The Core

A few years back I had the great pleasure of water skiing in the desert on this lake, with Mr MF Mackin at the helm.

Seeing the water lines stories above our head, back then, was really eye opening. When a couple of us were dropped off to have more power to ski, once the boat turned the corner, we were all alone. It was surreal, like being on the moon with an oxygen atmosphere.

Super clear water. You could ski near the bank and see straight down the water was so clear, easily 30 feet.

Great memories from that day

It's crazy how much water is gone from there. 

>Watch for

I'm already seeing squabbles and lawsuits about large scale water rights issues trending up in my feeds.

>water rights

Nestle told to stop spring water diversions in San Bernardino Forest

https://www.dailybreeze.com/2021/04/23/nestle-told-to-stop-spring-water-diversions-in-san-bernardino-forest/

<+>
"The latest forecast shows Lake Mead, the biggest reservoir in the Colorado River, declining past a threshold that it hasn't gone below since it was built. "

Southwest States Brace For Water Cuts As Colorado River Reservoirs Run Low
https://kjzz.org/content/1678559/colorado-river-basin-states-brace-future-water-cuts-colorado-river-reservoirs-run

<++>
Amid severe drought, Oregon farming region illegally diverts water from the Klamath River
https://thecounter.org/oregon-farms-water-klamath-river-drought-salmon/

^{From here, y'all look screwed.}

California’s second-largest reservoir is just 42% full heading into summer

https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2021/04/29/dramatic-photos-of-lake-oroville-depict-californias-worsening-drought/

Giant sequoia still smoldering from 2020 Calif. wildfire
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Tree-still-smoldering-from-2020-Sequoia-National-16153776.php

After a not-tragic 63% of normal snowpack on April 1, the May 1 snowpack in Yosemite is at 25% of normal in the Merced drainage. In other words, three quarters of our water is missing. In Sequoia it was 59% on April 1 and presumably following a similar trajectory.

The upshot is that we did not get enough moisture this winter to fully extinguish the fire still smoldering from last summer. The last time I recall this happening was after the 2013 Rim Fire which happened during the severe drought of 2011/12 to 2015/16

>>From here, y'all look screwed.

>Early signs show 2021 could be an especially catastrophic wildfire season in California

Yup.