Almost all the vegetables eaten in the United States are produced in the Colorado River region.
There are drought areas especially in the western part of the country and in the Midwest. This year, the drought has also hit the northeastern part of the United States, such as the states of Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
The soil in the northeastern part of the United States, i.e. New England, has hardened as it dries, so the intermittent rains have not properly absorbed into the ground to moisten it.
New England has experienced droughts often before, but now there have been several in a few years in a row. Drought periods were recorded in 2016, 2017, 2020, 2021 and now 2022.
Superintendent of the Massachusetts Water Works Vandana Rao believes that the increase in drought is due to global warming.
– We hope that now we have only the peak of drought and in the future we will get many years of normal rain again. But this could also be the start of a long-term trend, says Rao.
Climate scientist Michael Mann tells the news agency AP that the region has suffered from a phenomenon called “stuck jet stream”. The weather phenomenon brings dryness to some regions and heavy rains to others. The phenomenon is believed to become more common with climate change.
According to the weather forecast for the next few days, the worst drought seems to be easing in New England.
Too much use of Colorado River water
The Colorado River winding its way through the American Rockies is an important source of irrigation water for farms in the region. Before the river has time to flow into the Gulf of California, about 70 percent of its water has been used to irrigate the fields. About 40 million people use the water of the Colorado River. Now the river is mostly just mud and pebbles.
In recent years, climate change has reduced the amount of rain and winter snow in the mountains. This is bad news for farmers. About 90 percent of the vegetables eaten in the winter in the United States come from the Colorado River.
The use of river water is already limited. In addition to this, seven states, California, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming, must agree among themselves how to reduce water use by 15 percent. If the states cannot reach an agreement, the federal authorities will issue those regulations themselves.
The states have already started pointing at each other and demanding sacrifices from their neighbors to protect their own interests.
– It’s not fun to sit at the table and think about who has to sacrifice and how much, stated the negotiator of the Metropolitan Water District company that brings water to southern California Bill Hasencamp.
In the future, in addition to saving water, the states will also have to consider technological solutions to the growing water shortage. One solution could be plants that remove salt from seawater.
The latest weather forecast says that rain is coming to the southernmost part of the United States from the direction of the Gulf of Mexico. However, the rainfall area is not reaching the Colorado River basin or California.