President Barack Obama is threatening to veto proposed drought-relief legislation for California, at the same time a new study shows the state is experiencing its worst drought in 1,200 years.
On Friday, the White House said Obama is expected to veto the proposed House bill, which would capture storm runoff for human use, boost irrigation services, and boost dam planning, reports
The Washington Times.
But Obama is likely to veto it, said the White House, because it makes "operational determinations regarding the use of limited water resources during the ongoing drought." In addition, the White House said the bill could lead to litigation over environmental protection issues.
California Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer further said there are concerns that the bill will "reignite water wars" in the state, as it overrides federal protections that are in place. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California, though, supports the legislation.
The Obama administration is taking the drought seriously, and has undertaken several steps to help those most affected by the ongoing drought, said the White House, but the proposed bill "appears to include a number of potentially conflicting mandates which can create confusion and undermine environmental laws, making it ripe for future litigation.”
Meanwhile, a new study published in the American Geophysical Union Journal says California's three-year drought is the state's worst in 1,200 years, reports the
Los Angeles Times.
There have been other three-year cycles that were more dry, but record-high temperatures and "anomalously low" rainfalls have put the years between 2012-2014 as the worst drought in over a millennium.
Daniel Griffin, an assistant professor in the University of Minnesota's department of geography, said it is clear that drought conditions will continue.
Griffin, who has been researching tree rings, moisture, and drought in the state for more than 10 years, paired with paleoclimatologist Kevin Anchukaitis, of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, co-wrote the article to determine how the current drought compares to those of the past.
They studied the rings of blue oak trees in Central and Southern California, comparing them with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration records to reconstruct levels from hundreds of years ago.
The research determined that over the past 1,200 years, three-year droughts happened about 37 times, and that 44% of three-year droughts can last for four years or more.
“It was a surprise,” Anchukaitis said of the extreme findings. “I don’t think we expected to see that at all.”
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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