It’s raining and it’s not stopping. The whole of Sonoma Valley is smiling.
The farm is coping quite nicely, thanks to some planning. There are a couple of flooded beds but for the most part, the ditches are full and doing their jobs. They have been planted with a cover crop to keep the soil in place, as much as possible. And large sticks and branches have been placed to slow down the flow.
The local ecology center is studying local creeks today, measuring the run off, testing for sediment levels, watching for cloudy water and how soon it clears, among other things. Fish need clear water. When even small waterways hold the water longer, it decreases the amount of water that ends up in the larger creeks, slowing the absorption and helping recharge the water table.
California’s drought has a welcome reprieve with this storm. But no one is fooled or letting down their guard. Having enough water to grow so much of the state’s, not to mention the country’s, produce, is essential to our economy. And it’s scary to imagine California the desert it used to be before the California water project began to move snowmelt around the state.
But, for today, it’s hard to think desert.
Leave a Reply