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The President: California is living through some
of its driest years in a century.
Right now, almost 99 percent of California
is drier than normal.
California is our biggest economy.
California is our biggest agricultural producer.
So, what happens here matters to every working
American, right down to the cost of food that you
put on your table.
And that's why last month Governor Brown declared a
state of emergency.
And together, our administrations launched
a coordinated response.
But they're just the first step.
Droughts have obviously been a part of life out
in the West since before any of us were around.
And water politics in California
have always been complicated.
But scientific evidence shows that a changing
climate is going to make them more intense.
Scientists will debate whether a particular storm
or drought reflects patterns
of climate change.
But one thing that is undeniable
is that changing temperatures influence drought
in at least three ways.
Number one, more rain falls
in extreme downpours.
So, more water is lost to runoff
than captured for use.
Number two, more precipitation in the
mountains falls as rain rather than snow,
so rivers run dry earlier in the year.
Number three, soil and reservoirs lose more water
to evaporation year round.
We can't think of this simply as a zero-sum game.
It can't just be a matter of, "There's going
to be less and less water, so I'm going to grab more
and more of a shrinking share of water."
Instead, what we have to do is all come together
and figure out how are we all going to make sure
that agricultural needs, urban needs, industrial
needs, environmental and conservation concerns
are all addressed.
And that's going to be a big project,
but it's one that I'm confident we can do.
We're going to have to all work together in the years
to come to make sure that we address the challenge
and leave this incredible land embodied to our
children and grandchildren in at least as good shape
as we found it.