The Drought January 25, 2014

California is dry, as dry as it has ever been since the state started keeping its weather records.  Typically by January, the Bay Area is swimming in rain and the Sierras are wrapped in snow.  Usually I can count off the months by the height of Nicasio Reservoir, and even by August I’m starting to worry about the water supply.  This year, there has been no replenishment, and the section along the Nicasio Valley Road is completely dry.  Even the old highway on the reservoir bed has been revealed, and Canadian geese have taken over where ducks and trout used to flourish.  Here at Almost Pi, there is no new grass, and I wonder how the horses and deer and other creatures can find anything worth eating.  No rain, and none forecasted.  Beautiful, unseasonable weather, but bone-dry land offering up kindling for the next wildfire.