. >> reporter: on his property north of salt lake city, sixth-generation farmer ron gibson is covering his crops with plastic to conserve water. his water allocation was cut by 70%. >> if we don't get these crops to market, we can't survive. >> reporter: he also says the cost of feeding his dairy cows has doubled in a year. >> when agriculture's gone, then our ability to produce food is gone that's what scares me the most about this whole situation. >> reporter: the entire state of utah is experiencing drought. more than 90% in an extreme category. we would be standing under water had it been a normal water year. zach frankel, executive director of the utah rivers council at the great salt lake -- >> 90% of our prescription comes in winter and snow. as our winter air temperatures continue to rise, we're getting less and less snow in our mountains. >> reporter: utah governor spencer cox has declared a state of emergency and called on people in utah to reduce their water use and pray for rain. >> we need some divine intervention. >> when the governor says pray for rain, what do you say t

. >> reporter: sixth generation farmer ron gibson has 70% less water this year. he won't plant hundreds of acres of crops. your family has been doing this for 152 years. that's many generations. do you worry that this is the last generation of farming in your family? >> you know, i can't sleep at night, most nights, because that's exactly the concern. >> reporter: about 95% of utah's water comes from snow pack, and this year, there was little of it. >> we would be standing under water had it been a normal water year. >> reporter: zach frankel, executive director of the utah rivers council, warns the crisis in utah will impact much of the west. >> the question is, are state leaders willing to accept that this is not a short-term drought but that this is long-term climate change? >> reporter: and this is what scientists mean when they say most of the west is in a mega drought. utah's great salt lake lived up to its name last year. norah, where i'm standing right now, i should be submerged in water. >> o'donnell: wow. that says it all. jonathan vigliotti, thank you.

and that is kind of an added benefit to our work through dna, and ron gibson's case, the real killerce knew too well. same as the last person single life with the victim the night she was murdered. and the police were too inept to put that case together they could not solve it for five years. was he was finally captured, caught and tested, the dna nailed him about half of our cases we are able to identify the real culprit. talmage: so your activities in the real world, the innocence and wrongful convictions, let's switch over to writing life on the subject asco a novelist ands we all know, you are in the business of creating great stories that make people turn the pages quickly, stay up late sometimes doing this work that they can't stop reading. and you get your ideas from stories in many ways but when you learn about a real life wrongful convictions like ron williamson as you said, it is a fascinating story and like you said the stories are so good because they are so tragic. so head of the real life story of a man named o'brien in taxes lead to 2019 novel the guardians that are sp

. >> reporter: on his property, 6th generation farmer ron gibson is covering his crops with plastic to conserve water. his water allocation was cut by 70%. >> if we don't get these crops to market, we can't survive. >> reporter: he also says the cost of feeding his dairy cows has doubled in a year. >> when agriculture is gone, then our ability to produce food is gone. that's what scares me the most about this whole situation. >> reporter: the entire state of utah is experiencing drought, more than 90% in an extreme category. >> we would be standing under water had it been a normal water year. >> reporter: we met zach frank el, executive director of the utah rivers counsel at the great salt lake. >> 90% of our precipitation comes in the winter and snow. as our winter air temperatures continue to rise, we're getting less and less snow in our mountains. >> reporter: utah governor spencer cox has declared a state of emergency and called on people in utah to reduce their water use and pray for rain. >> we need some divine intervention. >> reporter: when the governor says pray for rain, what