Elizabeth Schneider’s letter, “What is California’s future,” in the Jan. 4 of the Sun contains a glaring error. The 2016 rainy season was not a “once-in-a-century” event. The best example of why (it is not) would be the winter/spring of 1977 and 1978.
At the time, the mid 1970s drought was considered one of the worst on record. I remember it well, as I lived in SLO at the time. The rains of winter 1977 and 1978 were considered by many to be a “miracle,” and wiped out the drought in just one rainy season. I remember those rains too … one of the February 1978 storms flooded the south end of SLO. My parents’ house barely escaped serious damage.
This article appears in Feb 1-8, 2018.