Since 2012, California's been suffering through a historically severe drought affecting over 90 percent of the Golden State. Residents continue to reel from the consequences as another rainy season left snow-packs well below average, ...See moreSince 2012, California's been suffering through a historically severe drought affecting over 90 percent of the Golden State. Residents continue to reel from the consequences as another rainy season left snow-packs well below average, reservoirs dangerously low, and cities, towns and agricultural communities jockeying for whatever water's left. As wells go dry, orchards are uprooted and left to die, livestock destroyed, and workers remain unemployed and useless. On assignment for The New Yorker, photographers Matt Black and Ed Kashi spent time with Central Valley farmers and shepherds, documenting their ongoing struggles and the evident domino effect of severe water shortages. As Dana Goodyear writes, for the farmers of the Central Valley, the country's fruit basket, salad bowl, and dairy case, the future seems especially bleak.
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