Mariposa Fire Mountain Community Fire Information
Related Articles
<div class="StoryBlock">
<span lang="EN">The crew from Pacific Gas and Electric visited seven sites that they say are normally packed with snow, but when they arrived five of the seven locations didn’t even have enough snow to measure. <p>With the blades of the chopper humming, Matthew Meadows and his PG&E crew flew into the Sierras above Auberry. On the flight, pilot Brett Hendricks pointed out the dying trees. The trees casualties of drought, bark beetles, and air pollution.</p> <p>"So if this is what they look like in the beginning of summer. What are they going to look like at the end of summer?," said Hendricks.</p> <p>Arriving at their first test site things start to look different.</p> <p>"It’s a bit harder to find without the snow all over it," said Hendricks</p> <p>On the ground at just over 8,000 feet, finding measurable snow was tough.</p> <p> </p> <p>"Alright. Well, if it’s not deep enough we won’t be able to get it," said Meadows.</p> <p>At the next survey area, the same issue. </p> <p>Meadows then looked at the average snow pack for the area this time of year and was shocked. The average pack for that test area in April is 26 inches. On this trip it measured zero. The few patches of snow don’t help the total.</p> <p>"We actually have some snow here, but it’s not going to sampled. It’s going to be all zero because this is the only little spot with snow," said Meadows</p> <p>At the higher elevations the PG&E crew did find snow, but Meadows noticed it isn’t thick and it’s already starting to melt. </p> <p>"it’s not good in terms of water storage in the snow pack," said Meadows</p> <p>After surveying seven sites, five of them came back with little to no snow pack. For this crew that’s been coming here for years, this discovery is startling.</p> <p>"On these dry years where we have no snow like all the sites we visited today, it’s more important so we know how much we need to conserve," said Meadows.</p> <p>Calling it a day, the crew remains hopeful something will change. </p> <p>"We’ll hope for some storms and we’ll be out here again next month," said Meadows.</p> <p> PG&E does this survey every year to measure the water for their nearby power plant. Their findings will have a big impact on the Central Valley because water analysts and conservationists will use them to begin planning for the months to come. </p></span></div>
Wanna Comment?