Author’s note: I was going to write a follow up to my last article on pandemics with some practical advice for preparing but I am very, very concerned that everyone understand the impact the drought in California will have on our wallets and lifestyle. Now is the time to listen to the council of the prophets and become more self-reliant.

Could that time have come?

A few facts:

• The year 2013 was so dry that mandatory water conservation orders are beginning to sweep across the state of California. The governor has declared an “extreme drought emergency.” Everyone in the state has been ordered to cut water consumption by 20%. The northern Sierra Nevada, a region crucial to statewide supply, received only 10% of average snowfall in December. Reservoir levels are 30-40% of normal. California is now designated as being in “Exceptional drough” the worst drought designation. To date 2014 precipitation rates are fifty percent of normal.

• Most people think of California as a tourist destination where you can visit Hollywood film locations, see celebrities, enjoy Disneyland, and go to beaches. In addition to California ranking as the top tourist destination in the United States, with its 80,500 farms and ranches it also ranks as the top food producer for the nation. More than half of the country’s fruit, nuts, and vegetables come from California. Did you know that 90% or more of all the almonds, artichokes, dates, figs, kiwi, persimmons, pistachios, prunes, raisins, strawberries, and walnuts consumed in the United States are grown in California, as well as 100% of the olives and 21% of the milk and cream? Not only just nuts and berries, but also most other fruit and vegetable varieties are grown by the truckload in California. You may think you don’t eat some of these, but do you use their byproducts such as olive oil? Many are used as ingredients in other foods we consume, such as ketchup and cereals. Higher prices on these crops will result in higher prices on any product using California-grown crops for ingredients.

• California is rarely thought of as a cattle state, but it ranks fourth in nation-wide production behind Texas, Kansas, and Nebraska. California ranchers are already selling off their herds as feed and water become too expensive to maintain a profitable ranch.

What does the California drought mean for you? It means higher food prices, food shortages, water shortages for the big cities (Los Angeles and San Francisco), water shortages for states supplying drinking water to southern California, unemployment going up in California and for anyone transporting and processing foods throughout the country — and the list goes on.

It is time to take a serious look at our self-reliance preparations and especially our food storage. Can you afford food prices to increase? How will you feel when you have to do without due to shortages?

In my area butter has gone up $1.29 per pound in a month. Beef is up more than $2.00 per pound.

Almonds are just being harvested now, and the price is up more than a dollar from last year — and that is just the beginning. It will probably go up at least another dollar. No rain is expected here until November, and ranchers are concerned they will lose their orchards this winter.

Right now in just two of the 58 counties in California, there are 250,000 people being fed at food pantries. Most of them are unemployed due to the drought. Imagine the number statewide.

It doesn’t end there. Less food means fewer trucks transporting food, fewer jobs at canneries, higher prices at restaurants, fewer sales at restaurants resulting in few employees needed, fewer home purchases and other major purchases since more are unemployed, on and on.

“Cash is not food, it is not clothing, it is not coal, it is not shelter; and we have got to the place where no matter how much cash we have, we cannot secure those things in the quantities which we may need. … All that you can be certain you will have is that which you produce.” (Conference Report, Apr. 1937, p. 26.)

President Kimball counseled us to become self-reliant because the prophecies of old were coming to pass. He said, “Now I think the time is coming when there will be more distresses, when there may be more tornadoes and more floods, … more earthquakes. … I think they will be increasing probably as we come nearer to the end, and so we must be prepared for this” (Conference Report, Apr. 1974, p. 184).

Have we seen this happening the past ten years and increasing every year?

It’s time to take a serious look at storing food now. Vaughn J. Featherstone promised:

What everyone should do now:

#1. Please pray for rain in California. This winter is forecast to have below normal precipitation. At the present time none of the reservoirs in California have normal water levels. In fact, none have water levels at more than 50% of capacity.

#2. Write to your Senators and Representatives and ask them to release the federal waters they are refusing to release. The water is flowing out to the ocean instead of to the farms. (Sorry to get political, but this affects you too!)

#3. Stock up now. If you find a great sale, stock up. If someone has produce they are willing to share, take it and learn to preserve it. Follow Totally Ready on Facebook each Monday and follow the plan to stock up. We post a food group or comfort food to store each week. Find a friend and work together. There is nothing quite like a partner to keep you motivated and accountable.

#4. Please share the link to the Totally Ready Facebook page on your Facebook page or send an email and share the link with all your friends and family. Let’s work together to get as many prepared as we possibly can.

For help getting started follow Carolyn’s facebook page: http://facebook.com/totallyready Don’t forget to like her page and remember to pass the link along to others. Contact Carolyn directly at: Carolyn@TotallyReady.com