next | previous | last | back to California drought photo gallery
(3 of 19)

A hillside along I-5 in the San Joaquin valley that burned in the summer of 2006; no annual grasses grew during the winter 2006–spring 2007 rainfall year. The irrigated San Joaquin valley is visible in the background. The shrubs in the photo are California natives that stay green year-round, with or without normal rainfall. This area was originally covered with native perennial grasses, until they were eaten to the ground, probably during California’s last Great Drought in 1864.