FACTS

1. A prolonged drought can have a serious impact on crops. Decreased precipitation reduces crop and forage growth and can ultimately result in crop loss. 
2. Drought conditions can increase the level of wind erosion of top soil and increase the risk of fires. Planning ahead can help protect your crops during drought situations.
3. A drought is caused by drier than normal conditions that can eventually lead to water supply problems. Really hot temperatures can make a drought worse by evaporating moisture from the soil. 
4. Drought is among the most devastating of natural hazards – crippling food production, depleting pastures, disrupting markets, and, at its most extreme, causing widespread human and animal deaths. 
5. Droughts can also lead to increased migration from rural to urban areas, placing additional pressures on declining food production. 
6. The pressure to increase crop production in many countries, has resulted in the expansion of land area dedicated to agriculture and the intensification of cropland management through practices such as irrigation, use of large quantities of inputs like inorganic fertilizers and synthetic chemicals for pest and weed control. 

STATS

• About 1.3 million acres of almonds are under cultivation this year, according to the Almond Board. It’s been on a steady rise, drought, or no drought.
• California farmers cut their water use by 14% while increasing productivity by 38%, according to the California Farm Water Coalition.
• California produces 80% of the world’s almonds and has a $6 billion almond industry, but the lack of water is forcing almond growers to make hard decisions about whether to continue growing them as some almond orchards were planted in areas with unreliable water supplies.  Numerous growers could not afford the water and have allowed the trees to die.
• Low water in Western reservoirs translates to the lower hydropower production.  In California, output has fallen to the lowest point in more than five years.  Nationwide, the U.S. Energy Information Administration expects electricity generation from conventional hydro sources to decrease by about 11% in 2021, compared to 2020.
• In Arizona, 99% of the land is undergoing years-long drought that has accelerated.