Drought continues to make the headlines, with the latest U.S. Drought Monitor showing moderate to exceptional drought covers 30.6 percent of the contiguous United States.
Its weekly update also shows that 82 percent of the state of California is in a state of extreme or exceptional drought. Reservoir levels in the state continued to decline, and groundwater wells continued to go dry, the U.S. Drought Monitor says.
The LA Times reports that California’s historic drought has 14 communities on the brink of waterlessness. It quotes Tim Quinn, executive director of the Association of California Water Agencies, saying that communities that have made the list are often small and isolated and have relied on a single source of water without backup sources.
However, Quinn also tells the LA Times that if the drought continues, larger communities could face their own significant problems.
A recent article at CFO.com by Lauren Kelley Koopman, a director in PwC’s Sustainable Business Solutions practice, makes the point that when water-related disruptions affect operations, companies can suffer significant profit and losses and pay higher prices for goods in the supply chain.
Water management issues pose significant operational, regulatory and reputational risks to companies, the article noted.
And a recent report from the University of California found that farmers had spent an extra $500m in pumping extra water to cope with the state’s drought, while the total economic cost to the state’s agricultural industry reached $2.2bn.
For insurers, droughts can be costly. Drought, wildfires and heat waves caused 29 deaths and $385 million in insured losses in the U.S. in 2013, according to Munich Re.
In 2012, drought in various parts of the U.S. caused $15 billion to $17 billion in insured losses, making it the second costliest disaster after Hurricane Sandy.
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