Human Toll of California's Drought A "Man-Made Disaster"

Reprinted from Amy Ridenour’s National Center for Public Policy Research Blog at http://www.conservativeblog.org.

National Center Senior Fellow Dr. Bonner Cohen was featured today on “Money with Melissa Francis” on the Fox Business Network, where he discussed the government-caused disaster that is occurring as a result of California’s tough drought restrictions.  Going back further to the current dilemma’s origins, Bonner noted this disaster is rooted in misguided policies to save a fish already considered by many to be a lost cause.

As previously reported on the Fox News web site, Bonner called the California drought a “man-made disaster.”  He said:

Southern California is an arid part of the world where droughts — even severe droughts — are commonplace, and knowing this, you’d think the government of California would have included this mathematical certainty in its disaster preparedness planning, but the government has done nothing, not even store rain, as the population has continued to grow.

On his 4/20/15 Fox Business News interview, Bonner was also quick to point out that Californians and their businesses and, by extension, all of the people who benefit from them are at risk because the government is “trying to keep the delta smelt and other related fish alive.”

Bonner noted:

[W]hat you have here is an attempt, through a diversion of water from where it should have gone — namely, to the people of California.  Instead, it has gone for the purpose of flushing water to provide habitat for a fish that is on the verge of extinction anyway.

Reiterating that California’s environment is predictable enough to anticipate and prepare for droughts, Bonner said officials there have nonetheless failed in their duty to protect their constituents:

What does any responsible government do?  It adopts policies that enable the citizenry to be prepared for what they know is coming.  And precisely that hasn’t happened in California.

You have seen water directed away from agriculture, away from drinking water, away from water to bathe in for the sake of a fish which is so far gone now they can’t even find breeding pairs for them.

Watch the entire interview below.

Reprinted from Amy Ridenour’s National Center for Public Policy Research Blog at http://www.conservativeblog.org.