A senior hydrologist for California says the state’s ongoing drought will become more severe—at least in the San Joaquin River Valley—than any similar-length drought of the past century.
“With the forecast just made, this year is going to be the worst four-year sequence on the San Joaquin River group,” says Maury Roos, senior hydrologist for the Department of Water Resources, who retired as the state’s chief hydrologist but still works part time. Despite the dire declaration, California’s drought is far from the worst the U.S. has ever seen.
The Dust Bowl of the 1930s beats California’s current plight by a long shot, in terms of area covered and years of length. Spanning eight years in certain parts of the Great Plains, it was the worst American drought of the 20th century, causing mass migration westward. But even the Dust Bowl pales when compared to centuries past. Californians today are facing water rationing. Early European settlers and Native Americans disappeared entirely in certain regions in the face of devastating drought.
