In the Sierra Nevada, the snowpack is shrinking. These
developments, attributable to a warming climate, threaten one of
California's most indispensable resources: water. Without water
and the ability to move it efficiently over hundreds of miles --
to cities, suburbs, farms and factories -- California would be
unrecognizable from the highly developed, fertile and industrial
powerhouse it is today. The threats to California's water
supply, in many ways the state's lifeblood, are not mere
possibilities. They are here. And now. "What we're beginning to
see clearly in California -- and these are not projections -- is
we've clearly seen sea-level rise of about a half a foot at the
Golden Gate. That's real data," said John Andrew, chief of
special planning for the state Department of Water Resources.
"The snow coming down from the Sierra -- earlier snowmelt --
that's real data." Many scientists say those trends will hasten
in the coming decades and reach troublesome levels as the
climate continues to absorb increas