Fresh spring water was recently seen flowing in streams that traditionally went dry during this season in the Napa Valley.
Solano County’s Green Valley, an oasis in a canyon that was parched by drought only two weeks ago, has witnessed a miracle around the region owing to the strong earthquake the region had to bear . Where brooks usually ran dry during this time of the year, spring water can be seen trickling down trails and sprouting out of rocks, reported CBS .
Napa valley was subjected to a mighty jolt last month, when the region experienced a powerful earthquake measuring 6.0 on the Richter scale. As nature would have it, it turns out that the earth’s mighty shifting, which caused about $400 million in damage to Napa, Sonoma, and Solano counties, also mysteriously forced groundwater to the surface and into several dry or nearly dry creeks and streams in the region.
Speaking about the same, Mark Witherspoon, the reservoir keeper for two of Vallejo’s key sources of water, Lakes Madigan and Frey, said, “This was never wet before.”
He was referring to the Green Valley canyon and pointing to a bubbling, burbling fissure. Torrents of water have also been flowing down Wild Horse and Green Valley creeks and another unnamed waterway in the hills southeast of Napa and northwest of Vallejo since the August 24 quake.
A relief and bonanza for the drought-plagued Vallejo: The sudden upsurge of spring-water has certainly proven to be good news for the draught-stricken Vallejo. Officials for the the region’s water supply had to build an emergency pipeline from Lake Berryessa in the spring, after authorities learned that their supply of Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta water was being cut off.
However, the liquid infusion, which some locals have taken to calling “miracle water,” bubbled up within the 1,500-acre watershed. Vallejo has exclusive rights to use this miraculously filled-up reservoir.
Solano County isn’t the only place getting an unexpected refill of their reservoirs. Local geologists have confirmed that at least four other, mostly dry waterways in Sonoma and Napa counties have seen big surges of water since the earthquake, reported The Press Democrat .
Explaining the phenomenon, Tom Holzer, a hydro-geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, said, “This phenomenon is commonly reported after earthquakes. Earthquakes can cause fissures in the rock that bring up groundwater.”
Earthquakes usually cause destruction and wreak havoc. However, this quake brought relief to the draught-stricken region and alleviated water woes of the residents of Napa valley.
[Image Credit | Michael Macor, The Chronicle]
