By Arnell DiMaandal
NewsChannel 3

It's been a long, long dry season here in the Golden State. Here in the Coachella Valley, it's even worse. We've hardly seen any rain at all. NewsChannel 3 has more on how experts are making sure the local agricultural industry survives this record drought.

It's the worst dry spell we've had in about 80 years. But experts say we are getting through it. The key to surviving this drought is good management and planning.

We've had wind storms and a wicked winter frost, but no significant rainfall and we're smack dab in the middle of what's supposed to be "wet season."

"This is one of the worst droughts in about 100 years."

Despite almost no rain and drought endangering the Colorado River water supply, experts say the area's agriculture industry's holding it's own -- at least for now.
 
"We're fortunate here in the desert. We have the vas aquifer beneath most of the Coachella Valley, but that aquifer has been in a state of overdraft and has been for sometime," said Jack Porrelli with the Coachella Valley Water District.

Though the Coachella Valley is in no immediate danger of any kind of water shortage, experts say there's no reason to take this drought lightly.

"Down here in the Coachella Valley, it affects us in the sense that we always think of ourselves as always being in drought. It doesn't do us much good."

That's the reason the water district never takes conserving water for granted.

"Our goal is to insure that the amount of water taken out of that aquifer is equaled to the amount going in."

The water district says, because we're in the desert, it doesn't consider rainfall at all in planning for our water supply. But it does import water from other places.

That's the reason we need to conserve.