Impacts of the California Drought from 2007-2009

California's three-year drought, which ended with this season's cool and wet weather, had complicated and serious impacts that have been poorly understood and reported. Some of the impacts were expected; others were surprising. The Pacific Institute has just completed a nine-month assessment of new data from California's agricultural, energy, and environmental sectors to evaluate actual consequences of the drought for the state.
Analysis of state and federal data released over the past year finds that contrary to much of the media reporting, California's agricultural community proved flexible and resilient, generating agri­cultural revenues in 2007, 2008, and 2009 that were the highest on record. And agriculture-related occupations remained a stable portion of total jobs available in areas directly impacted by water supply restrictions. Less frequently reported were the substantial impacts on energy production and aquatic ecosystems during the drought, which were economically and environmentally significant.

Read more at http://www.pacinst.org/reports/california_drought_impacts/

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• Drought
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