Jerry Brown Worries About ‘Overpopulation’ Amid CA Drought

06.10.2015 | Surge Wire |

Gov. Jerry Brown is worried that the Golden State will eventually have too many people for the state’s water supplies to support.

Brown made the comments before the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California Board and also warned that global warming was exacerbating California’s drought.
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet” lang=”en”>
<p dir=”ltr” lang=”en”>”At some point, how many people can we accommodate? ” asks <a href=”https://twitter.com/JerryBrownGov”>@JerryBrownGov</a> abt CA’s future at MWD <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/cawater?src=hash”>#cawater</a> meeting. <a href=”http://t.co/r0vEui1uxh”>pic.twitter.com/r0vEui1uxh</a></p>
— John Myers (@johnmyers) <a href=”https://twitter.com/johnmyers/status/608360023023091712″>June 9, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script src=”//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” async=”” charset=”utf-8″></script>

<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet” lang=”en”>
<a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Climatechange?src=hash”>#Climatechange</a> distinguishes <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/California?src=hash”>#California</a>’s current drought from past dry spells, <a href=”https://twitter.com/JerryBrownGov”>@JerryBrownGov</a> tells Metropolitan Water District board.

— James Nash (@jmnash) <a href=”https://twitter.com/jmnash/status/608354563188527105″>June 9, 2015</a>
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California’s four-year drought has put huge strains on the state’s water supplies and forced a public discussion on state water infrastructure and how officials allocate water rights. Gov. Brown has imposed draconian water restrictions in the hopes he can cut water use of metropolitan areas across the state.

Water restrictions have even touched California’s agriculture industry, which is <a href=”http://abc30.com/774938/”>expected</a> to shed 18,000 farm jobs this season, equalling about $1.2 billion in lost wages. But even as thousands of farm hands could lose their jobs, California officials are still flushing millions of acre feet of water every year to protect the endangered Delta Smelt fish.

When it comes to the Delta Smelt, state officials are in a bind. Environmental groups sued state and federal officials for <a href=”http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/article23091918.html”>putting human needs over fish needs</a> and redirecting more fresh water toward cities. The lawsuit ironically came as state officials curbed farm water supplies coming from Mount Shasta.

“It is catastrophic in the San Joaquin Valley, but it will also become catastrophic for large population centers, but right now they are down to where they can water their grass twice a week and they had to cut their use to 25 percent,” California Rep. Devin Nunes <a href=”http://dailycaller.com/2015/06/04/calif-congressman-gives-state-one-more-drought-year-before-cities-tap-water-supply-dry/”>told</a> The Daily Caller’s Kerry Picket in an interview.

“That still allows your grass to be green and all of that. One more year [like the previous two] and nobody will have anything,” Nunes warned.

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