Trump’s Drought for Facts

By: Anne Wright 

On May 27, 2016, while giving a speech in Fresno, California Donald Trump claimed that there was no drought in California because the state has plenty of water. He said, “You have a water problem that is so insane. It is so ridiculous, where they’re taking the water and shoving it out to sea. And I just met with a lot of the farmers, who are great people, and they’re saying, “We don’t even understand it” … I’ve heard it from other friends of mine in California, where they have farms up here and they don’t get water. And I said, “Oh that’s too bad. Is there a drought?” “No, we have plenty of water.” I said, “What’s wrong?” “Well, we shove it out to sea.” And I said, “Why?” And nobody even knows why. And the environmentalists don’t know why. Now, they’re trying to protect a certain kind of three-inch fish.”But Scientists are saying that California is going through a ‘hot’ drought, which is much more severe than a regular drought.

Although Donald Trump claims there is no such thing as a drought in California, scientist and the residence of California will tell you otherwise. There is quite the absence of water in California, and the state is suffering because of it.

The time period between June 2015 and May 2016 has been the third warmest weather on California's record. While months before this the Governor of California, Jerry Brown declared California in a state of emergency because of the severity of the drought.  As a result of this drought, Wildfires have increased, damaging the environment and the ecosystems living in these forests. Aquatic animals such as cold-water fish will also be affected, facing heat stress. This drought is very harmful to the animals living across the state. California greatly relies on snow pack to get their water during the year. Snow pack is all the snow that falls in the Sierra mountains during the winter months and when the snow melts it provides California with the water it needs. But with this drought the water levels have been lower than ever. This could cause major issues to the population on California and their water supply. Along with the environmental issues, this drought has major negative effects on the economy. This drought is expected to cost 2.2 billion dollars and the loss of around 17,100 jobs.

Don’t think just because the drought is in California only the people living there will be affected! As a result of the drought, produce prices will spike across the entire country. Food like, pistachios, walnuts and almonds will not be as accessible.

Altogether, Donald Trump’s claim that the drought in California was fictional, is in and of itself, fictional. There is astounding evidence of the harshness of the drought. Everything from the environment to the economy is being affected. The citizens all across California are working together and making adjustments to their lives in order to help with the sever loss in water.