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Antelope Valley:
Flora and Fauna of the Antelope ValleyThe Antelope Valley is home to a wide range of plants and animals, all of which are adapted to the area's climate. It is home to hundreds of plants like the Joshua Tree, Scrub Oak, Creosote, and the California Poppy. Winter brings much-needed rain which slowly penetrates the area's dry ground, bringing up native grasses and wildflowers. Poppy season depends completely on the precipitation, but a good bloom can be killed off by the unusual weather in the late winter and early spring months. Snow is not unusual for the Antelope Valley in spring, because it is often the most unstable weather the Valley receives. The Antelope Valley gets its name from its history of Pronghorn Antelope grazing in large numbers. Once abundant, they mostly died off or migrated into the Central Valley. A drought in the early 1900s caused a scarcity in bunch grass, their main food source. Now the sighting of a Pronghorn is rare, although there are still a small number in the Valley. Black bear are resident with sightings as recent as July 17, 2008, they like to hide in the hills behind the towns and often are only in the valley for foraging or resting in caves. When they come into towns they are sometimes tranquilized and relocated (but often just outside of town). Bobcats and Coyotes are very common. Coyotes often howl or cry at night or day during spring, summer, and fall months. Tortoises are not rare, but they often hide in burrows to escape the desert heat.Water issuesHuman water use in the Antelope Valley depends mainly on pumping of groundwater from the valley's aquifers and on importing of additional water through aqueducts. Long-term groundwater pumping has lowered the water table, thereby increasing pumping lifts, reducing well efficiency, and causing land subsidence. [2] While aqueducts supply additional water to meet increasing human demand for agricultural, industrial, and domestic uses, diversion of water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta in Northern California has had, and continues to have, adverse environmental and social effects in the Delta. "Over decades, [the] competing uses for water supply and habitat have jeopardized the Delta’s ability to meet either need. All stakeholders agree the estuary is in trouble and requires long-term solutions to ensure reliable, quality water supplies and a healthy ecosystem". [3]Antelope Valley's rapid human population growth and development place considerable stress on the local and regional water systems. According to David Leighton of the United States Geological Survey (USGS), "A deliberate management effort will be required to meet future water demand in the Antelope Valley without incurring significant economic and environmental costs associated with overuse of the ground-water resource".[4] |
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These items are historical in scope and are intended for educational purposes only; they are not meant as an aid for travel planning. Copyright ©Walter Feller. 1995-2024 - All rights reserved. |