Man Caused Disaster -- California's Blistering Drought

It has Californians timing their showers, driving dirty cars and staring at brown lawns and empty swimming pools is a man caused disaster, according to critics, who say the Golden State’s misguided environmental policies allow much needed freshwater to flow straight into the Pacific.  The critics say California gets  plenty of water to meet its needs, if it were only managed properly.

But the vast majority of the state’s 1,400 dams and reservoirs, in the two massive systems and smaller ones that supply southern California, were built well before the 1980s. Environmentalists have since stopped the construction of water storage and delivery systems through legal and political actions. They have also fought to ensure that captured water is released into streams and the ocean -- rather than the water delivery system -- in order to boost fish populations and dilute the salinity of the delta.

Mark Baird is president of a Water Rights Group in Northern California called Scott Valley Protect Our Water. He is also the leading grassroots advocate and spokesman for The State of Jefferson. 

Tags:  California, water, drought, Delta smelt, fish, environmentalist, Sacramento, Jerry Brown, Obama, Kamala Harris