Water, Water Everywhere

But some Californians still do not waste a drop

At the height of the two-year Western drought, youngsters skateboarded on the dry concrete bed of the Los Angeles River. Shasta Lake receded to less than one-fourth its normal size, stranding boats on the rocky bottom. Folsom Lake, usually 260 ft. deep, was a virtual mud flat. The normally roaring Stanislaus River near Sacramento turned into a trickle. Kent reservoir serving Marin County dropped by more than a third of its usual level. Warned Richard Felch of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration: "We've got a good chance of another dust bowl."

But the only thing certain about the weather is that it will change. Sure enough, late last fall, rain started falling in California. Hard. Water came so abundantly to the dry and thirsty land that in the first six months of this year the state got 2 1/2 times its normal amount of rainfall. The rains have been so plentiful that there would have been disastrous floods if the drought had not emptied streams, lakes and reservoirs.

Boaters have returned to Shasta Lake, along with crowds of campers. Some 20,000 people spent Fourth of July weekend there; 40,000 were at Folsom Lake. Says William Dillinger of the state department of parks and recreation: "Nobody is crying for customers any more. Last year people were hiking on the mud flats along the lakes. This year they are swimming."

Bill Center, who shut down his raft-rental firm last year and went to work on a tree farm, is back in business on the Stanislaus River. He now employs 30 guides to take people on overnight trips, serving them shishkebab and strawberry shortcake for dinner. Says he: "Two years ago, I worked half time. Now it's time-and-a-half. We have rebounded with a bang."

Although state officials shut down the ski lift on 14,162-ft. Mount Shasta last April, intrepid skiers and snow bunnies are still skimming down high-altitude snow fields that are up to 25 feet deep. State officials welcome the snow pack for another reason. Explains Bill Clark, spokesman for the department of water resources: "It's like having water in the bank." Backpackers complain the snow is hindering their hiking into parts of the Sierras they were barred from visiting last year because of the high fire danger.

On the flourishing ranch lands, California cattlemen are talking about making money this year, after losing nearly $900 million because of the drought and reducing their herds from 5 million head to 4 million. Says William Staiger of the Cattlemen's Association: "Last year there was no grass and no water. When the rains came, the damn grass sprouted all over the place. We can rebuild the herds in three years."

But the downpours have hurt the farmers, who raise vegetables ranging from artichokes to zucchini, in California's Central Valley. To survive the drought, farmers deepened existing wells or drilled new ones at a cost of $340 million. The rains partly replenished the valley's water table, but also flooded the fields. As a result, planting of strawberries, tomatoes and lettuce was delayed. Then, when the lettuce seeds were finally in the ground, many of them were washed away by subsequent downpours. The price of lettuce on the East Coast rose to a staggering $1 and even more per head. Observes Rancher Willie Chamberlin: "It's a lot like a breakfast table. Sometimes you have a little pancakes left over. Sometimes you have a little syrup left over. The trick is to make it come out even."

Even in the cities, the rains were not good news for everybody. In Sacramento, which normally has one of the nation's highest hay fever rates, the drought had greatly lowered the pollen count. Hay fever is particularly prevalent now, some doctors say, because the allergy-prone became less resistant during the dry years.

Many Californians are finding that habits acquired during the dry years are hard to break. Even though water rationing has ended in Marin County, north of San Francisco, residents are continuing to abide by a version of Governor Jerry Brown's thoughts about "less is more." They are conserving water by taking short showers, keeping bricks in their toilet tanks and watering their lawns infrequently. They consequently are using 35% less water than three years ago. "I will never again waste water," boasts Helen Davis of Sausalito. In many Marin restaurants, water is still served only on request.

"Without water, we wash fewer glasses and that saves energy," argues Restaurateur Adolph Santina. "Not that many people ask for it these days. They are now drinking wine."

sb sb sb

Deep in the heart of Texas the elements are less accommodating: three weeks of temperatures of more than 100DEG and six weeks of drought in the Dallas area have shriveled the earth. It is so hot that people are watering house foundations to keep them from cracking.

So far, 21 people have died in the Dallas-Fort Worth area because of the heat wave, most of them elderly poor who live in homes without air conditioning. Weather forecasters predict the heat wave will continue this week, breaking a record of 25 consecutive days of 100DEG temperatures set in 1952. Although health authorities are warning area residents to stay out of the midday sun, joggers still pack city parks at noon. Golfers also show up on the courses. But they are playing with a new rule: the ball can be moved without penalty if it falls into a crack opened in fairways by the heat and drought. sb

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.