California's Disappearing Water in Photos

by Katherine Gustafson · 2010-02-04 06:00:00 UTC
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California's Central Valley is an agricultural powerhouse, producing a remarkably large portion — at least 8 percent in 2007 — of the total value of the United States' agricultural output. But, reports Lisa M. Hamilton in the Atlantic, the vast supply of water that it takes to turn this arid landscape into a verdant breadbasket is rapidly disappearing.

Farmers obtain water from aquifers and rivers, seeking these sources farther and father away as time goes by. As we launch into this new century, water is often pumped for hundreds of miles to reach the fields of California's Central Valley. It's clear they can't keep it up forever. "Indeed, due to circumstances including climate change, population growth, and environmental degradation, recently the water has begun to run out," writes Hamilton.

She has been exploring this issue as both a photographer and a journalist. Having written a feature article (available here) on the topic for the latest issue of McSweeney's, she now offers a poignant and beautiful photo essay in the Atlantic. In these photos, the water in canals and aqueducts and the great sky over Fresno and Merced Counties are a bell-ringing blue, but beside them the bone-dry land crackles with thirst and the community bakes in the unflinching sun.

Photo: stevendamron via Flickr

Katherine Gustafson is a freelance writer and editor with a background in international nonprofit organizations.
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