Argumentative Essay: Why Should The California Drought

Imagine a life without water. How dry the ground would be, how little produce would be created, and how outside fires (such as bonfires) would be banned due to the scare of a forest fire appearing. The south has been dealing with a drought the past few months, yet California has been battling with this for years. Due to this drought, the government has placed restriction on water usage. Farmers are not a part of this governor’s restriction though. Many argue that farmers should conserve water better by using more drought tolerant crops and I highly agree with them. The farmers and the government, on the other hand, believe that the drought has already affected them enough so they should not be restricted. The water should be better shared between
Some areas in California are getting hit harder than others, such as Central Valley (Shafer and Raff 6). Gladys Colunga of Tulare County told the interviewer, “My husband came home one day from work, he took a perfectly good shower, and then I went to use the restroom. And when I flushed the toilet, nothing but dirt came out” (Shafer and Raff 7). This is just one family suffering. Her husband’s hours have been cut this summer due to the drought. Their homemade well has dried up. They have six children. These once average residents of California are now suffering due to the drought and the limited water restricted to them. To fetch water, they must haul it from neighbors and friends in barrels. The way we, Americans, live in this century is being taken away from families like this one. Mrs. Colunga also stated, “…we have children and we need water. I mean, we can live without a TV, we can live without cellphones, but we can’t live without water. We have the right to have that basic thing. It’s water” (Shafer and Raff 7). Mrs. Colunga is right, their basic human needs deserve to be met. They would not be suffering as bad if the water was split between farmers and people like