California has experienced one dramatic storm after another this winter. Huge rain clouds have drifted in from the Pacific Ocean and dumped the snow in the mountains in the east of the state. The result is that already in mid-March this year’s winter was the second snowiest in history. At Lake Tahoe and several other winter sports resorts, more than 15 meters of snow has been recorded. The Washington Post writes that the ski lift in Bear Valley is almost buried in snow. Huge amounts of snow in the Sierra Nevada in California on March 30 this year. Photo: MARIO TAMA / AFP Has filled up ponds and lakes By New Year’s, practically all of California was affected by drought. In some areas the water shortage was described as extremely serious. Three years of drought had left water reservoirs and lakes low on water. 2020 and 2021 were by far the worst forest fire years recorded in the state. Within three months, the situation has been turned upside down. An overview from the California Department of Water Resources (CDEC) shows a high degree of filling in most places. In some places, the degree of filling is over 100 per cent, which means that the water flows over the edge of the dams. . The Enterprise Bridge over Lake Oroville. The degree of filling in Lake Oroville is now 83 per cent. Noah Berger/AP Fear of large floods The result of all the rainfall is that there have been floods in several places. Parts of the famous road that runs along the Pacific coast were closed in March due to flooding. The state’s Water Directorate (DWR) fears serious floods and inundations when the snow in the mountains melts. The Los Angeles Times writes that after three months of heavy rain and snow, California is facing a new threat: “Sun and warm weather”. When the temperature during the spring and summer reaches over 30 degrees – which is common – the huge amounts of snow will be able to melt quickly. – Then we can expect these floods to be really big, says meteorologist at the national weather service, Jessica Chiari. Lake Tulare has overflowed its banks and roads are flooded. Photo: DAVID SWANSON / Reuters Largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi In some places the floods are already large. Tulare Lake, in the San Joaquin Valley of central California, was until the late 19th century the largest freshwater lake in the United States west of the Mississippi. Over the years, the irrigated lake has been used for the intensive agriculture of the San Joaquin Valley. The result is that Tulare Lake disappeared over 100 years ago. Now it is back, writes the New York Times. The sea covers an area of almost 80 km². As the snow melts, it can grow to over 500 km². Many thousands have already been evacuated from two small towns, Alpaugh and Allensworth, as Tulare Lake has grown. Lake Tulare in 2022 and 2023.Nasa The birds are back The last time Tulare Lake came back to life – in 1983 – it took two years before the farmers could cultivate the land again, writes Newsweek. Now it may take longer, which will cost the farmers many billions of kroner. Instead, the birds have returned. Herons, ibises and blackbirds flock to the flooded areas where they were once abundant. – The birds love it, says Miguel Jimenez, who runs a game reserve in the south of the San Joaquin Valley. Houseboats on Lake Oroville in California. Noah Berger/AP More extreme climate – This year’s storms and floods are the latest example that the climate in California has become more extreme, says DWR chief Karla Nemeth. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) writes that climate change is behind both wet and dry extreme weather. California is among the areas in the world where humans have done the most to take control of nature. This has led to the state being exposed to climate change. Last autumn, California adopted a large climate package. The federal state will spend 54 billion dollars, or 540 billion Norwegian kroner, on climate measures over the next five years.
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The water is back – now California fears flooding – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
