From the extra-large valley carpenter bee to the diminutive Perdita minima, California has 1,600 different kinds of native bees. ~~~ The state’s bees share their work with other pollinators like butterflies, moths and beetles — together, these insects pollinate thousands of different kinds of plants, including important food crops. Many are “pollen specialists,” which means […]
Category: California
A new generation of small, modular, mobile, wave-powered devices is looking to tackle desalination’s biggest problems head-on. ~~~ In May 2022, California officials unanimously rejected a plan to build a US $1.4-billion desalination plant in Huntington Beach. The plant, the officials said, would produce costly water and possibly harm the marine environment. The decision wasn’t […]
Water experts seek new ways to capture groundwater. ~~~ In most years, California uses more water than nature can deliver. As the climate grows warmer and dryer, the state’s agriculture industry faces steep reductions in water supply and the possibility of fallowing hundreds of thousands of acres of otherwise productive farmland in order to preserve […]
Flooding our fields helps store water in belowground aquifers. ~~~ In drought years, California’s depleted reservoirs are a visible reminder of the state’s water crisis. As dry periods drag on, its two largest reservoirs — Shasta and Oroville — start to look more like streams than lakes. But for every gallon of water no longer […]
The $4 billion project is designed to draw water from the Sacramento River — but only during major storm surges. ~~~ In January, a series of storms pummeled California, causing floods, mudslides, and widespread power outages. In just three weeks, 32 trillion gallons of water fell on the state. Then, in March, another series of storms hit, triggering […]
I think I just don’t like San Francisco. Shhhh this is a very unpopular opinion in Northern California. But when you think about it, what’s to like? I mean besides the culture, the food, the sights, the history, and Tartine Bakery on Guerrero Street. First of all, you can’t make a left-hand turn anywhere. And […]
Since writers’ websites mostly just exist as a form of self-promotion, I’m going to tell you all one more time about my recent story in Undark … which also got picked up by The Atlantic and Popular Science. I’ve been trying to maintain my writerly cool, but you know, it’s hard. Anyway, gold mining has […]
Just want to share my second piece for Undark, published yesterday: The Gold Rush returns to California Demand for gold has risen in recent years. Not everyone is happy about that, especially some residents of Grass Valley.
ON THE OUTSKIRTS of the northern California town of Grass Valley, a massive concrete silo looms over the weeds and crumbling pavement. Nearby, unseen, a mine shaft drops 3,400 feet into the earth. These are the remains of Grass Valley’s Idaho-Maryland Mine, a relic from the town’s gold mining past. Numerous mines like this one once […]
I have been nowhere and done nothing since last October. For a start, it’s just too COVIDy out there right now. Also, it’s cold. I don’t even like to walk back and forth to my car when it’s this cold. Someone from the midwest is going to read this and go, “Haha California girl complaining […]
