Craig's Corner
by Craig Ballenger, CalTrout Ambassador
As trout and drought are on anglers’ minds this summer, two questions always arise. The first is, 'How long will it last?" And second, "What is the real story of drought in the past?"
What the weather holds for the future is as reasonable as...well...predicting the weather. As my dad used to say, "only a fool or a newcomer would try to predict the weather around here." However, meteorologist’s models suggest a wet future is expected. The weak link though, is climate change and whether wet in what they call 'the new normal,' will increase snow pack.
The past does illuminate facts of California's previous droughts. One occurred during the late 1970's and lasted into the 1980's. Mono Lake, that peculiar piece of water beneath Mount Dana in the eastern Sierra, has much to tell us about past climate. A walk along the shore reveals ancient 'bathtub' rings and a time when the lake was larger. On the other hand, while the lake was drawn down during the Rush Creek water diversion (over which Caltrout, et al, sued LA Water and Power), juniper stumps appeared along the then dry shoreline. In the past, droughts have occurred for a long enough period of time for these tenacious conifers to grow. When these stumps, hundred of years old, were analyzed, dendrachronology (the study of tree rings) showed two droughts lasting over 100 years, from around 900 AD to 1000 AD and another from 1150 AD to 1300 AD. These have been named megadroughts, and no researcher is putting our current drought in that category.
New terms, as I've used above, have now become part of a Californian's vernacular: Climate Change, The New Normal, Megadrought, and Ground Water Depletion. Unfortunately, during the two droughts of the 20th century, once the drought was over, the view has been,' back to business as usual.' While all experts I've spoken with agree that California can adapt and live with less water, changes are looming. For a revealing look at water, see Last Call at the Oasis, a documentary available on Netflix.