And The Drought Goes On . . .

[hatrack]

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. - Withered hulks of ponderosa and pinon pines dot the mountains of northern Arizona, victims of a persistent drought that is entering its sixth year in the West and raising fundamental questions about how habitable the booming region truly is. Americans saw spectacular effects of the drought last fall, when wildfires raged across Southern California, killing 24 people and destroying $3 billion in property.

Less obvious, but more profound, are other impacts. Los Angeles' reservoirs are dwindling, the water table beneath Las Vegas is disappearing, and millions of trees in Arizona and New Mexico are dying off. A continuing drought could wipe out farmers and ranchers throughout the West, from pinto bean growers in New Mexico to cantaloupe farmers in California's San Joaquin Valley. And it could stifle the sprawling growth of the West's swimming-pool-dotted suburbs.

Scientists say this present crisis may reflect the true character of the West - an arid land that Americans have not inhabited long enough to fully understand. The most infamous American drought, the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, led to a collapse of farming across much of Kansas, Oklahoma, the Dakotas, Texas, New Mexico and Colorado. The plowed-up ground that had once been prairie was turned to dust and picked up by the wind. Earlier and more severe droughts probably led to the abandonment of major Indian settlements such as Mesa Verde in Colorado in the 13th century. Now, the dry times are back.

Since 1999, the Southwest, the central Rockies and western Great Plains have been parched. The year 2002 was the driest of the past 100 years in Arizona and second driest for Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah. In the last two years in Arizona, the normal winter snow and rain barely materialized, and the summer rain never came. "There's something awfully big happening when you have all these fail," said Julio Betancourt, a climate expert at the U.S. Geologic Survey's Desert Laboratory near Tucson, Ariz.

EDIT

The climate records show the 20th century was unusually wet, a fluke that helped lure millions of people westward. The late 1970s to the late 1990s marked the wettest period of the last millennium, said Betancourt."

EDIT

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/8173309.htm
(Free registration required)

[SheilaT]

1. Thanks for posting this.

Two books everyone should read are Cadillac Desert and A Dangerous Place both by Marc Reisner. Between them they tell the story of the settling of the west, the misuse of water there, and the fact that California in particular was mostly settled in a time when its weather was unusually mild.

Run off and get them now.