Huntington Beach not spared in long season of drought
NATURAL PERSPECTIVES
Rain, rain, come our way.
Water and the lack of it have certainly been in the news the past
few weeks. According to NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center, this
summer was much drier than normal, with drought parching half of the
country. That may be an effect of global warming. Another result of
global warming will be more severe storms. We may be seeing that
already.
This September, Texans cleaned up the mess left by 2 to 4 inches
of rain falling per hour from Tropical Storm Fay. Tropical Storm
Gustav lashed the eastern seaboard with heavy rain, followed closely
by Tropical Storm Hanna, which poured 4 inches of rain across Alabama
and Florida. Talk about too much of a good thing. Four inches of rain
with one storm, sometimes in one hour, is too much. We only got four
inches of rain all last year.
We don’t usually see much precipitation from the hurricanes and
tropical storms that come up from Mexico. By the time they reach us,
all that’s left is heat, humidity, and some beautiful clouds. The
inland areas of San Bernardino and Riverside got a bit of moisture
from Tropical Storm Hernan a few weeks ago, but Huntington Beach got
only a few splats on the sidewalk, not enough to wet a frog’s tongue.
All across the country, the land is suffering from the effects of
this devastating drought. It has affected plant life, which in turn
affects the insects, which in turn affects the animals that feed on
the plants and insects. A drought causes a ripple effect in the food
chain.
How dry is it? It’s dry enough to turn our lakes to dust. If
you’ve been to Alice’s Breakfast in the Park lately, you’ve noticed
the extremely low level of water in the lake in that part of Central
Park. The water is so low that an ancient rusted auto body is
showing. Until the level dropped, its presence had been well hidden.
We worried about corrosion of the metal and leakage of crankcase oil
and other noxious fluids that must have leaked into the lake. Of
course, the car has probably been there for years, but it should be
removed.
We called Chuck Davis with public works. He said they were already
working on getting the car out. In fact, it may be gone by now. While
we had Davis on the phone, we asked him about water for our city
parks. They look green enough, even during this year of drought.
Davis said that the water used for sprinkling in the parks comes from
city-owned wells where the water isn’t of high enough quality for
drinking purposes. The water has a bit of color to it, and a slight
smell, making it more suitable for watering lawns and shrubs than for
drinking. So our valuable drinking water stores aren’t being used to
keep the parks green. That was good to know.
The Bolsa Chica hasn’t been spared in this season of drought
either. According to Peter Knapp, a volunteer with the California
Department of Fish and Game, nesting success of many species was way
down this year. You’d think that a wetland would be immune from
drought, since it is flushed by seawater twice daily, but even a
saltwater marsh needs input of fresh water occasionally to thrive.
Much of the Bolsa Chica is not subject to the tides, a sad fact that
will be corrected by the restoration soon to get underway there.
We watch the weather channel like farmers, waiting for news of the
first rainfall of the season, waiting for relief for the plants and
wildlife that suffer during these dry spells. We have a pond in our
yard for birds and other wildlife, as well as several birdbaths. We
get visits from opossums, raccoons and skunks, all drawn by the
readily available water. This week we had a common yellowthroat, a
water-loving bird, at the pond. We also had a white-breasted nuthatch
at our feeders, a first for our yard. Normally the nuthatches stay in
the foothills, but the drought has driven them in record numbers to
lower elevations throughout Orange County.
In addition to monitoring the nationwide drought, NOAA also tracks
ocean temperatures. They’re predicting limited relief from the
drought for the southwest this winter because there’s an El Nino
brewing out there in the Pacific. But it’s going to be a weak one,
not much help for most of the country.
There’s not much we can do to make it rain. We know that our
wonderful Mediterranean climate means dry summers, rainy winters and
moderate temperatures all year long. We revel in our weather, brag
about it to our out-of-state friends and curse it when it becomes too
extreme. Like now. Four inches of rain a year isn’t enough. Bring on
El Nino.
* VIC LEIPZIG and LOU MURRAY are Huntington Beach residents and
environmentalists. They can be reached at vicleipzig@aol.com.
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