Storms sweep water, debris into roads

BARSTOW • The recent storms that have soaked the area, flooding local roads and highways with water and debris,  may have brought with them about one-quarter of Barstow’s annual average rainfall, National Weather Service meteorologists say.

With little more than an inch and a half of rainfall, 2009 was Barstow’s seventh driest year on record, according to Chris Stachelski, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Las Vegas office, which serves the Mojave Desert. Since the rains began Monday, Larry Jensen, another National Weather Service meteorologist, says Barstow has received about eight-tenths of an inch of rain as of Thursday. It’s likely Barstow will see over an inch of rain when the storms pass, Jensen said.

Motorists have found themselves fording miniature lakes and rivers all over Barstow, including along Interstate 15 just south of Outlet Center Drive. The Mojave River has found its way above ground near the First Avenue bridge. But, according to Ronnie Zamora, Barstow’s public works superintendent, no major damage has occurred within city limits so far. Workers are also prepared with sandbags and special equipment if washouts do happen.

“We do anticipate more water flow,” he said, adding that mud and other debris is often swept across Rimrock Road near Montara Road, as well as along West Main Street near Lavern Avenue. “We caution people to slow down because water crosses the street.”

If residents do see major damage as a result of the rain, Zamora encouraged them to contact the Barstow Police Department at 760-256-2211.

Despite the inconvenience, the rain is good news for alfalfa and pistachio farmers, even though their crops are currently dormant. James Harmsen, who farms about 300 acres of alfalfa at Harmsen Family Dairy in Hinkley, said the more it rains the less he’ll have to irrigate in the spring. And Newberry Springs pistachio farmer Ellen Johnson said the rain will build up her groundwater supply that her 600 producing pistachio trees rely on when they begin to leaf-out at the end of March.

“They’d like to have about four acre-feet of water or more per year,” Johnson said. “(The rain) is good for them.”
Harmsen said he and his wife. Ruth, monitors how much water his alfalfa crop uses. The more rain that falls, the less water he’ll have to pump to irrigate his crop. A rain that can penetrate three to four feet below ground is needed, Harmsen said.

“We have to keep track of the amount of water we use because we have to pay taxes and so on,” he said. “The less water we have to pump the better off we are.”

Even though California is currently experiencing an El Niño year, which typically brings wetter weather to the desert, meteorologists can’t judge yet what impact future storms will have. But Barstow will see future storms this winter and spring, Jensen said.

“It might be pretty rare if we get a whole week (of rain) like we’ve had,” he said. “This is not something that we’ve had very often.”

 Contact the writer:
(760) 256-4123 or jcejnar@desertdispatch.com

Rainfall in inches:
Barstow’s yearly average: 4.17 inches
Rainfall total 2009: 1.54 inches
Rainfall as of Thursday: 0.8 inches
Projected rainfall total after storms: 1 inch or more