California Burning

By SETH SANDRONSKY

A record drought and temperatures over 100 degrees Fahrenheit are fueling wildfires across California, a blue state with 40 million residents. Ample dry brush and trees from a lack of winter rain has been and is a plague on the Golden State.

California’s current drought has been underway for the past 10 years. This lack of precipitation in a state with an agriculture output that an immigrant labor force harvests to feed the nation and world, connects with atmospheric heating from carbon emissions.

According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), between Jan. 1, 2021 and July 18, 2021, there were 4,392 wildfires with 32,563 acres burned versus 3,645 wildfires and 32,886 acres burned for the same interval in 2020. Wildfires in the state are up 17% year-over-year.

CAL FIRE protects and stewards more than 31 million acres of California’s wildlands, owned privately, while delivering emergency services in 36 of the Golden State’s 58 counties. Nearly all of these counties are in a drought state of emergency. CAL FIRE gets help from the US Forest Service battling wildfires. California prisoners also fight fires.

Droughts have impacts beyond creating the conditions for wildfires in California. One of potent note is the negative effect on hydroelectric power. Consider what is underway at Lake Oroville, located in Northern California’s Butte County. There, the Edward Hyatt power plant is at 30% water capacity. That dire situation has spurred state officials to warn that such low levels could drop more and lead to a temporary closure later in 2021.

Recently, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newson requested Californians to cut their water usage by 15% on a volunteer basis versus 2020 levels. “The entire state is in a drought today,” he said in a statement, “and to meet this urgent challenge we must all pull together and do our part to reduce water use as California continues to build a more climate resilient water system to safeguard the future of our state.”

Michael Miiller is the director of government relations for the California Association of Winegrape Growers. “The governor’s executive order sends the commonsense message that we all need to take water conservation very seriously,” Miiller told The Progressive Populist. “Collecting the data required by the executive order is critically needed in responding to the drought. To the extent that the state Department of Water Resources takes steps to encourage actions in agriculture to reduce water usage, winegrape growers are already taking water conservation steps through the California Sustainable Winegrowing Program. This includes water reuse and drip irrigation.”

Dan Bacher is an environmental journalist who has a different view. “Corporate agribusiness water contractors have been taking the disproportionate share of state and federal water project water for decades,” he told The Progressive Populist. “Little water is being saved to keep salmon and other fish species alive—while corporate growers continue to profit off irrigating almonds and other export crops during a drought.”

Seth Sandronsky lives and works in Sacramento. He is a journalist and member of the Pacific Media Workers Guild. Email sethsandronsky@gmail.com.

From The Progressive Populist, August 15, 2021

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