Trump to Californians: There Is No Drought
California suffered one of its driest years in 2015. And last year the state hit its driest four-year period on record.
But Donald Trump isn’t sold. The presumptive GOP nominee told supporters in Fresno, Calif., on Friday night that no such dry spell exists.
Trump said state officials were simply denying water to Central Valley farmers to prioritize the Delta smelt, a native California fish nearing extinction — or as Trump called it, “a certain kind of three-inch fish.”
“We’re going to solve your water problem. You have a water problem that is so insane. It is so ridiculous where they’re taking the water and shoving it out to sea,” Trump told thousands of supporters at the campaign event.
Yes, there is a drought
A series of graphics from the Los Angeles Times shows the progression of the drought from 2011 through today, using data from the U.S. Drought Monitor, a federal website that tracks the dry conditions. The drought worsened in 2014 and 2015 and has marginally subsided this year.
The most recent Drought Monitor report says that over the past week parts of northeastern California and northern Nevada recorded improvements, and “overall conditions have continued to steadily improve during the past year.”