No Drought Emergency Pt
From the Ag Information Network, this is today’s Fruit Grower Report. When it comes to weather, farmers always prepare for the worst and pray for the best.
But if the state declares a “drought emergency” when the numbers don’t support it, according to University of Washington atmospheric and climate sciences professor Cliff Mass, that’s going too far …
MASS … “Well, you know, we’re seeing this tendency to paint things as being more problematic than they are, you know, to become climate emergencies and now drought emergencies. The Drought Monitor, which a lot of people look at, that tends to be a little bit enthusiastic about drought, to put it mildly.”
The numbers, Mass says take away much of the guesswork …
MASS … “You know, we don’t have to speculate. We have numbers. We know what the snowpack is. We know what the precipitation is. And none of those values are something that one would worry about. We have hard numbers now that show that this “emergency” idea is really without any basis.”
Mass says it doesn’t need to be perfect …
MASS … “You need everything to be 100% to be okay for your reservoirs and stream flows, right. We’re lucky. We have a little bit of space there, that we can be down to 60-70% and still be fine.”
Unfortunately, Mass says the media just buys in to it …
MASS … “They no longer look at the fundamental numbers or ask questions. So, I mean, that’s the big problem. Journalists should be doing that, and they’re not.”
For more on Cliff’s weather thoughts, go to
www.cliffmass.blogspot.com
