RadioBio Dispatches: Drought in California

Water. It is one of the basic requirements of life as we know it, especially in California. The Washoe people of California's Sierra Nevada mountains believe that all water bodies contain water spirits known as water babies that dictate if you will catch fish or if the river will run dry. And these beliefs are founded in the reality of water's significance...the Sierra Nevada mountains are the reservoir of California, with more than 60% of the state's water originating in the mountains. Our history, our economy, our entire being is tied to how much water falls on these mountains. But what happens...when the water stops? Today, Kinsey Brock, Morgan Quail, and I, Jeff Lauder, speak with a hydrologist and three ecologists about what made the 2012-2016 drought so historic, and how studying its impacts on forest ecosystems can help us understand what a changing climate means for California.