3 ms·

> Tulare Lake refilled in 1997 and 1983 during very wet seasons. I don't understand why people choose to live in known flood zones.

booboofixer 4y ago
More curious as to why the high-speed rail construction sites seem to be located there too.
gumby 4y ago
If you look at the geography of the Central Valley the reason is stark: the farm owners live in big houses on berms or hills, while the workers live in smaller houses on the plains. Its easy to see everywhere. Just look right as you drive I205 into the Central Valley (before/around Tracy). It reminds me of Marc Bloch’s descriptions of the landscaping of European feudal manorial communities, and how you can still see the consequences of that structure in contemporary rural landscapes. But in this case it’s recent, and far from Europe.
- dsfyu404ed 4y ago
  This pattern is seen literally the world over because the lowlands are, with very, very, very, few exceptions more fertile than the higher areas (former peninsula vs former lake bottom, hillside vs river valley, etc) and people aren't idiots so the farm the best land and build their dwellings on the lesser land.
  - gumby 4y ago
    > people aren't idiots so the farm the best land and build their dwellings on the lesser land. … but are also happy to have their workforce live on the lower land too. Hmm.
gmokki 4y ago
So it becomes a lake an average every 20 years. And still people manage to forget it?
- hulitu 4y ago
  People forget what politicians did yesterday and you expect them to remember a lake from 20 years ago ? /s
- ratg13 4y ago
  Steinbeck wrote East of Eden basically on this theme about the people in this area.. and that was published 75 years ago.
bsder 4y ago
California's Central Valley is a monument to "You can't get people to believe something that affects their paycheck." The correct solution is to shut this area down permanently. It isn't sustainable and the reason for the "subsidence" is that the agribusinesses have been pumping water from the aquifer and collapsed those layers which will now never refill. The problem people don't get is that "global warming" means less consistent weather--not less weather. It means more extreme precipitation--more torrential rains as well as more extended droughts.

booboofixer 4y ago

More curious as to why the high-speed rail construction sites seem to be located there too.

gumby 4y ago

If you look at the geography of the Central Valley the reason is stark: the farm owners live in big houses on berms or hills, while the workers live in smaller houses on the plains. Its easy to see everywhere. Just look right as you drive I205 into the Central Valley (before/around Tracy). It reminds me of Marc Bloch’s descriptions of the landscaping of European feudal manorial communities, and how you can still see the consequences of that structure in contemporary rural landscapes. But in this case it’s recent, and far from Europe.

dsfyu404ed 4y ago
This pattern is seen literally the world over because the lowlands are, with very, very, very, few exceptions more fertile than the higher areas (former peninsula vs former lake bottom, hillside vs river valley, etc) and people aren't idiots so the farm the best land and build their dwellings on the lesser land.
- gumby 4y ago
  > people aren't idiots so the farm the best land and build their dwellings on the lesser land. … but are also happy to have their workforce live on the lower land too. Hmm.

gmokki 4y ago

So it becomes a lake an average every 20 years. And still people manage to forget it?

hulitu 4y ago
People forget what politicians did yesterday and you expect them to remember a lake from 20 years ago ? /s
ratg13 4y ago
Steinbeck wrote East of Eden basically on this theme about the people in this area.. and that was published 75 years ago.

bsder 4y ago

California's Central Valley is a monument to "You can't get people to believe something that affects their paycheck." The correct solution is to shut this area down permanently. It isn't sustainable and the reason for the "subsidence" is that the agribusinesses have been pumping water from the aquifer and collapsed those layers which will now never refill. The problem people don't get is that "global warming" means less consistent weather--not less weather. It means more extreme precipitation--more torrential rains as well as more extended droughts.