Spring Snowpack in California Poses Flood Risks: Washington Post Report

Now spring is coming to California and that could have disastrous consequences, reports Washington Post.

Because after several years of drought and little rainfall, there has been no shortage of either snow or rain this winter. This has led to unusually large amounts of snow in the Sierra Nevada mountain range and several experts are now sounding the alarm.

If the heat comes quickly, it will send a massive amount of water down to the vulnerable, low-lying valleys below – and towards flood control systems which in many cases are “woefully unprepared” to handle the amounts of water, writes the American newspaper in a long article on Saturday.

Could cause billions in losses

And the places the water will hit are almost unimportant for the United States. The possible disaster threatens the Central Valley, a densely populated agricultural area that produces a quarter of the country’s food.

The snowmelt thus has the potential to cause billions in loss and damage, flood cities and affect tens of thousands of residents, writes the Washington Post.

Many of the places the water will hit will struggle to handle such large amounts of water.

– This system has been de-prioritised, and it has never been a priority to rethink and work with it. It has consequences, says Jeffrey Mount of California’s Water Policy Center.

He says that they knew that such a disaster would come and that it would be the local communities in the countryside that would be affected.

– Hard to predict

Experts tell LA Times that the greatest danger comes if temperatures reach 30 degrees and stay that way for a longer period.

– That’s when you can expect these currents to really start to pick up, says Jessica Chiari, meteorologist at the National Weather Service to the newspaper.

You usually see that in June, says the meteorologist, but predicting exactly when you will see a lot of melting is difficult.

In mid-March, Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA, told LA Times that it can go two ways.

– It will happen, but the question is whether it will happen quickly or slowly, he told the newspaper.

– If the snow melts gradually, there will be less concern about flooding, but if it melts quickly, there can be major floods, says Swain.

Surrounded by water

But several places have already been hit hard by the large amounts of rainfall. Tulare Lake in the San Jaquin Valley is a good example of just that.

The fresh water source, which hundreds of years ago was drained of water due to agriculture, has now risen from the dead, writes The Guardian.

They have spoken to Kayode Kadara who is worried about the rising water near his home. Just a few months ago, it was a dry landscape.

– Now we are surrounded by water, says Kadara to the newspaper.

The state has brought in sandbags by helicopter, rebuilt dams and built walls to try to hold the water back.

– It is difficult to control water masses in times like this. It is unprecedented and is new for all of us, says Kadara.