Philip Van Mantgem, USGS Field Ecologist

California Is Still In Drought

How Do We Know? Because Science, That’s How.

Despite the fifth wettest October since 1895, California is still in a deep and serious drought. How do we know this? Because, well, science.

Zach Wenderott, USGS Biological Technician

Everyday, small teams of individuals are venturing out into the lands across the country. They wear hardhats or chest waders. They climb trees and explore caves. They measure cactuses and swim in rivers. They carry clipboards, underwater paper and binoculars. They’re counting, measuring and taking it all down.

This hard-earned data is input into computerized systems. The algorithms compare and contrast new information with past years, adjusting for environmental inputs. Complex math leads us to detailed conclusions about the state of the natural world.

Laura Lalemand, Biological Technician at the USGS Redwood Field Station, conducts tree demographics in Redwood NP

This is how we know climate change is real. It is how we learned about and began to deal with colony collapse disorder. It is also how we know California is still in a drought.

I’ve always admired the men and women who do this on-the-ground work, so I’ve decided to start spending more time with them. Much of the science being done in California is directly related to fresh-water management decisions, so this is also a way to continue working on my Managing Scarcity project.

L>R: Laura Lalemand, Philip Van Mantgem and Zach Wenderott of the USGS Arcata Field office.

Earlier this year I was able to spend some time with Philip Van Mantgem, a USGS Field Ecologist in Arcata. Philip and his team ventured into Redwood National Forest to conduct annual tree demographic surveys on study plots. How many trees had died in the past year? How many had signs of stress? This data is compared with data from previous years, on plots that have different management practices, all across California and throughout the West.

California is still in a drought, but people like Philip, Laura and Zach are working for a public understanding of how best to move forward. The data they glean is used to promote smart management policy, which is likely to be the only thing that will bring California out of this multi-year drought.

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