Like many people who grew up in the Central Valley, near Bakersfield, I have fond memories of our beloved Kern River. There is a bike path that runs parallel to the river, and on hot summer days, while walking or biking along the river, it was not uncommon to see whole families floating down the river on inner tubes. When I was in college, my friends and I would meet on the path several times a week to rollerblade.
I realized that the drought is an important event that affects all of our lives. Dr. Kelly Redmond helped me understand that droughts can be a part of nature’s cycle, but the drought we are in now is certainly extreme. Even though I do not experience the effects of the drought through the perspective of a farmworker like Effrain, like Evelyn I live in an agricultural part of California where water is really important and it is noticeable when it is not in abundance. Now when I see how dry the lake by UC Merced is, I think of the larger effects that the lack of water has on my region.
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