Courtesy of Mish.
An email from reader “Bombillo” got me looking at the drought situation in California once again. Bombillo writes …
Hi Mish,
Hope all is well with you. I see you have your wine conference coming up with a great speaker roster!
The California drought is now going to grind into the brutal summer season with the full effects to be seen shortly. I have read that since the San Joaquin Valley is not going to be receiving any irrigation water from Federal canal projects (first time ever) a half million acres of land will go fallow this year there.
Since ag is going to be shut down, the workers that man those operations are moving elsewhere. This in turn is causing a collapse in student enrollment at the public schools where school district funds are allocated on per pupil attendance. There is talk about giving the districts money even though there will not be anyone in these schools.
I am not certain how all this will play out but the price of beef, produce of all type, fruits and nut prices will go up nationwide, if not worldwide. We have members of the Franzia and the Mondavi families at the resort right now, and even though they have a high value added product their water costs and access have them worried.
Life has a way of playing these tricks but after wailing about these things it looks very much as though a huge El Nino is building up (unusually high ocean water temps in the eastern Pacific) something we haven’t seen since 1998. This means a torrential rainy season is likely coming up for the winter of 2014/15.
One has to wonder though, with ever more people and ever more stretched/stressed supply chains, how close to some sort of disaster we are.
I read your interesting article about the Inevitable Bankruptcy of Los Angeles, a response to a question really, posed by a home owner in LA wanting to know what affect he may see from a pension system collapse. Your comment was to expect tax increases and invention of new taxes.
I have first-hand experience with two outrageous tax grabs that prompted me to write state congressmen, not that it will do any good whatsoever.
Bombillo
California Drought Spawns Well Drilling Boom
ABC News reports California Drought Spawns Well Drilling Boom. …
