aquifers naturally release water into surface water bodies. When groundwater is depleted the aquifer may instead draw from adjacent or connected surface water bodies like lakes, rivers, streams and wetlands; this reduces streamflows and lake levels.
Streamflow depletion impacts surface water right holders, degrades aquatic habitats and harms the flora and fauna that depend on these habitats. For example, partly due to groundwater overdraft, the lower Cosumnes River recently has been completely dry throughout most of the salmon migration period and impacting surface water flows into the Delta.

Related Links

• LAST CHANCE TO DECORPORATIZE, REHUMANIZE April 27, 2014

First State of Emergency Issued in January

Governor Brown proclaimed a State of Emergency on January 17  amid the worsening statewide drought.  He called the “really serious,” adding that 2014 could be California’s third consecutive dry year. “In many ways it’s a mega-drought.”

Second State of Emergency

Brown proclaimed a second State of Emergency on April 25, 2014 to “redouble state drought actions, and has called on all Californians to redouble their efforts to conserve water.”

“We are playing Russian roulette with our environment,” said Brown.

However, it’s doubtful whether he knows exactly how many bullets there are in the cylinder, contends FIRE-EARTH.

California State Resources

• Electronic snowpack readings –  http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cdecapp/snowapp/sweq.action
• Electronic reservoir readings – http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cdecapp/resapp/getResGraphsMain.action
• Water Conditions – http://www.water.ca.gov/waterconditions/
• California Drought Page – http://www.water.ca.gov/waterconditions/drought/

FIRE-EARTH 2009 Forecast: Desertification of California in the Near Future Is Almost a Certainty – with the critical phase occurring by as early as 2011.

[NOTE: The above forecast and most of the links posted below have previously been filtered/censored by Google, WordPress and others. Editor]

• California: Biggest Desert in N America August 16, 2009
• Warning: California Is Being Mojavefied! January 30, 2009

California Drops State Water Allocation to Zero

EXTREME CLIMATIC EVENTS
DROUGHT DISASTER
STATE OF EMERGENCY
WATER FAMINE
.

Severe Drought Prompts Worst-Ever Water Supply Forecast for California

“Simply put, there’s not enough water in the system right now for customers to expect any water this season from the project,” said the director of California Department of Water Resources (DWR).

DWR is securing what little water remains in the state’s reservoirs in response to the worsening drought and strong likelihood of more severe water shortages in the coming months.

The agency announced Friday that they took actions to conserve the state’s dwindling resources, as a result of which, “everyone—farmers, fish, and people in our cities and towns —will get less water.”

“This historic announcement reflects the severity of California’s drought. After two previous dry years, 2014 is shaping up as the driest in state history,” said DWR.

• On Thursday, Sierra snow survey found the snowpack’s statewide water content was only 12 percent of average for this time of year.

• Water levels in key reservoirs now are lower than at this time in 1977, one of the two previous driest water years on record.
  • Lake Oroville in Butte County, the principal SWP reservoir, is at 36 percent of its 3.5 million acre-foot capacity (55 percent of its historical average for the date).
  • Shasta Lake north of Redding, California’s and the federal Central Valley Project’s (CVP) largest reservoir, is also at 36 percent of its 4.5 million acre-foot capacity (54 percent of average for the date).
  • San Luis Reservoir, a critical south-of-Delta reservoir for both the SWP and CVP, is just 30 percent of its 2 million acre-foot capacity (39 percent of average for the date).

California Current Reservoir Conditions. Source: DWR

• Electronic snowpack readings –  http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cdecapp/snowapp/sweq.action
• Electronic reservoir readings – http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cdecapp/resapp/getResGraphsMain.action
• Water Conditions – http://www.water.ca.gov/waterconditions/
• California Drought Page – http://www.water.ca.gov/waterconditions/drought/

Zero Allocation

DWR has never before announced a zero allocation in the 54-year history of the State Water Project to all 29 public water agencies that buy from the SWP. These deliveries help supply water to 25 million Californians and roughly 750,000 acres of irrigated farmland.

The agency forecast in late December that it would be able to deliver only 5 percent of about 4 million acre-feet of State Water Project water requested by the 29 public water agencies that purchase water from the project. They are located in Northern California, the Bay Area, San Joaquin Valley, Central Coast, and Southern California.

The 5 percent projected allocation has now reduced to zero.

Statewide Average Precipitation – by water year. Source DWR.

Precipitation Rankings by Climate Region: January – December 2013. Source: DWR

California is currently experiencing its worst drought on record. In 2013 California experienced its driest year since records began 120 years ago.

• Many California reservoirs are at their lowest levels in years.
• The snow cover is less than 20 percent of the normal at this time of year.
• Lake Shasta, the state’s largest reservoir is holding just over a third of its full capacity,  down from the normal of more than a half at this time of year, according to officials.

‘Extreme’ and ‘Exceptional Drought’ levels are plaguing California, threatening at least 17 communities with water famine.

Gov. Brown Declared Drought State of Emergency earlier this month amid worst dry conditions in 119 years

Brown had earlier described the drought as being “really serious,” adding that 2014 could be California’s third consecutive dry year. “In many ways it’s a mega-drought.”

California Drought Map. Source: U.S. Drought Monitor

California Drought Conditions

“Drought and relatively mild temperatures continue to prevail across the state. In the northwestern part of California, a 1-category degradation from severe to extreme drought (D2 to D3) was made across Humboldt and Trinity Counties. The Central Sierra Snow Lab near the Donner Summit reports 8 inches of snow on the ground, the lowest for this time in January since at least 1946. In the general vicinity of Monterey to Bakersfield, conditions warranted a 1-category downgrade, from extreme to exceptional drought (D3 to D4). A few of the impacts within the D4 area include fallowing of land, wells running dry, municipalities considering drilling deeper wells, and little to no rangeland grasses for cattle to graze on, prompting significant livestock sell off.” —US Drought Monitor

Drought Comparison Table

California Drought Comparison Table (Percent Area). Source: U.S. Drought Monitor

Related Links

• California Drought Intensifies January 30, 2014

• California Communities Could Run Out of Water in 60 to 120 Days January 29, 2014
• Drought Disaster Declared for Multiple Counties in Four States January 25, 2014
• California Declares Drought State of Emergency January 18, 2014
• California Governor to Declare Drought Emergency January 17, 2014
• High Fire Danger in Southern California amid Driest Conditions on Record January 17, 2014
• 520 Counties across 16 States Declared Crop Disaster Areas due to Drought January 16, 2014

FIRE-EARTH 2009 Forecast: Desertification of California in the Near Future Is Almost a Certainty

[NOTE: Most of the links posted below have previously been filtered by Google, WordPress and others. Editor ]

• California: Biggest Desert in N America August 16, 2009
• Warning: California Is Being Mojavefied!
• Can’t have your water and eat the fish, too!
• Alaska: One Fire Away From Exporting Charcoal
• Calif Drought: Schwarzenegger declares a state of emergency
• Images of the Day: California Drought & Folsom Lake
• Desertification
• California ‘Mojavefied’ by 2011?
• Land degradation threatens 1.5 billion people
• Topsoil
• First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities

• Schwarzenegger Proclaims Water Emergency in Nine Counties
• Drought
• A Few Extreme Events Away
• Image of the Day: Southern Spain
• Schwarzenegger Proclaims Water Emergency in Nine Counties

California Drought Intensifies

EXTREME CLIMATIC EVENTS
DROUGHT DISASTER
STATE OF EMERGENCY
.

Worsening Drought in California Prompts Significant Livestock Sell Off 

California is currently experiencing its worst drought on record. In 2013 California experienced its driest year since records began 120 years ago.

• Many California reservoirs are at their lowest levels in years.
• The snow cover is less than 20 percent of the normal at this time of year.
• Lake Shasta, the state’s largest reservoir is holding just over a third of its full capacity,  down from the normal of more than a half at this time of year, according to officials.

‘Extreme’ and ‘Exceptional Drought’ levels are plaguing California, threatening at least 17 communities with water famine.

Gov. Brown Declared Drought State of Emergency earlier this month amid worst dry conditions in 119 years

Brown had earlier described the drought as being “really serious,” adding that 2014 could be California’s third consecutive dry year. “In many ways it’s a mega-drought.”

California Drought Map. Source: U.S. Drought Monitor

California Drought Conditions

“Drought and relatively mild temperatures continue to prevail across the state. In the northwestern part of California, a 1-category degradation from severe to extreme drought (D2 to D3) was made across Humboldt and Trinity Counties. The Central Sierra Snow Lab near the Donner Summit reports 8 inches of snow on the ground, the lowest for this time in January since at least 1946. In the general vicinity of Monterey to Bakersfield, conditions warranted a 1-category downgrade, from extreme to exceptional drought (D3 to D4). A few of the impacts within the D4 area include fallowing of land, wells running dry, municipalities considering drilling deeper wells, and little to no rangeland grasses for cattle to graze on, prompting significant livestock sell off.” —US Drought Monitor

Drought Comparison Table

California Drought Comparison Table (Percent Area). Source: U.S. Drought Monitor

Summary of Drought Impact (Weekly)

• Aquifer at Risk: Water usage rules likely – Palm Springs Desert Sun (CA)

• The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission has urged its customers to voluntarily reduce their water use by 10 percent

• At least 17 California water systems with 60 to 120 days’ worth of water left

• The Pajarito Mountain Ski Area near Los Alamos, New Mexico closed due to lack of snow

• Gov. Mary Fallin of Oklahoma urged all citizens to conserve water

• Feds could seize San Luis Reservoir water belonging to San Joaquin Valley farmers in California affecting Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced, San Joaquin, Stanislaus and Tulare counties

• Cachuma Lake, a crystalline mountain resource, is vanishing

• Wheat not fully emerged in Hardeman County, Texas

• Farmers in Dawson County, Texas were not hopeful about the upcoming growing season

• Dry windy weather in much of Texas has stressed winter forages

• The Marin Municipal Water District in California urged its customers to begin voluntarily trimming their water use by 25 percent

• Zone 7 Water Agency in Alameda County, California urged 20 percent water conservation

• The Alameda County Water District in California urged customers to voluntarily cut their water use by 20 percent

• The Santa Clara Valley Water District planned to vote on whether to adopt additional water conservation measures

• Many California ranchers selling livestock

• Los Angeles, California, dormant vegetation leading to brush fires

• California almonds slightly smaller in 2013

• Voluntary water restrictions urged in Elk Grove, California

[Source: US Drought Monitor]

Related Links

• California Communities Could Run Out of Water in 60 to 120 Days January 29, 2014
• Drought Disaster Declared for Multiple Counties in Four States January 25, 2014
• California Declares Drought State of Emergency January 18, 2014
• California Governor to Declare Drought Emergency January 17, 2014
• High Fire Danger in Southern California amid Driest Conditions on Record January 17, 2014
• 520 Counties across 16 States Declared Crop Disaster Areas due to Drought January 16, 2014

FIRE-EARTH 2009 Forecast: Desertification of California in the Near Future Is Almost a Certainty

[NOTE: Most of the links posted below have previously been filtered by Google, WordPress and others. Editor ]

• California: Biggest Desert in N America August 16, 2009
• Warning: California Is Being Mojavefied!
• Can’t have your water and eat the fish, too!
• Alaska: One Fire Away From Exporting Charcoal
• Calif Drought: Schwarzenegger declares a state of emergency
• Images of the Day: California Drought & Folsom Lake

• Desertification
• California ‘Mojavefied’ by 2011?
• Land degradation threatens 1.5 billion people
• Topsoil
• First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities

• Schwarzenegger Proclaims Water Emergency in Nine Counties
• Drought
• A Few Extreme Events Away
• Image of the Day: Southern Spain
• Schwarzenegger Proclaims Water Emergency in Nine Counties

Agricultural Disaster Declared in 14 States

138 Counties in 14 states have been declared agricultural disaster areas

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated 138 counties (includes 1 Parish) across 14 states as agricultural disaster areas in 6 separate declarations.

[The figure includes both primary and contiguous disaster areas.]

Drought Disaster

USDA has designated 55 counties in five states as agricultural disaster areas due to  damages and losses caused by the ongoing drought. Those areas are

• California:  Alameda, El Dorado, Placer, Solano, Alpine, Glenn, Plumas, Sonoma, Amador, Lake, Sacramento, Sutter, Butte, Marin, San Mateo, Tehama, Colusa, Napa, Santa Cruz, Yolo, Contra Costa, Nevada, Sierra, Yuba, Calaveras, Monterey, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Lassen, San Benito, Santa Clara, Trinity, Mendocino, San Francisco, Shasta, Tuolumne and  Mono counties.

• Nevada: Douglas, Carson City and Washoe counties.

• Texas: Camp, Gregg, Marion, Titus, Cass, Harrison, Morris, Upshur, Bowie, Panola, Rusk, Wood, Franklin, Red River and Smith counties.

• Arkansas: Miller County.

• Louisiana: Caddo Parish.

Agricultural Disaster Designations due to the Drought

At least 1,333 counties across 28 states have now been designated agricultural disaster areas due to the ongoing drought so far this year. [The figure includes both the primary and contiguous drought disaster areas. ]

U.S. Drought Disaster Map as of August 21, 2013. At least 1,333 counties, or 42.41% of all U.S. counties*, were designated as agricultural disaster areas due to the ongoing drought, a net rise of 0.41%  since last week. [The figure includes both primary and contiguous disaster designations.] Source: USDA. Map enhanced by FIRE-EARTH.

Flood Disaster

USDA has declared 41 counties in three states–Florida, Alabama, Georgia–as agricultural disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by excessive rain and flooding that occurred June 4 – August 1, 2013. Those counties are

• Florida: Bay, Citrus, Gadsden, Madison, Calhoun, Clay, Liberty, Marion, Putnam, St. Johns, Santa Rosa, Taylor, Alachua, Columbia, Gilchrist, Jackson, Baker, Dixie, Hamilton, Lafayette, Bradford, Duval, Holmes, Levy, Nassau, Okaloosa, Suwannee, Union, Walton and Washington counties.
  

• Alabama: Covington, Escambia, Geneva and Houston counties.

• Georgia: Camden, Clinch, Lowndes, Ware, Charlton, Echols and  Seminole counties.

Freeze Disaster

USDA has declared 23 counties in three states–Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma–as agricultural disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by a freeze that occurred April 1 – May 10, 2013. Those counties are

• Kansas: Grant, Meade, Stanton, Haskell, Morton, Stevens, Kearny, Seward, Wichita, Clark, Gray, Logan, Finney, Greeley, Scott, Ford, Hamilton and Wallace counties.

• Colorado: Baca and Prowers counties.

• Oklahoma: Beaver, Cimarron and Texas counties.

Hailstorm Disaster

USDA has declared 9 counties in three states–Montana, Idaho, Wyoming–as agricultural disaster areas due to losses caused by a hailstorm August 1, 2013. Those counties are

• Montana: Gallatin, Broadwater, Jefferson, Madison, Meagher and Park counties.

• Idaho: Fremont County.

• Wyoming: Park and Teton counties.

Disaster Caused by Extreme Cold

USDA has designated 8 counties  in Idaho as a agricultural disaster areas due to losses caused by freezing temperatures that occurred April 14 – May 24, 2013.

Those counties are Gem, Ada, Adams, Boise, Canyon, Payette, Valley and Washington.

Related Links

• U.S. Drought Expands  August 22, 2013
• U.S. Drought Map – August 13, 2013
• Drought Disaster Declared in 37 Counties Across 5 States August 15, 2013
• Agricultural Disaster Declared for Dozens of U.S. Counties August 8, 2013
• U-S Drought 2013: Fueled by Heat from Hell? January 31, 2013 [FIRE-EARTH Forecast]
• US: Drought Disaster 2013 [Index Page]
• Agricultural Disasters Index

Drought Disaster Declared in 37 Counties Across 5 States

37 Counties in five states designated as agricultural disaster areas: USDA

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated 37 counties in five states as agricultural disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by the ongoing drought.

The designated disaster areas, both primary and contiguous, spared across the following states:

• California: Del Norte,  Mendocino,  Siskiyou, Humboldt, Shasta, Trinity, Glenn, Lassen, Plumas,  Tehama, Lake, Modoc and Sonoma counties.
• Idaho: Cassia, Gooding, Twin Falls, Blaine,  Jerome, Oneida, Camas, Lincoln, Owyhee, Elmore,  Minidoka and Power counties.
• Oregon:  Jackson,  Josephine, Klamath,  Lake, Curry, Deschutes, Douglas, Harney,  Lane and Curry counties.
• Nevada: Washoe and Elko counties.
• Utah: Box Elder County.

All counties listed above were designated natural disaster areas August 14, 2013, said USDA.

As of August 14, 2013 at least 1,317 U.S. counties were designated as primary or contiguous agricultural disaster areas due to the ongoing drought.

Related Links

• Agricultural  Disasters (Index page)

Disaster Declared for 98 Counties in 9 States

98 Counties in nine states designated as agricultural disaster areas: USDA

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated 98 (ninety-eight) counties in nine states as agricultural disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by the ongoing drought and freeze earlier in the year.

The designated disaster areas, both primary and contiguous, spared across nine states:

• Idaho (23 counties designated as disaster areas)
• Montana (4)
• Nevada (2)
• Oregon (1)
• Wyoming (1)
• Mississippi (41)
• Alabama (4)
• Louisiana (3)
• California (19)

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated 19 counties in California as agricultural disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by the ongoing drought.

The counties designated as primary or contiguous disaster areas are

Calaveras, Orange, San Joaquin, Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, Riverside, San Bernardino, Santa Cruz, Alpine, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego, Stanislaus, Amador, Merced, San Benito, San Mateo and Tuolumne.

Drought disaster has also been declared in 5 other states:

• Idaho: Ada, Elmore, Gem, Owyhee, Canyon, Fremont, Lemhi, Payette, Adams, Butte, Custer, Jefferson, Twin, Falls, Blaine, Camas, Gooding, Madison, Valley, Boise, Clark, Idaho, Teton and Washington counties.
• Montana:  Beaverhead, Gallatin, Madison and Ravalli counties.
• Nevada: Elko and Humboldt counties.
• Oregon: Malheur County.
• Wyoming: Teton County.

All counties listed above were designated natural disaster areas July 31, 2013.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated 41 counties in Mississippi as agricultural disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by a freeze that occurred March 25-29, 2013.

The counties are Clarke, Harrison, Marion, Copiah, Jackson, Pearl, River, Covington, Jones, Perry, Forrest, Lamar, Pike,m George, Lauderdale, Stone, Greene, Leflore, Walthall, Hancock, Lincoln, Wayne, Amite, Hinds, Jefferson Davis, Rankin, Carroll, Holmes, Kemper, Simpson, Claiborne, Humphreys, Lawrence, Smith, Franklin, Jasper, Neshoba, Sunflower, Grenada, Jefferson, Newton and Tallahatchie.

Agricultural disaster due to the freeze has also been declared in 2 other states:

• Alabama: Choctaw, Mobile, Sumter and Washington counties.
• Louisiana: St. Tammany, Tangipahoa and Washington counties.

All counties listed above were designated natural disaster areas July 31, 2013, said USDA.

Previous Entry for Drought Disaster

• Drought Disaster Declared for Montana Counties  July 25, 2013

Drought Disaster Declared in 6 California Counties

USDA designates 6 Calif counties disaster areas amid ongoing drought

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated six counties in California as agricultural disaster areas, both primary and contiguous, due to damages and losses caused by the recent drought.

• The designated counties are Kings, Fresno, Kern, Monterey,  San Luis Obispo and Tulare.

U.S. Monthly Precipitation Map, February 12 – March 13, 2013 (Total Precipitation, Last 30 Days). Source: HPRCC

Related Links

• US: Drought Disaster 2013 [FIRE-EARTH Drought Links]
• Drought Disaster Spreads to Dozens of Counties across 10 States February 28, 2013

Other Disasters, Significant Events

HIV Epidemic in South Africa

More than 28 percent of schoolgirls are HIV positive in South Africa, according to the latest official figures.

• About 4 percent of schoolboys are also HIV positive.
• “It is clear that it is not young boys who are sleeping with these girls. It is old men. We must take a stand against sugar daddies because they are destroying our children,” SA Health Minister told reporters.
• More than 94,000 schoolgirls fell pregnant across the country in 2011.
• “Some (pregnant pupils) are known to the department of education, but there is a number which the education department does not know about. (About) 77,000 girls had abortions at public facilities. We can no longer live like that. We want to put an end to it,” the minister said.
• “There is also a high number of TB infections … there is a lot of death and a lot of illness here. It is for this reason that we chose the district to be one of the 11 in the country where the National Health Insurance program will be piloted.”

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DISASTER CALENDAR — March 14, 2013 —  SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,094 Days Left 

Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.

• SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,094 Days Left to ‘Worst Day’ in the brief Human  History
• The countdown began on May 15, 2011 …

GLOBAL WARNINGS

• WARNING: Human impact 2.85 x Earth’s diminishing carrying capacity
• WARNING: RAPID PLANETARY DECLINE IN PROGRESS!
• Europe: The First Phase of Collapse Has Started 
• United States: The First Phase of Collapse Has Begun

Global Disasters: Links, Forecasts and Background

• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
• Back to the Primordial Future
• The Fate of Energy Dinosaurs
• Mass Die-offs