FACT SHEET: President Obama Leading Administration-wide Drought Response

As communities across California struggle with the impacts of one of the state’s worst droughts in over 100 years, President Obama is committed to ensuring that his Administration is doing everything it can help the farmers, ranchers, small businesses, and communities being impacted.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Department of the Interior (DOI) and other federal agencies are using their existing authorities and working closely with their state and local partners as the state of California responds to and recovers from this historic drought.

New Actions to Help Respond to the Drought

• $100 million in livestock disaster assistance for California producers. The 2014 Farm Bill contains permanent livestock disaster programs including the Livestock Forage Disaster Program which will help producers in California and other areas recover from the drought.  At President Obama’s direction, USDA is making implementation of the disaster programs a top priority and plans to have the programs available for sign up in 60 days. Producers will be able to sign up for the livestock disaster programs for losses not only for 2014 but for losses they experienced in 2012 and 2013. While these livestock programs took over a year to get assistance out the door under the last Farm Bill– USDA has committed to cut that time by more than 80 percent and begin sign-up in April. California alone could potentially receive up to $100 million for 2014 losses and up to $50 million for previous years.
• $15 million in targeted conservation assistance for the most extreme and exceptional drought areas. This includes $5 million in additional assistance to California and $10 million for drought-impacted areas in Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Colorado and New Mexico. The funding is available through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) administered by USDA. The assistance helps farmers and ranchers implement conservation practices that conserve scarce water resources, reduce wind erosion on drought-impacted fields and improve livestock access to water.
• $5 million in targeted Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) Program assistance to the most drought impacted areas of California to protect vulnerable soils. EWP helps communities address watershed impairments due to drought and other natural occurrences. This funding will help drought-ravaged communities and private landowners address watershed impairments, such as stabilizing stream banks and replanting upland sites stripped of vegetation.
•  $60 million has been made available to food banks in the State of California to help families that may be economically impacted by the drought. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is providing help to food banks through The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP). 
• 600 summer meal sites to be established in California’s drought stricken areas. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is working with the California Department of Education to target efforts to expand the number of Summer Food Service Program meal sites this summer.  There are expected to be close to 600 summer meal sites throughout the drought stricken areas.
• $3 million in Emergency Water Assistance Grants for rural communities experiencing water shortages. U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is making $3 million in grants available to help rural communities that are experiencing a significant decline in the quality or quantity of drinking water due to the drought obtain or maintain water sources of sufficient quantity and quality.  These funds will be provided to eligible, qualified communities by application through USDA-Rural Development’s Emergency Community Water Assistance Grants (ECWAG). California state health officials have already identified 17 small community water districts in 10 counties that are at risk of running out of water in 60-120 days. This number is expected to increase if current conditions persist.
•  Reducing Federal facilities’ water usage: In line with the directive Governor Brown made to state agencies when he declared a drought emergency last month, the President has directed Federal facilities in California to take steps to immediately curb water use, including a moratorium on water usage for new, non-essential landscaping projects and to redouble efforts to fulfill prior commitments to longer-term water use reduction at Federal facilities.  This builds on efforts already underway, including the President’s call to Federal agencies to improve water use efficiency for drinking water at Federal facilities across the country by 26 percent and improve water use efficiency for industrial, landscaping, and agricultural water by 20 percent.  The Administration is already ahead of schedule towards meeting these goals.
• Operational Flexibilities: The President directed the Department of the Interior to work with water contractors and communities to adjust and speed changes to key water projects, and give water contractors flexibility to meet their obligations, as appropriate and while maintaining important environmental safeguards.  In addition, NOAA, EPA, the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) and the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) are working daily with their state counterparts to examine possible ways to help alleviate water quality and water supply problems caused or exacerbated by the drought.
•  Investing in climate resilience. In addition to responding to the immediate drought in California, the President believes that we must do more to help communities across the country become more resilient to the effects of climate change.  Recent events have reinforced our knowledge that our communities and economy remain vulnerable to extreme weather and natural hazards.  For that reason, the President’s 2015 Budget that will be released next month will include a new $1 billion Climate Resilience Fund.  Through this Fund, the President proposes that we:
  • Invest in research and unlock data and information to better understand the projected impacts of climate change and how we can better prepare our communities and infrastructure.
  • Help communities plan and prepare for the impacts of climate change and encourage local measures to reduce future risk.
  • Fund breakthrough technologies and resilient infrastructure that will make us more resilient in the face of changing climate.

Today’s Actions Build on Steps Taken by Agencies across the Federal Government to Help Drought-Stricken Counties

NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION (NOAA)

• Real-time Weather and Hydrologic Information: NOAA’s National Weather Service, through its local Weather Forecast Offices and River Forecast Centers are generating specialized analyses and forecasts to meet California’s needs.  The River Forecast Centers, for example, produce stream flow and runoff forecasts that help inform water supply decisions.

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE (USDA)

• Emergency Agriculture Loans: The U.S. Department of Agriculture declared 54 counties in California as primary natural disaster areas due to drought, making farmers and ranchers in those counties eligible for assistance through emergency loans.
• Conservation: USDA/NRCS has made $20 million available from its Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) for agricultural conservation enhancements on key agricultural lands in California. These enhancements include irrigation efficiency, cover crops, orchard pruning, and protection of grazing lands. The funds will be divided into two pools: grazing lands and cropland. Cropland with a reduced water allocation of at least 85% will receive the highest priority.
• The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has also announced up to $15 million in Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) to state and local governments, Tribes, universities, businesses and agricultural producers. These grants are dedicated to stimulating the development and adoption of innovative conservation approaches and technologies, including those that will help communities adapt to drought and climate change. 
• Climate Preparedness: USDA announced last week the establishment of climate hubs across the country that will help farmers, ranchers and communities get the information and data they need to make informed decisions around a changing climate. One center was established at the University of California, Davis.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

• Resources to Upgrade Infrastructure: The Bureau of Reclamation and the Natural Resources Conservation Service recently announced $14 million in grants through Reclamation’s WaterSMART program and USDA’s Agricultural Water Enhancement Program and Environmental Quality Incentive Program to upgrade water delivery infrastructure and on-farm irrigation equipment to conserve water.
•  Water Resource Management: The Bureau of Reclamation finalized its “2014 Plan for the Central Valley Project.” The plan outlines actions that can be taken in the near-term to manage ongoing water supply challenges such as expanding operational flexibility and streamlining the water transfer process.  The Bureau of Land Management is increasing monitoring of drought sensitive hydrologic resources including springs, streams, and riparian areas. In Northeast California, the BLM has sent livestock grazing permittees drought notification letters warning of potential reductions of use and identifying options available to them.
• Wildfire Preparedness: The U.S. Forest Service and CAL-FIRE, have boosted fire management resources to 7-day staffing and is engaged in increased coordination. BLM is prepared to submit a fire severity funding request at the instant it is needed.
• Real-time Water Flow Monitoring: The U.S. Geological Survey is measuring stream flow through the Sacramento – San Joaquin Delta and throughout the state. USGS is re-calibrating stream flow monitors in the Delta during these unprecedented low water levels to assure accurate measurements of water availability. USGS is briefing resource agencies on the latest scientific and technical information regarding water management options and is monitoring groundwater availability and quality and studying the impacts of subsidence due to groundwater withdrawal. USGS continues to monitor hazards that could affect water availability and the effects of drought on plant and animal populations.

U.S. SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION (SBA)

• Providing Disaster Loans: To date, the Small Business Administration (SBA) has followed USDA’s 54 disaster declarations in California counties and neighboring counties in Nevada and Oregon, providing a pathway for small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives and non-farm small businesses that are economically affected by the drought in their community to apply for SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL).

FEDERAL EMERGNECY MANAGEMENT AGENCY (FEMA)

• Coordination: FEMA through its California regional office remains in constant contact and coordination with the State of California through the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES).

U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS

• Operational Readiness: The US Army Corps of Engineers is working with stakeholders and partners to ensure that Corps operated dams in California make best use of available flows for drought management purposes without affecting authorized project purposes, such as flood risk management.

Press Briefing by Senior Administration Officials on the Visit of King Abdullah of Jordan

Aboard Air Force One En Route Fresno, California

2:30 P.M. EST

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  So we will do this on background as three senior administration officials.  I’ll give a little bit of a topper, just to give you guys some flavor, some of which you’re already gotten from Jay and from Eric, on the briefing -- or on the meeting tonight with the King of Jordan.  And then I will open it up.     

Q    I was going to ask you tell us about anything the President may be announcing tonight in terms of deliverables.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Sure.  So I don’t want to get ahead of anything that the President may or may not announce. I think suffice it to say, as everybody knows, Jordan has an extraordinary burden in hosting almost 600,000 refugees from the Syrian crisis.  We are constantly engaged in conversations with them about what more we can do to help support their assistance to these refugees and their own budget and economy as they deal with that. 

So I don’t want to get ahead of anything the President may or may not announce, but suffice it to say it would be a topic of conversation in the meeting tonight.

So with that, let me just give you a little bit of a laydown.  Obviously, as you guys know, the President is going to host a working dinner with King Abdullah this evening at Sunnylands, the Annenberg retreat.  Jordan is an invaluable ally, close friend of the United States, and Sunnylands offers a private location, a less formal setting that will allow the President to have a wide-ranging discussion with the King. 

The meeting is really –- hosting him at Sunnylands -- a demonstration of both our partnership with Jordan, the warm friendship that the President has with King Abdullah, and our friendship with the people of Jordan.  So that's one of the reasons that we picked Sunnylands as a location, as opposed to doing it in Washington where they’ve met on previous occasions. 

The President looks forward to discussing with King Abdullah opportunities to promote peace, prosperity and reform.  I would expect that they will discuss opportunities to strengthen the U.S.-Jordan strategic partnership, how to advance our political, economic and security cooperation.  And obviously they will continue consultations on Syria and the negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians on finding a durable, comprehensive Middle East peace solution.

The President, I think it’s also important to note, will have an opportunity to hear from the King about how the King has advanced Jordan’s economic and political stability and some of the reforms that he’s been working on since he was last briefed on this by the King in April 2013, when they met, and how the U.S., importantly, can help support the King’s vision for the future of Jordan.

The two leaders will also discuss the U.S. commitment to assisting Jordan meet its economic challenges -- and that goes to the question about Syrian refugees in particular.  We are committed, as you know, to working with Jordan to support approximately 600,000 Syrian refugees at this point in Jordan and Jordanian host communities, the majority of which now are in host communities as opposed to in the camps.  I know that gets sort of a lot of press, but a lot of them are within urban areas in Jordan now also.

Jordan and the United States both strongly support the Geneva II process and efforts to find a political solution to the crisis.  And I also expect that they will discuss, as the Vice President did earlier this week with the King, the growing threat of extremists –- the extremist threat emanating from the Syrian crisis.  So it’s safe to say that will be a topic of discussion.

Also Jordan is a key stakeholder in the Middle East peace process, as you guys know.  And we have deep appreciation for the King’s support for the negotiations.  So the President and the King will be able to review the status of the talks and our efforts to realize a viable, independent Palestinian state alongside a secure Jewish state of Israel -- two nations enjoying self-determination, security and peace.

And again, since we expect this would be wide-ranging, I know some people have asked will they discuss Iran, so I would say yes.  I would expect they would touch on the ongoing P5-plus-1 negotiations with Iran to try and reach a comprehensive solution, and the President will have an opportunity to brief the King and sort of bring him up to speed on where we are in that process as well.

So with that, that's sort of a framework of the meeting.  I will just open it up for questions and let our two senior administration officials sort of field anything that you have.

Q    How much pressure is dealing with the refugee crisis putting on the King’s government?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Well, I think quite a significant amount of pressure.  As my colleague mentioned, there are almost 600,000 refugees -- Syrian refugees in Jordan.  The Jordanian government has had to help support them in Jordan, obviously with help from the international community, but a lot of these refugees are living in Jordanian communities, as my colleague mentioned.  They’re not all in refugee camps.  So that's put significant strain on the Jordanian economy, which is already under significant pressure even before the Syrian conflict.

We also know that the Jordanians face the cutoff of gas from Egypt given that the pipeline has been blown up now several times, which has added to the challenges that Jordan has had meeting its energy demands.  So they’re on track with the IMF agreement that they reached a couple of years ago, which we think is really important.  We’ve also tried to do as much as possible. We’ve provided over a billion dollars of assistance in 2012-2013. We’re on track to do the same thing in 2014.

Q    With a B?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Yes.  Total assistance.  And we’ve also urged our other partners to see how they can help the Jordanians, as well -- partners in the Gulf, in Europe and elsewhere -- both as part of an effort to help neighboring states deal with the spillover from the Syrian conflict, but also to help Jordan move forward in its reform agenda, which we strongly support.

Q    Can you talk to us about how significant a portion of the jihadis in Syria now you believe to be Jordanian?  How big a problem is that?  And is that an issue that the President and the King will discuss tonight?  How do you sort of quantify that?  What’s going on there?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  I’m not sure that we’ve talked about the breakdown of jihadis in Syria by nationality.  I mean, it’s a problem --

Q    -- a significant component, though, right?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  There are jihadists from a variety of Arab countries.  There are also jihadists from outside the Arab world who are fighting in Syria, as we know from some of the videos that we’ve seen.  So I think it’s a problem that all of the regional governments know they have to address together.

We’re working pretty closely with Jordan, with Turkey, with Lebanon, with Iraq to try to not only stem the flow of foreign fighters into Syria, but also to make sure that we interdict young men who intend to travel to Syria to fight in the conflict before they get to that point of trying to smuggle themselves in, basically.

The Jordanians have been very good partners, though, on counterterrorism in general.  We have a very strong relationship across the board.  That's been the case for many decades.  So I think the conversation between the President and the King is going to be one in which they both share the same goals and will discuss how we can build on the cooperation and support that we’ve already offered Jordan to do more together to address this growing threat in Syria.

Q    So obviously the crisis in Syria has a destabilizing effect to some degree on the region.  Would you say that effect is getting worse, or it’s kind of destabilizing but it’s kind of at the same level?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Clearly, every day that the conflict in Syria goes on brings with it new challenges for the region as a whole.  I think the humanitarian crisis, the growing extremism problem, the burdens that the crisis is imposing on neighboring countries to deal with the refugees, those problems as long as the conflict in Syria continues will continue to grow.

And we’ve made it a specific focus of our policy to try to help these neighboring countries to deal with these burdens.  The President met with the Lebanese President last September in New York and announced a significant increase in U.S. assistance to Lebanon.  He’s meeting with, obviously, the Jordanian King now.  We have an ongoing dialogue with the Turks and with the Iraqis.  So we understand that this conflict is imposing significant burdens on neighboring countries. 

We want to work to address those pressures while at the same time, obviously, trying to move forward to resolve the conflict in Syria as quickly as we can, because these issues aren’t going to -- these pressures aren’t going to diminish until the underlying conflict in Syria is resolved.

Q    Do you think that, as the President goes into this meeting tonight with the King, that he is now beginning to think about changing the strategy in Syria in some way?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  The President has always said that he -- he’s always looking for the best options available with regard to Syria.  And ever since this conflict began, I think we have been examining the full range of options.  The President has made clear that the one thing we aren’t going to do is deploy American troops -- deploy boots on the ground.  But short of that, everything else is potentially on the table.

And this is a constant process of evaluating where we are with the Geneva negotiations, with the humanitarian situation.  You know about the resolution that we’re putting forward at the U.N. with regard to the problem of extremism in Syria.  So we monitor these issues on a daily basis and are in touch with the President about different ideas to address them. 

Now, that doesn’t mean that there’s a silver bullet in any of this.  Obviously this is an extremely difficult conflict and there are no easy answers, but I think the President has made clear from the beginning that he wants the best ideas that we can develop in the government.  And I think that’s what Secretary Kerry was referring to the other day.

Q    Any of those options more on the table now than they were a month ago?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  I think what we would say there is the President addressed this in his press conference.  He always reserves the right to keep all options on the table, obviously, in the interest of U.S. national security.  But we continue to believe that, at this time, there’s not a military solution to this crisis, which is why the emphasis right now is on trying to bring the sides together and foment a political solution and a political transition.

Q    Arming the Syrian rebels, for instances, is that under more active consideration now?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Well, you know that we have been supporting the Syrian opposition for some time.  Back in I think it was April of last year we announced an increase in our support of the opposition to include military support to the opposition.  So I think the general category of support to the Syrian opposition is certainly one of the areas that we’ve explored over the past couple of years and I think that will continue to remain on the table. 

We have to obviously figure out how to do that in a way that helps advance towards a political solution because, as my colleague said, we don’t see a military solution to this conflict, but helping to improve the position of the Syrian opposition, put pressure on the Syrian regime is certainly part of I think the overall calculation.

Q    Congress has been funding Jordan at a level that was set six years ago, around $660 million a year, and then putting in all of these add-ons to deal with these sort of crises -- the Iraqi border, the Syrian border.  I guess a new -- the next sort of five-year phase is under discussion this year, right?  Is the White House’s belief that the U.S. just needs to plan on giving Jordan more money, period, going forward?  Or is this not yet -- are you still sort of weighing that?  And are they talking money on this trip?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  So, first of all, we have a five-year memorandum of understanding with Jordan in which the administration agreed to request $660 million a year -- $360 million in ESF, $300 million in FMF.  That MOU expires in September of this year.  So without getting ahead of what the President and the King may discuss, I think certainly our bilateral relationship, our support for Jordan will be one of the issues that they’ll be discussing. 

And I think we have worked with Congress over the past couple of years to increase our support to Jordan because they are facing such tremendous pressure from Syria and from the rest of the region -- I mentioned the pipeline from Egypt as well.  So the Syrian conflict I don’t think anyone expects to conclude in the next few weeks, months.  I mean, this is not something that’s going to be resolved overnight.  So that will certainly factor into our calculations about what we need to do to help Jordan weather this challenge. 

Q    It sounds like he may be asking for more money but you can’t say that.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  I think he’s (Senior Administration Official) just going to let his comments stand where they were.

Q    Do we know how much it’s costing the Jordanian government to have all these refugees in their country?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  My colleague reminds me that  -- was that a U.N. or --

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  -- a USAID estimate this year that it will cost them $900 million in 2014.

Q    -- $900 million to cover the cost of dealing with the refugees?  That’s what it will cost Jordan?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Jordan is also facing a $3.2 billion budget deficit in 2014, which could also be exacerbated, depending on what happens with the Egyptian gas, how much they’re able to get this year.  It could add billions more to their deficit.

Q    The risk of extremists sort of infiltrating the refugee community in Jordan -- I’m wondering if we have any kind of specifics that we’re asking for in terms of how Jordan’s military and intelligence handles that threat and if we’re satisfied with measures they’ve taken to address it.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Well, I would say, first of all, that Jordan is a very strong counterterrorism partner so we work very closely with them on a wide range of issues and I think ensuring that support that we’re both offering to the Syrian refugee community goes to the right people -- refugees that are truly in need -- is certainly one aspect of that. 

But at the border, there are also screening procedures in place that the U.N. implements to ensure that those who come across really are in need and don’t present a security threat.  So I think the Jordanians are very cognizant of this concern and have taken steps to try to address it.  And we’re very confident of our cooperation with them.

Q    Middle East peace and Jordan’s role in that -- I understand that a big issue with our negotiations with the Palestinians and the Israelis is security along the Jordan border.  What are we asking Jordan to do and what have they told us about the security plan they’ve presented?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Well, so first of all, I mean, Jordan, as you said, has a very important role to play on Middle East peace.  King Abdullah, his father have long been some of the most high-profile supporters of an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement.  Obviously Jordan has a peace treaty with Israel and King Abdullah has been particularly supportive of Secretary Kerry’s efforts, the President’s efforts to move these negotiations forward.  He’s met recently with both Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Abbas to try to urge them to make the compromises that are necessary for peace.  And he’s also played a leading role in marshaling support for the Palestinians within the Arab League, which is also very important. 

But as you mention, Jordan also has an important role on the ground, given that it shares a border with the West Bank and with Israel.  And I think everyone knows that the security arrangements that would accompany a peace agreement are among the most important issues that are being negotiated now.  There has always been particular concern about the Jordan Valley, so, without getting into details of the negotiations, Secretary Kerry, General Allen, who has been leading an effort, as you know, to develop ways to address security requirements for both Israel and the Palestinians, have both been working intensively with not only Israel and the PA but also with Jordan to see if there are ways in which these three countries, with our support, can cooperate to ensure that that border is as secure as possible.

And again, without going into details, I think the Jordanians have been extremely cooperative and extremely forward-leaning in thinking about different ways that we can achieve that goal that are also compatible with, obviously, Israel’s security but also Palestinian sovereignty. 

Q    Is President Obama satisfied with anti-corruption efforts inside the King’s government in Jordan?  And also, the human rights groups have expressed some concerns about barriers to entry for refugees.  If the U.S. is going to help fund these efforts at the border, is the President going to press the King for greater access for refugees into the country?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Right.  So on the first count, as my colleague said, I think the President and the King will discuss Jordan’s reform efforts.  We strongly supported the King’s reform agenda and want to continue to do so.  The King has talked many times, including when he last met with the President in April of last year, about his long-term vision for Jordan as a constitutional monarchy as a model for the Middle East.  That’s something -- that’s a vision that I think we very much share.  And certainly one element of that is the fight against corruption.  And there have been some important steps that the Jordanian government has taken -- setting up the National Integrity Commission, moving forward with trials of, in some cases, important figures for corruption.  We, I think, want to help Jordan move forward to achieve those goals, and I think this general category of reform is something that the President and the King will discuss tonight.

On your question about Syrian refugees, every country takes upon itself obligations to admit refugees in need.  Jordan is certainly one of those countries and it’s on the front line of the Syrian conflict.  So our assistance to Jordan in dealing with this problem has been predicated on the idea that the border will remain open to legitimate refugees.  That will continue to be I think a fundamental part of our cooperation and I think also a fundamental lodestar for Jordan’s efforts with regard to the Syrian conflict.

But, clearly, there are tremendous pressures.  And we’re going to need to work closely with Jordan, as will other countries, to ensure that they can meet the burden represented by these hundreds of thousands of refugees.

Q    Can you talk --

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Two more questions.

Q    -- host communities?  How does that work?  Families taking in families?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  So 80 percent of the refugees in Jordan are actually urban refugees, so they’re not in the tented communities.  In the beginning of the conflict, you saw a lot of attention on Zaatari as a camp and a lot of Syrians were there, but now they’re being hosted in communities.  So they’re in people’s homes; they’ve set up makeshift tents.  And so the burdens that places on host communities in terms of their hospitals, schools, electricity, water, that whole public infrastructure that goes into what would be supporting Jordanian communities also has to now support dramatic increases of population.

So our assistance looks not just to help the Syrians that are in now these communities, but also the communities themselves.  How do we help make sure the water infrastructure is set so that everyone is able to benefit from water?  We have AID programs that have increased school shifts so that students go in the morning and then again in the afternoon.  So we’re trying to think of creative ways to make sure that all of the populations, not just Syrians but also Jordanians, are helped.

Q    Is the U.S. poised to take any Syrian refugees?  Like there’s a call for this.  Is the U.S. preparing to make any announcement on that?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Well, I think this is an issue that we are continuing to explore.  There are no announcements that I know of that we intend to make right now.

Q    Of the pressures on Jordan, from the influx of refugees from Syria and whatever economic or political issues that are going on inside the country -- what is the biggest pressure on Jordan now?  Or is a combination -- some sort of combination of the two?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Well, I think clearly the conflict in Syria is a tremendous source of pressure because 600,000 refugees in a country that is, 5 million, 6 million -- 10 percent of the population -- I mean, that’s a huge burden to take on.  But Jordan is also in the process of trying to transition its economy from a donor-based economy that is based on the expectation of donor contributions to one that’s self-sufficient. That’s an important part of their IMF agreement.  It’s an important part of their effort to diversify their sources of energy away from reliance just on partners in the Gulf and on Egypt towards other sources of energy, and also to modernize their economy so that Jordan can become a hub for technology, for service industries across the Middle East.  That’s part of the King’s vision for putting Jordan on a firm economic as well as political footing for the next 20, 30 years. 

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  So just again, this was on background attributable to senior administration officials.  There is no embargo so you’re welcome to use it as soon as you would like.  We will produce a transcript.

Thanks, everybody.

END              2:55 P.M. EST

Remarks by the President on the California Drought

Joe Del Bosque’s Field Los Banos, California

4:55 P.M. PST

THE PRESIDENT:  Well, first of all, I want to thank Joe and Maria Del Bosque and their beautiful daughters for showing Governor Brown and me around their farm. 

Joe has got an incredible story.  The son of a migrant farmworker, farm work is how he put himself through college.  He’s been a farmer for most of his life.  He started by going around to other folks’ land and saying, I'll grow some cantaloupes for you as long as you pay me for what we produce, and over the years was able to develop this amazing business and not only start growing cantaloupes, but almonds and cherries and all kinds of other good stuff.

“There are three things that make farming work in California,” according to Joe, “soil, water, and people.”  And in the little free time they have, Joe and Maria work to improve the health and safety of farm workers.  There are a lot of people who are dependent on him year-round, and a lot of people who work seasonally with Joe and Maria, and their livelihoods depend on the functioning of these farms.

But today, we’re here to talk about the resource that’s keeping more and more California’s farmers and families up at night, and that is water -- or the lack of it. 

As anybody in this state could tell you, California’s living through some of its driest years in a century.  Right now, almost 99 percent of California is drier than normal -- and the winter snowpack that provides much of your water far into the summer is much smaller than normal.  And we could see that as we were flying in -- Jim and Barbara and Dianne and I were flying over the mountain ranges and could see, even though there was a little bit of snow that just came in the last couple of days, that it’s nothing like it is normally.

While drought in regions outside the West is expected to be less severe than in other years, California is our biggest economy, California is our biggest agricultural producer, so what happens here matters to every working American, right down to the cost of food that you put on your table. 

And that’s why, last month, Governor Brown declared a state of emergency, directing state officials to prepare for drought conditions.  And together, our administrations launched a coordinated response.  Secretary Vilsack, who is here today, declared 27 counties as primary natural disaster areas, making farmers and ranchers eligible for emergency loans.  And over the past two weeks, his team at USDA and Mike Connor’s team at the Interior Department have released new funds for conservation and irrigation; announced investments to upgrade water infrastructure; and partnered with California to stretch the water supply as much as possible.

Today, I’m want to announce new actions that we can take together to help these hardworking folks.

First, we’re accelerating $100 million of funds from the farm bill that I signed last week to help ranchers.  For example, if their fields have dried up, this is going to help them feed their livestock. 

Second, last week, we announced $20 million to help hard-hit communities, and today, we’re announcing up to $15 million more for California and other states that are in extreme drought. 

Third, I’m directing the Interior Department to use its existing authorities, where appropriate, to give water contractors flexibility to meet their obligations. 

And fourth, I’m directing all federal facilities in California to take immediate steps to curb their water use, including a moratorium on water usage for new, non-essential landscaping projects.

A bipartisan bill written by your outstanding Senators, Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, as well as your own outstanding Representative and almond farmer, Jim Costa, includes similar ideas.  And I hope that Congress considers the legislation that they have crafted soon, work through some of the concerns that have been expressed -- let’s make sure that we're getting some short-term relief to folks, but also long-term certainty for people who are going to be harmed by this drought.

These actions will help, but they’re just the first step.  We have to be clear:  A changing climate means that weather-related disasters like droughts, wildfires, storms, floods are potentially going to be costlier and they’re going to be harsher. Droughts have obviously been a part of life out here in the West since before any of us were around and water politics in California have always been complicated, but scientific evidence shows that a changing climate is going to make them more intense.

Scientists will debate whether a particular storm or drought reflects patterns of climate change.  But one thing that is undeniable is that changing temperatures influence drought in at least three ways:  Number one, more rain falls in extreme downpours -- so more water is lost to runoff than captured for use.  Number two, more precipitation in the mountains falls as rain rather than snow -- so rivers run dry earlier in the year.  Number three, soil and reservoirs lose more water to evaporation year-round.

What does all this mean?  Unless and until we do more to combat carbon pollution that causes climate change, this trend is going to get worse.  And the hard truth is even if we do take action on climate change, carbon pollution has built up in our atmosphere for decades.  The planet is slowly going to keep warming for a long time to come.  So we’re going to have to stop looking at these disasters as something to wait for; we've got to start looking at these disasters as something to prepare for, to anticipate, to start building new infrastructure, to start having new plans, to recalibrate the baseline that we're working off of.

And everybody, from farmers to industry to residential areas, to the north of California and the south of California and everyplace in between, as well as the entire Western region are going to have to start rethinking how we approach water for decades to come.

And as I said when I was meeting with the town hall group, we can't think of this simply as a zero-sum game.  It can't just be a matter of there’s going to be less and less water so I'm going to grab more and more of a shrinking share of water.  Instead what we have to do is all come together and figure out how we all are going to make sure that agricultural needs, urban needs, industrial needs, environmental and conservation concerns are all addressed.  And that's going to be a big project, but it's one that I'm confident we can do.

Part of the Climate Action Plan that I put forward last summer is designed to protect critical sectors of our economy and prepare the United States for the effects of climate change that we’re just not going to be able to avoid.  So, last week, for example, the USDA announced seven new “climate hubs” to help farmers and ranchers adapt their operations to a changing climate -- one of which will be at UC Davis, focused on resilience for California’s specialty crops. 

The budget that I sent to Congress -- the budget that I send to Congress next month will include $1 billion in new funding for new technologies to help communities prepare for a changing climate, set up incentives to build smarter, more resilient infrastructure.  And finally, my administration will work with tech innovators and launch new challenges under our Climate Data Initiative, focused initially on rising sea levels and their impact on the coasts, but ultimately focused on how all these changes in weather patterns are going to have an impact up and down the United States -- not just on the coast but inland as well -- and how do we start preparing for that.  And that has to be work that we do together.  This cannot be a partisan endeavor.

One of the great things about that town hall that I just came out of -- not everybody agreed on anything -- (laughter) -- except people did agree that we can't keep on doing business as usual.  That's what people did understand -- that there has to be a sense of urgency about this. 

And issues like the federal government helping states to build infrastructure to adapt and ensure economic development and that families and workers are able to prosper -- there’s nothing new about that.  We just saw a photograph of President Kennedy and current Governor Brown’s dad building some of the aquifers that have been so important to the economy of this state for decades.  If we were able to do that then, we should be able to do it now.  It's just a matter of us making sure that we're not putting politics ahead of trying to get things working.

Our work with Governor Brown and his administration is going to continue.  Californians have all had to come together and already make sacrifices, big and small, to help your neighbors and your state get through this.  The good news is California is always on the cutting-edge.  Already you use water far more efficiently than you did decades ago.  You do it smarter.  Joe was explaining just how this drip irrigation that you see in this region has made many of these farms much more efficient when it comes to water utilization.  And so we know that we can innovate and meet this challenge, but we've got to start now.  We can't wait.

So I want to make sure that every Californian knows -- whether you’re NorCals, SoCal, here in the Central Valley -- your country is going to be there for you when you need it this year. But we're going to have to all work together in the years to come to make sure that we address the challenge and leave this incredible land embodied to our children and our grandchildren in at least as good shape as we found it.

So, thank you very much, everybody, for the great work that you guys do.  And I've already told the Governor as well as all your outstanding representatives here that our administration is going to stay on this and we are prepared to cooperate with local, state officials throughout.  And that's not just in California, because we're going to see some similar problems in places like Colorado, Nevada, some of the neighboring Western states, and so part of the conversation is also going to have to be a regional conversation. 

But this is something that I'm very committed to.  We're going to make sure to get it done, working together.  Thank you so much, everybody.  (Applause.)

END                5:08 P.M. PST