(Bloomberg) — Sarah Brunner opened the irrigation spigots on her farm in March, three months early. The rain should have still been falling in California. Now that summer is taking hold, she and her husband are considering shifting their meager water supplies into pastures so their animals will have enough to eat.
Brunner's worries don't stop at the barnyard. The family's fields of shallots, garlic and goats are surrounded by thick Northern California forests, dried out and primed to burn. An early-season wildfire near her home recently prompted Brunner to document her possessions and reevaluate her fire insurance. "I don't feel safe anymore. It's going to hit us hard," she says. "There's no doubt about it; we're going to be inundated with fires. It's just a matter of time."
Drought in a habitat shared with bears, cougars and coyotes, all searching for a drink, has a way of compounding the danger. "The animals are going to get more desperate," Brunner says.
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