A message from the LA River – the rains will return
When I lived in Los Angeles the LA River seemed an absurd anomaly—a massively ironic monument, or rather a concrete river designed for flood control in an arid region. But the fire/flood cycle of California has never been far from its citizens and 1933’s catastrophic fires and floods that led to the control of the river look to be here again.
In 2021 when the mindset was about a historic LA drought, I wrote an article for my company website that said atmospheric rivers were a part of California’s history and had led to the virtual immersion of the state in the mid-19th century. At that time, I noted that “For investors, atmospheric rivers are another San Andreas fault risk—a low probably enormously high impact event. California should aggressively prepare for it. Investors should be sure to diversify their investments and not be overly exposed in the earthquakes, floods, and fires of the state.”
And here we are in 2024 with atmospheric rivers coming almost daily, making the front pages of major newspapers. So I repeat once more “It’s been a hard year of environmental events in the West. Surely it will seem odd to the current residents to think that they have been lucky. But they have.”
Click on the link to read the full article "California needs to forget rainy-day funds and buy an ark".
