Drought In San Joaquin Valley

Because the valley is able to provide so much, in terms of crops, perhaps that is the reason why people may want to move there. The poverty rate of those living in the San Joaquin valley, about twenty percent, was way below the nation's poverty rate of about fourteen percent. The rate of educated people, including adults with a high school diploma, is also much lower in this valley. According to the Joint center for political and economic studies San Joaquin Valley place matters team, the life expectancy of the residents ranges widely from sixty nine years or less, in the impoverished locations, to ninety years or more in more well-off areas. These numbers are to give you an idea of the people who live in the San Joaquin …show more content…
The air quality of the San Joaquin Valley is believed to be the most polluted in the nation, according to the Fresno Metro Ministry in their presentation of “Air Pollution 101.” With California in a drought, problems develop in the water for consumption as well as the water for agriculture, a big factor in the profits that the valley receives. Water companies are then forced to dig into the aquifers, or naturally forming underground water supplies, which have caused the land to sink. All of these environments in the San Joaquin Valley have been affected greatly by the drought in California and have resulted in ill effects to the valley residents, such as shortening their …show more content…
But with California in a drought, one may ask, how is it that the San Joaquin Valley is still prospering? The answer is simple: aquifers, or as dictionary.reference.com defines it, “any geological formation containing or conducting ground water, especially for one that supplies the water for areas such as wells or springs.” When there is no water from the sky or flowing from the reservoirs, the valley farmers must go underground. Farmers and companies are digging into the ground to get the water that they need. It is a race to the bottom and the valuable aquifers beneath may soon be depleted. Former Sacramento mayor, Phil Isenberg stated in the San Jose Mercury News newspaper, “It's our savings account, and we're draining it. . .at some point there will be none left” (Krieger). The depletion of the aquifers causes another major problem, other than the lack of agricultural jobs, profit, and water. The emptied, or low in water, aquifers cause the land to