Lest we forget last drought

Go to www.sgvtribune.com or www.pasadenastarnews.com or www.whittierdailynews.com to see my latest From The Editor's Desk column on the "great drought of 1991."

MORE ON DROUGHT...
One of my strangest memories from 1991 covering water and environmental issues for the SGV Tribune was during the five-year drought of 1986-1991. A water agency, Three Valleys Municipal Water District, hired a dancer from the Chumash Indians to perform a rain dance (actually, it was a bear dance and a crane dance). A week or so later, there came a fierce and very unexpected rain storm that doused the SGV and SoCal on Memorial Day. Meteorologists said it was totally unexpected.
....Then, in March 1991, the whole state experienced record rainfall and snow for that month. The so-called "March Miracle" eased the drought restrictions and was the beginning of the end of that five-year drought.

We are entering another drought.. this being the driest year on record in the history of Southern California. Water experts say water restrictions and penalties are not far behind, unless we receive another "March Miracle."

* * *
Thanks, Barbara, for responding to my harrowing "Walk on the Wild Side." She saw a bear once on her walk along the West Fork of the San Gabriel River. She recently turned back while hiking along the Ben Overturff Trail in Monrovia, saying it was looking a bit too lonely for her taste. I could relate.
I really loved the part of her post when she said she had heard of Japanese tourists who hike the Angeles trails with bells on, to alert the bears. Does that really work?
-steve