California's record drought hits produce prices

A looming water storage crisis in California following its driest year overall on record in 2013, has led more than 50 lawmakers in the Golden State to request the declaration of a "STATE DROUGHT EMERGENCY."

Many lakes and streams are drying up. There is little in the way of mountain snowpacks as of the end of December to melt next spring and summer, replenishing the critical irrigation water supplies for California's valley farmers.

If things don't turn wet soon, the California Department of Water Resources plans to allocate "just 5 percent of the water that farms will need for crops in 2014."

Such a puny allocation will result in the continued depletion of local groundwater resources forcing farmers to fallow (not plant) thousands of acres of productive farmland. The state of California will likely see rising food costs, skyrocketing agriculture and urban water rates and the elimination of countless jobs in many regions, especially in the central areas.

Two-thirds of the available water supplies in California are in the northern third of the state. But, the majority of the state's population and industrial production is in the southern third of California. The state has long had a highly developed water storage and distribution system to move supplies of water through canals and pipes to where it is most needed. But, this system can't move water south if reservoir levels remain at the lowest point in 40 years.

The most recent analogous crop year was 2009. California was forced to cut 90 percent of its normal water deliveries to farmers statewide as the insufficient water supplies led to the sudden fallowing of thousands of acres of fields. The unemployment rate in some counties soared to as high as 18 percent.

The price of lettuce, tomatoes and other vegetable crops also soared, both in California and around the rest of the country, where hard winter freezes in Florida and Texas in the mid winter months likewise destroyed fruit and vegetable production.

As California enters a record dry early 2014, things will only go from bad to worse. With the huge number of acres to be fallowed and crop yields running short, we're expecting once again very high unemployment rates in the farm counties.

My California farm clients tell me that they will be "sacrificing row crops to keep their fruit and nut trees alive through the parching drought conditions."

One farmer in the Fresno, Calif., area told me on Friday, Dec. 20, "Cliff, I just have too many straws tapping the dwindling same source of water. It's a no-win situation."

Our long-range weather outlook for California and the drought-parched Desert Southwest is still calling for drier and warmer weather to persist well into the month of January, thanks to a 'La Nada'-enhanced huge ridge of high pressure in the waters of the eastern Pacific Ocean. It is possible, however, that during the late January, February and early March time-frame, California and the thirsty Southwest will finally see some much-needed rains if the high pressure ridge backs off for six to eight weeks before rebuilding again and pushing eastward later next spring and summer into the Great Plains and the Midwest Corn and Soybean Belt threatening newly-planted 2014 crops.

But, as usual, only time will tell.

North Idaho weather outlook

As expected, last Monday's moderate rains, gusty winds and mild temperatures quickly melted the several inches of snow that fell on the valley floor on Friday, Dec. 20.

Early Christmas Day, we still had an inch of snow left on the ground at my station on Player Drive, but most areas in town only had patches remaining of the first plowable snowfall of the quiet 2013-14 season.

While we were mostly devoid of snow at the lower elevations on Christmas Day, there was plenty of snow in the nearby mountains for the skiers and snowboarders of the region.

We were likewise fortunate that we escaped the horrible weather conditions from the Great Lakes into New England that forced hundreds of thousands of people to celebrate Christmas in the icy dark. Our travel conditions on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day across North Idaho were almost perfect. Only a few scattered snow showers or freezing drizzle will hamper local travel through New Year's Day, thanks to a strong ridge of high pressure that's been locked in place for weeks now across the Inland Northwest.

Longer-term, however, I still see a six-to-eight week pattern of slightly colder and snowier than normal weather developing across our part of the country by mid January and persisting at least on-and-off into early March. Then, if we're lucky, the high pressure ridge will rebuild over the Inland Northwest giving us a preview of perhaps a warmer than normal spring season with less precipitation than usual. But, once again, only time will tell.

Have a HAPPY NEW YEAR, folks, weather or not.

Cliff Harris is a climatologist who writes a weekly column for The Press. His opinions are his own. Email sfharris@roadrunner.com