According to Orr, the looming repercussions of the drought will be felt for years down the line and may emerge in yet-unknowable ways. In the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, for instance, species of fish once abundant in the area are now nearly extinct, he said -- a development which poses an ominous question: "What kind of natural systems will we have in California?"
"The environment desperately needs water," he added. "We're very disturbed at the unequal sharing of the burden... There's no principled reason for it."
As to why these industries found themselves exempt from facing the consequences of California's historic drought, Orr said, "The agriculture industry is tremendously powerful in California, and oil and gas are tremendously powerful period."
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