We are now drying up
I'm no greenie, but I wonder why there aren't incentives to contractors to develop solar water heaters, pipes above ground, clothes lines (!), water cachements in developments, gray box timers to control water heaters, etc.
Though we fancy ourselves in control, we live at the mercy of a just God who has richly blessed us and our land. When we reflect on the choices we made in the last decade, how can we expect those blessings to continue? We are now solely dependent on God's mercy, because His justice would require our destruction. Our time for choosing is less than three months away...
The California Indians had a long history of burning, which reduced the fuel load and helped the grasslands to spread. This reduced the effects of wildfires.
This regular burning was outlawed by the Spanish governor, Don Jose Joaquin de Arrillaga, in 1793 because the Spanish needed the grass for their livestock.
The underbrush and dead trees gradually took over, and the grasslands have been reduced. Now, when wildfires occur the effects are very serious.
But we can't do regular burning because too many people live in the hills and because we have too many lawyers and insurance companies.
So, plan on seeing devastating wildfires on a regular basis.
(By the way, areas that burn in May, or June, or July, in smaller fires, probably won't burn in September and October in larger fires. Go figure!)
This is nothing new for southern California...nothing has changed. We go through extended periods of drought and then we'll have a year of heavy rainfall. What matters most is the snowpack in the Sierra. Over the past 5 years, the average snowpack has been close to normal...I don't think any of the Sierra ski resort operators have had much to bitch about. Californians needn't worry about water and fires...we'll always have plenty of each.
Environmentalists could be consulted to avoid destroying wetlands, and only excess water above a certain level would go into the system. Otherwise, this excess water just continues to flow into the gulf. (The war would come when the western states start trying to divvy it up fairly)
Five year drought?
Anybody check the level of Lake Bonneville lately?
Lake Lahontan?
How about Malhuer Lake or Goose Lake?
Silver or Summer Lakes, or the lake surrounding Fort Rock?
Monday AUGUST 16, 2004 Edition of TIME? I think it comes out weekly, on Monday. I never noticed that it has a date a week ahead of time on it. Fire near here on I-80.