[Magdalen] California drought

[Lynn Ronkainen]

I just looked up Arundo... we have that here in TX as well, but I've not 
hear it touted as a nuisance weed... however along the Mexican border, a 
cedar species: Salt Cedar  http://www.terrain.org/articles/27/lamberton.htm 
was introduced 200 years ago and it has spread throughout the river valley 
and is sucking the Rio Grande completely dry in places.. and is generally a 
nuisance plant in the  whole SW USA and in Mexico.

Lynn



website: www.ichthysdesigns.com

When I stand before God at the end of my life I would hope that I have not a 
single bit of talent left and could say, "I used everything You gave me." 
attributed to Erma Bombeck

Thomas Merton writes, “People may spend their whole lives climbing the 
ladder of success only to find, once they reach the top, that the ladder is 
leaning against the wrong wall.”

"What you seek is seeking you." - Rumi

--------------------------------------------------
From: "M J [Mike] Logsdon" <mjl at ix.netcom.com>
Sent: Sunday, November 16, 2014 3:53 PM
To: <magdalen at herberthouse.org>
Subject: Re: [Magdalen] California drought

> Almonds?  Forgive the insensitivity, but... please.  Almonds?  CA's 
> Central Valley is hurting, and understandably so.  But the US can live 
> without almonds.  How many could live without the Salinas Valley?  The 
> Salad Bowl of CA, and much of the world.  Lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, 
> artichokes, berries uncountable.  (And yes, a lot of wine grapes, believe 
> it or not. Travel between Paso Robles and Salinas and count the grape 
> orchards, if you can.)
>
> What's missed in the news of the CA drought is the areas, like this one, 
> where it's not just a matter of no rain, but other disastrous factors as 
> well.  In the Salinas Valley, we've been forced to worry about flooding, 
> of all things.  And why?  Mainly because of vegetative overgrowth in the 
> Salinas River, particularly that bastardy plant called Arrundo (a 
> monstrous reed).  Introduced in CA decades ago for bank stabilization.  I 
> guess no one thought they'd grow like demons.  Estimates vary, but one 
> Arrundo plant can suck up from 25,000 to 50,000+ acre-feet of water per 
> year.  (For those unfamiliar with the term, an acre-foot is the amount of 
> water that covers an acre of land up to one foot in depth.)  For 
> comparison, the City of Salinas (near 200,000 pop) uses, annually, 24,000 
> acre-feet.  Absolutely amazing.  Luckily, in the face of Perpetual 
> Opposition from environmental groups and agencies (whom I respect, so 
> please don't get me wrong), Gov Jerry recently decreed two of the worst 
> stretches of the Salinas River clearable of vegetation.  That, combined 
> with the mere piffle of rain we're getting so far, will help.
>
> Help with what?  The flooding I mentioned.  It of course is a good thing 
> if that bastardy Arrundo isn't sucking up so many tens of hundreds of 
> thousands of acre-feet of water, but the other element is free passage of 
> water in an otherwise highly alluvial, highly sedimentary river that needs 
> to move water in flooding conditions FAST, and EFFICIENTLY.  Means a lot 
> of sediment being dumped in the dearly precious Monterey Bay Marine 
> Sanctuary (which I saw first-hand from above in a Chinook in 1995), but in 
> a world of lesser of evils, it's about what nature originally intended 
> (the free flow of water to the ocean) or flooding damages totalling in the 
> millions... in the Salinas Valley.  Back to the original point.
>
> I know all about this because of where I work.  I don't work with it 
> directly, but in such an attritionally small Agency, it's hard not to 
> know.  (Monthly All-hands Meetings help too.)
>
> Off my MCWRA (Monterey County Water Resources Agency) Orange Crate, for 
> the time being.
> _________________________________________
> "O perplexed discomposition, O riddling
> distemper, O miserable condition of man!"
> - The Rev Mr John Donne
> (in a not-so-chipper moment)
>
>
> _________________________________________
> "O perplexed discomposition, O riddling
> distemper, O miserable condition of man!"
> - The Rev Mr John Donne
> (in a not-so-chipper moment)