Story at a glance
- Coalinga, California, is expected to run out of water by December.
- Officials estimated they’d need to buy water from private vendors and go from paying $133,000 to $1.3 million for the same amount of water.
- Drought is happening in many parts of the U.S.
(NewsNation) — Historic drought across the United States is leaving some cities desperate for answers.
Coalinga, California, is expected to run out of water by December.
Coalinga City Councilmember Adam Adkisson told NewsNation’s Ashleigh Banfield on Wednesday night that the only workaround will be extremely costly. Officials estimated they’d need to buy water from private vendors and go from paying $133,000 to $1.3 million for the same amount of water.
Coalinga Superintendent Lori Villanueva said it’s not just about having green lawns.
Villanueva lost a portion of her own right lung last year from a drought-aggravated illness, valley fever, that is caused by breathing soil fungus whipped up off the dry ground.
“Some people get a cough, then it goes away. Some people, like myself, it gets in your system and eats away at your lungs. I ended up having two surgeries,” Villanueva said Wednesday night on “Banfield.” “Part of the solution of living in an area like this is being able to have turf that covers the ground, keeps that dust from blowing around. That’s a main way to keep this in control.”
“It’s about not having people breathe in the dust, the agricultural products, and chemicals that are in the soil.”
Drought is not just happening in California. A map from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows the levels of drought around America. Anything yellow, orange, or red is a problem.
In August, about 40% of the United States fell into the moderate to severe categories, and 27% of the country was severe to extreme.