President Barack Obama Announced Four New Relief Actions For worst Drought Effected California Which is experiencing some of its driest years in a century .
. On Friday, President Obama headed to California to tour drought-affected areas and talk to those affected by impacts of one of the state’s worst droughts in over 100 years. While there, President Obama announced new actions that the Administration will take to help the farmers+ ranchers+ small businesses+ and communities being impacted.
President Obama laid out these Administration actions while touring fields from Joe and Maria Gloria Del Bosque’s farm that will lay fallow this year because of the drought:
Remedial Actions Are As Under
[First] we’re accelerating $100 million of funds from the farm bill that I signed last week to help ranchers. For example, if their fields have dried up, this is going to help them feed their livestock.
[Second], last week, we announced $20 million to help hard-hit communities, and today, we’re announcing up to $15 million more for California and other states that are in extreme drought.
[Third], I’m directing the Interior Department to use its existing authorities, where appropriate, to give water contractors flexibility to meet their obligations.
[ fourth], I’m directing all federal facilities in California to take immediate steps to curb their water use, including a moratorium on water usage for new, non-essential landscaping projects.
Secretary Vilsack, who joined the President on Friday, has already declared 27 counties as primary natural disaster areas, making farmers and ranchers eligible for emergency loans. Over the past two weeks, the Department of Agriculture and the Department of the Interior have released new funds for conservation and irrigation; investments to upgrade water infrastructure; and have partnered with California to stretch the water supply as much as possible. In addition, last week as part of the Climate Action Plan that President Obama put forward last summer, the Department of Agriculture announced seven new “climate hubs” to help farmers and ranchers adapt their operations to a changing climate.
California is experiencing some of its driest years in a century , almost 99 percent of California is drier than normal.
Courtesy White House