THE IRIDEUS - MAY 2021
C
onservation onversation
With Julie Ruth Haselden
News from Friends of Five Creeks:
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he drought is back. The Bay Area is in a state of extreme drought (red on map), and even the wettest corner is at least “abnormally dry” (yellow). EBMUD is asking for 10% reductions in water use, joining a range of other restrictions and emergency declarations in the Bay Area and statewide. This has been the third driest “water year” on record. The state cancelled the final April 29 snow survey because so little remained. Forecasts for summer river flows are nearly all less than half of average. Reservoirs are at about three-quarters of their long-term average. Time to dust off tips for using water responsibly long term. Outdoors: • Plants: Choose tough, drought-tolerant plants. Convert some or all lawn to a lowwater garden. • Soil: Help your soil absorb and hold water by using mulch and compost. • Watering: Water slowly, deeply, and seldom. Make sure sprinklers aren’t
spraying up into hot air or out onto pavement. Check your water agency (EBMUD for most readers) for information and advice as well as coupons and rebates. • Cleaning: Sweep rather than hosing down sidewalks. Wash your car at a commercial car-wash -- they are required to recycle. Indoors: • Check for and fix leaks • Appliances: Run only full loads in your washing machine and dishwasher. • Showers and faucets: Install a lower-flow shower head, as well as low-flow aerators on bath and kitchen faucets. Take short showers; turn water off while you brush your teeth, shave, or wash up. Fill a sink or pan to wash dishes. • Toilets: How often you flush is a personal decision. The Internet offers countless tips on saving water. From ‘Protect Hot Creek’: Stop KORE Mining
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he US Forest Service is taking public comments on a proposed exploratory mining operation near the headwaters of Hot Creek in the Eastern Sierra that could lead to harmful open pit mining near this fishery. We need your help to stop it. This project is problematic and disastrous in many ways: 1. KORE Mining wants to drill around Hot Creek for gold with no plan or guarantee that gold exists in that area. Dredging, excavation, and hydraulic mining will cause dramatic stream degradation. 2. The proposal for the exploratory operation provides no information on how much water is needed, the depth of drilling, or
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