[goat granny]

I have visited a friend in San Diego, and yes, southern California is considered a desert, due to its lack of rainfall. That's what determines drought, desert etc. Its annual rainfall is (if I remember correctly) about 10 inches a year.. One of the reasons they have canyon fires so often...she has been burned out by those but chose to rebuild in the same area. The side of a canyon. It only happened once is 2 decades...

[Finny]

I have visited a friend in San Diego, and yes, southern California is considered a desert, due to its lack of rainfall.

Then Southern California is "desert" only in a most technical sense, and misleading. San Diego is downright tropical, not because of water shipped to it, but because of humidity and climate and more rain than in L.A., I'd wager. It might not be lush, but it would hardly be "desert" without a city there.

Vineyards and agriculture were pretty strong before shipped in water in Los Angeles and surrounding areas. Fountain Valley (in the heart of Orange County -- yes, "the O.C.") is called that because of underground springs that were there (still are), and a lot of produce was grown there before it became citified.

Consider it a "desert" if you want, but ... I've been to deserts. San Diego and L.A., even without the cities, sure looked like they must have been pretty nice and fruitful deserts!