Spreck Rosekrans is an Economic Analyst at EDF.

As 2009 is looking like a third dry year in a row, one might wonder whether there will be any naturally flowing streams at all when summer comes around.

Anyone who has been to Burney Falls  knows the answer. The streams that drain Mt. Shasta and Mt. Lassen in California’s portion of the Cascades have some pretty decent flows even in dry years. The reason is that rain and snowmelt permeate the porous volcanic rock, often taking years to resurface.

Burney Falls (photo by Ted Yu)

These year-round flows help to sustain California’s water supply over long hot summers. The water tends to be cold as well, so places like Battle Creek have potential to provide badly needed spawning habitat for endangered winter- and spring-run salmon. We hear funds may be available this summer, in spite of California’s budget crisis, to finally begin removal of barriers to fish passage on Battle Creek.

Of course, if Burney Falls were in Yellowstone National Park, it would be just one of many places where underground streams burst through the surface. But here in California, we are grateful for anything we can get.