California Copes with Worsening Drought

A log truck carries trees that were felled following the Creek Fire, which began on September 4, 2020 and was fully contained on December 24, on July 15, 2021 near Shaver Lake California. The 379,895-acre fire was the fourth largest recorded in California and the biggest single fire that was not part of a greater complex fire. Hundreds of homes were destroyed and scores of backpackers the path of the fire were airlifted from the wilderness in the Sierra Nevada mountains. At one point, about 1,000 people were trapped near Mammoth Pool Reservoir with more than 200 on a boat launch. Authorities are bracing for a predicted driest year on record for the Kern River, carrying only about a quarter of the average Sierra snowmelt water to Lake Isabella. Large portion of the West are now in the most extreme drought category and fire officials are warning of another devastating wildfire season in California.