Source: The American Dream

Did you know that 2013 was the driest year ever recorded in the state of California?  And did you know that so far this is the driest January that the state of California has ever experienced?  The worst drought in the history of California is happening right now.  Just check out the current conditions on the U.S. Drought Monitor.  About two-thirds of the state is experiencing “extreme drought” at the moment, and Governor Jerry Brown says that it is “not likely to rain for several weeks“.  Unfortunately for California, the truth is that the weather in the western half of the country is simply returning to historical norms.  Scientists tell us that the 20th century was the wettest century in the western half of the United States in 1000 years, and that extremely dry conditions are normally what we should expect for most areas from the Pacific Ocean to the Mississippi River.  If long-term conditions truly are “returning to normal”, then the state of California could be heading for a water crisis of unprecedented magnitude.

But it is not just the state of California that should be concerned.  The reality of the matter is that the produce grown in California feeds the rest of the nation.  Just check out these statistics…


The state produces 99 percent of the artichokes grown in the US, 44 percent of asparagus, a fifth of cabbage, two-thirds of carrots, half of bell peppers, 89 percent of cauliflower, 94 percent of broccoli, and 95 percent of celery. Leafy greens? California’s got the market cornered: 90 percent of the leaf lettuce we consume, along with and 83 percent of Romaine lettuce and 83 percent of fresh spinach, come from the big state on the left side of the map. Cali also cranks a third of total fresh tomatoes consumed in the U.S.—and 95 percent of ones destined for cans and other processing purposes.

As for fruit, I get that 86 percent of lemons and a quarter of oranges come from there; its sunny climate makes it perfect for citrus, and lemons store relatively well. Ninety percent of avocados? Fine. But 84 percent of peaches, 88 percent of fresh strawberries, and 97 percent of fresh plums?

Come on. Surely the other 49 states can do better.

In other words, the rest of us are extremely dependent on the fruits and vegetables that the state of California grows for us.

So don’t take too much joy in what California is going through.  It is going to affect you too.

Things have gotten so bad that Governor Brown has declared a water emergency…


‘I’ve declared this emergency and I’m calling all Californians to conserve water in every way possible,’ he said, in a move that will allow him to call for conservation measures and provide flexibility in deciding state water priorities.

All over the state, reservoirs are approaching dangerously low levels.  In fact, at one reservoir near Sacramento water levels have dropped so low that old buildings from a Gold Rush ghost town have appeared…


In a sign of the severity of the drought, some of the state’s reservoirs are at their lowest levels in years. The Folsom Reservoir near Sacramento is so low that the remains of a Gold Rush-era ghost town – flooded to create the lake in the 1950s – are visible for the first time in years.

The state’s mountain ranges, where runoff from melting snow provides much of the water for California’s thirsty cities and farms, have just 20 percent of the snow they normally have at this time of year, officials noted.

In a previous article, I quoted a recent Fresno Bee article which described what is happening to the Pine Flat Reservoir…


Pine Flat Reservoir is a ghost of a lake in the Fresno County foothills — a puddle in a 326 billion-gallon gorge.

Holding only 16% of its capacity, Pine Flat is the best example of why there is high anxiety over the approaching wet season.

Gone is the healthy water storage that floated California through two dry years. Major reservoirs around the state need gully-washing storms this winter.

Unfortunately, there is not much hope on the horizon, and most of the state has been experiencing these drought conditions since last May…


The U.S. Drought Monitor reported that 94.25% of the state is enduring some level of drought conditions and that most of the prime agriculture area of the Central Valley is in extreme drought, the second-worst category.

At least 90% of the state has been in a drought since early May.

During the 20th century, we were extremely blessed.  An abnormally high level of rainfall in most parts of the western half of the country allowed us to build teeming cities in the middle of the desert.  But that may turn out to have been a tragic mistake.  A recent National Geographic article contained the following chilling statement…


The wet 20th century, the wettest of the past millennium, the century when Americans built an incredible civilization in the desert, is over.

So what are we going to do with these massive cities out west when there is no longer enough water to support them?

It has been estimated that the state of California only has a 20 year supply of fresh water left.  And that projection was made before this current drought began.  The truth is that if current conditions persist, California might run out long before that.

And many Americans living in the eastern half of the country do not realize this, but Dust Bowl conditions are literally returning to many parts of the western half of the country.  In fact, dust storms producing “near-apocalyptic” conditions have been reported in parts of Nevada.

Today, about 38 million people live in the state of California.

There isn’t going to be enough water for all of them in the years ahead.

And there certainly isn’t going to be enough water in the years ahead to produce the massive amount of food that California is currently producing.

So how will life change as a result?


       

Where I live (in the Southern California Mojave Desert) there is an abundance of water, it is just 200 feet below the surface.

The water for Los Angeles comes from the Colorado River.  The
areas north of Los Angeles depends on the show melt from the
High Sierras.
San Diego depends on ground water that comes from rivers and
underground rivers.
If it was not for the Colorado river, Los Angeles would still be a
desert town.
When I lived in Palos Verdes Estates, my house was near a large
water basin always referred to as the "End of the Colorado River".

What kind of water restrictins are they mandating?

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People in California talk about the drought, but they're generally not DOING anything about it.  They still sprinkle lush green lawns with water every day.  But you can get a citation now for watering your lawn during certain hours of daytime.

They still wash their cars with a hose.  But now you can get a ticket for washing your car with a hose.  You have to use a BUCKET of water, not a running hose, even if the hose has a spray nozzle at the end that prevents the water from continuously running.  You're just not allowed to use a hose anymore.  So a lot of people use a bucket now, but still a lot keep using a hose, anyway.

There are new laws in Los Angeles where they can give you citations for water running off your front lawn into the street gutter swale.  There are inspectors who drive around looking for water moving down the gutter along the side of the street, and when they find the source is a resident's front yard, they give them a ticket for excessive water waste.  

I've heard of people draining their swimming pools into the sewer drain to avoid being noticed.  That's illegal, too, apparently.  But there's no way for inspectors to notice it's happening............so far.

There is a component on water utility bills for the estimated sewer water generated by each residence, based on the amount of water consumed.  But there is no meter on your sewer that measures how much flows through it.

Around 30 years ago there was a water shortage in L.A. that was the talk of the town.  People actually DID something differently.  Some got rid of their grass lawn in the front yard and put in Arizona-style gravel and desert plants.

In Santa Clarita there is a water conservation garden next to "Central Park" on Bouquet Canyon Road (27150 Bouquet Cyn, 91350), where various styles of water-sparse landscape ideas are demonstrated.  School children come there on tours to visit during the week.  It's interesting to see what can be done while you cut your water consumption.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/embed/soeIZXjB5i0[/youtube]



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At minute 6 in the video embedded above, they mention the Oak of the Golden Dream, which is a California Historical Landmark, located next to Placerita Canyon road, which has on and off ramps to the 14 freeway.  

If you go looking for the actual tree, you're not going to find it.  

There is a gravel parking lot near the Ranger's nature center next to the road, where you can park your car, near several nice, old oak trees.  Then there is a walking trail you have to walk, which is handicap accessible, that takes you about 1/4 mile, under a small bridge (you walk under the canyon road) to an area where there are several old oak trees that are less impressive than the trees in the parking lot.  

There is a rickety sign there that gets vandalized regularly, and has been replaced several times over the years, which explains that nobody knows where the actual tree was, where that man found his golden nuggets on wild onion roots, which was the first historical "discovery" of gold, before the 1949 California Gold Rush, after which the "San Francisco 49-ers" are named.  But it was a tree that looked something like one of these other trees here in this area.

I am familiar with that area.  As a hobby of sorts, I used to search for the hideouts of Tiburcio Vasquez and his generals (Robber's Roost near Walker Pass, Fire Canyon in the Red Rocks State Park, Vasquez Rocks near Acton, and another -still unknown- somewhere east of the Newhall exit north of interstate 5).

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Quote from: JohnAnthonyMarie

I am familiar with that area.  As a hobby of sorts, I used to search for the hideouts of Tiburcio Vasquez and his generals (Robber's Roost near Walker Pass, Fire Canyon in the Red Rocks State Park, Vasquez Rocks near Acton, and another -still unknown- somewhere east of the Newhall exit north of interstate 5).

When you say "and another -still unknown- somewhere east of the Newhall exit north of interstate 5," do you mean that there is another hideout of T. Vasquez, somewhere east of the 14 Freeway (north side or south side?), east of the Newhall Road exit (erstwhile San Fernando Road exit) north of I-5 (which is more east of I-5, really, on the way to Acton)?

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Yes, there is another hideout somewhere southeast of the 5 and 14 junction (believe closer to the 5 than the Disney film ranch, south side of 14).  I found a clue about it on a wanted poster hanging on the wall of a Mexican Restaurant near the entrance to Hart Park; It had a list of the names of Vasquez's generals.  As I researched each of their names, repeated mention of a very defensible canyon hideout in that area was mentioned.  It could well be located on the Disney film ranch, but I am inclined to think the camp was closer to the pass.

I have not hiked the Beale's Cut you mentioned, but I would be very interested in doing so.  I will research it, but if you have any information, I would very much enjoy learning more.

A friend and I also explore Walker Pass quite often.  There are many native American Indian artifacts in the area, as most groups were forced to traverse the pass as part of an annual migration.  On one occasion we ran into a Smithsonian team working in a burial ground on Verna Wheeler's ranch (we knew it was there because of beads washed loose from rain), rumor was that they removed a number of very tall remains (9ft+).  We typically avoid the burial grounds due to our unsubstantiated fear of disease.  But, we are always on the lookout for the old Wells Fargo coach that was lost in a flash-flood (it was carrying a payroll in gold).

Anyway, I do so enjoy exploring the desert.

My son-in-law works for Kern Delta- get ready for some real problems this summer...