The bounce in water in California has continued. Earlier this year there were reports of a dam causeway being near collapse after historic storms; now NewScientist (4 March 2017) reports the rollercoaster may be getting so high that the air is getting thin – metaphorically speaking, of course:
The drought and floods can be traced to the bands of water vapour being carried up from the tropics, says Michael Dettinger of the US Geological Survey. California gets almost half its rain from these “atmospheric rivers”, but they brought fewer storms than usual to the West Coast over the past few years, causing drought. This year, however, there have been close to 30 such storms already, says Dettinger.
Years of drought have dried up hillsides and killed vegetation, creating the right conditions for mudslides and flooding, says Lynn Ingram of the University of California, Berkeley.
Historically, California often sees periods of drought punctuated by years of intense flooding, she says. “The past really is telling us to prepare for both extremes,” she says.
And I suppose the excess just runs off into the ocean rather than recharging aquifers, as well. Nor is excess water good for crops, although I don’t know if they’ve reached that level just yet – it’s not quite growing season. And while I didn’t run across any before or after pics of Lake Mead, here’s a water level chart from Lakes Online:
Lake Mead Water Levels
That purple junk appears to be a leftover from interactive mode, and I’m up too late to redo it.
