Is California’s Water Crisis Man-Made?

California is facing what some scientists are calling the worst drought in 1,000 years, and it is impacting not only the West Coast but also America, simply because the state produces so much of the nation’s fruit and vegetables.

While many have assumed the state’s water crisis is a natural disaster, others are arguing that there’s a man-made element – and that federal and state laws and regulations have led to the crisis we’re witnessing.

One of those is Dr. Bonner Cohen, a senior fellow with the National Center for Public Policy Research, who is this week’s guest on Off The Grid Radio.

Dr. Cohen says California politicians could and should have planned for this scenario but did nothing, and essentially chose to protect a few endangered fish instead of protect the state’s 38 million people.

Dr. Cohen also tells us:

• How state laws and regulations prevented more dams and reservoirs from being built, even when they were desperately needed.
• What weather patterns from decades and centuries ago should tell politicians.
• How desalination could be the solution to the drought problem, even if the movement is off to a late start.
• Why California governors, stretching all the way back to the 1970s, are to blame.
• How, contrary to conventional wisdom, California does get enough water each year to survive.

California’s story is one of a lack of preparation – and one that every state, homesteader and survivalist should follow. Listen as Dr. Cohen tells us what California should have done, what it should do now, and what we all could learn from the disaster.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 25:00 — 28.6MB)