Silver Lining

Parts of Southern California are in extreme drought:

New data compiled by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows that large swaths of both California and Nevada are facing down a summer of extreme drought, particularly in the southeast corners of those states. And the summer heatwaves haven’t even hit yet...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has already designated much of Southern California and southern Nevada (and all of Arizona) as being in a drought so severe that growers and farmers are now eligible for emergency financial relief. Counties such as Kern, Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino are considered primary natural disaster areas, meaning they’ve been in a severe drought (or worse) for at least eight consecutive weeks. By June, the National Interagency Fire Center said that “above normal [significant fire] potential” is forecast for “portions of central and Southern California.” By July, that potential “will expand into more of California and much of the Northwest.”

The silver lining is that the reservoirs are full:

Thankfully, it’s not all doom and gloom. Farther north, California’s water levels are robust, thanks in part to a healthy Sierra Nevada snowpack. The state’s major reservoirs are “well-above average” right now, and there’s even optimism up in far Northern California after researchers in the region stumbled upon a giant, 21-trillion-gallon aquifer just over the border in Oregon. Still, just months after a cascade of devastating wildfires ravaged Los Angeles, there’s already a sense from some prognosticators that this summer could be hot, dry and dangerous.

California is fortunate that it has had three wet winters in a row. It won't have to pay the price this year for its inexcusable delay--to 2032--in bringing the Sites Reservoir on stream. Let's hope our luck lasts for seven more years.