Snow Warriors

Since the colonization by Europeans of the American West-in what would become California and Nevada-the connections between the snows of the Sierra Nevada and downstream waters users, industrial development and the environment have been inextricable. In the arid West, water is life-if not everything-and that means the natural reservoirs of snow. The efforts of the resource agencies are critical to the wellbeing of the nation/state of California, where over 60 percent of the state's water supply comes from the Sierra. Veteran journalist and Sierra historian Gene Rose traces the lives and times of the early stream gaugers and snow surveyors; and the mountaineering adventures of the men and women who brave winter conditions to measure the depth and density of the snowpack. Guarding not only against the prospects of flooding and drought but calculating the anticipated runoff and reservoir storage in an age of climate uncertainty adds to their responsibilities. Snow Warriors also looks at past efforts and failures, along with the emergence of new technologies to advance the science of snow hydrology. The future is cloudy with the perils of fossil-fuel emissions; projected sea-level rise; the end of snow; the over drafting of the aquifer; and overuse of diminishing water resources-all posing serious threats to those dependent on the snow-water equation.