America Abroad: Combating Drought
9am and 8pm, in place of Insight.
Americans, and especially Californians, have had a big dose of severe drought this year. Though it hit the state hard, farmers were the most effected. They continue to worry about the threat the water shortage poses to their multi-million dollar almond, kiwi and walnut crops.
The answer has been to irrigate crops with water that is pumped up from underground stores. The problem is that so many farmers are digging so fast and pumping so much water, that the aquifer levels are in danger of depletion. That puts the agriculture industry ultimately at risk.
We travel to different parts of the world to hear how unrestrained drilling threatens groundwater supplies, but also how some have found solutions by working together.