美国国家公共电台 NPR--A once vibrant California lake is back. Why that's not necessarily a good thing

A once vibrant¹ California lake is back. Why that's not necessarily a good thing

Transcript²

Tulare Lake used to be the largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi. A wet winter in California has revived the dried up lake — leaving whole communities under water.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

In California's Central Valley, a once-vibrant lake is back, and that's not necessarily a good thing. Tulare Lake used to be the largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi. It was drained more than a hundred years ago and turned into farmland. Soreath Hok with member station KVPR in Fresno explains how the lake returned and the consequences that came with that.

SOREATH HOK, BYLINE³: Kiara Rendon looks out on her family's 10-acre plot of land in the small rural community of Allensworth, the first Black settlement in California.

KIARA RENDON: All of that was full of water, and it was coming inside the property.

HOK: The day the water started gushing⁴ onto the land, Rendon got a frantic⁵ call from her sister.

RENDON: She's five months pregnant, and she was out here building a ditch 'cause she wanted to prevent it to go into her property.

HOK: Cal Fire, a state agency that responds to natural disasters, sent a team to dig a ditch to divert the water. Rendon never thought flooding would be an issue, but relentless⁶ storms since late December dropped some of the largest Sierra Nevada snowpack in state-recorded history. All that snow is going to melt, and in California's Central Valley, it naturally flows into the footprint of Tulare Lake. Rendon's home is right in the path of that rising water.

So if the water was to come in, you guys are, like...

RENDON: We're the first ones to get affected⁷ by the water and then everybody else.

MARK ARAX: You know, we always say that man reclaimed⁹ the desert. No, we didn't reclaim⁸ the desert. We claimed the desert. Nature now is reclaiming¹⁰ the land.

HOK: That's Fresno writer Mark Arax. For decades, he's given voice to the history and struggles that shape the San Joaquin Valley's rich agricultural landscape. Native American tribes relied on Tulare Lake.

ARAX: It sustained these Yokut Tachi tribes. They fished along the shores. They lived along the shores.

HOK: Then settlers came and developed the land for farming. By the early 1900s, Tulare Lake went dry, its water harnessed in an intricate system of canals, dams and ditches. Arax says that makes the Tulare Lake Basin one of the most engineered landscapes in the world.

ARAX: The strange thing is you're calling it a flood. I mean, it's the bottom of a lake, right? But we've gotten so used to being emptied that this becomes now a fight of man versus¹¹ nature.

HOK: Lucrative¹² crops like pistachios are now planted on thousands of acres of the lake bed, and flooding these crops will rack up huge losses. Arax says all of this raises the stakes for farmers.

ARAX: So to see the lake come back is quite a drama. It is one of the great dramas of California.

HOK: Emergency crews and farmers are doing their best to prepare for the rising water. There are reports of levees being cut to protect farmland. And Cal Fire, the first to help Rendon's family, has been working with local officials to divert the water. A video shows helicopters dropping sandbags to try to shore up levees and canals.

SEAN NORMAN: We're doing another evac for a levee failure.

HOK: Sean Norman heads an incident command team with Cal Fire.

NORMAN: So it's tricky¹³ because we have to really look at if we stop this water from moving here, where is it going next?

HOK: Researchers are looking at history for what to expect next. It's a flashback to 1983. That year, the lake refilled and flooded thousands of acres of farmland for at least two years. Right now, the snowpack level and the amount of water already in state reservoirs is nearly the same as it was 40 years ago. Jeffrey Mount is with the Water Policy Center at the Public Policy Institute of California. He says the state still doesn't have the infrastructure¹⁴ to handle the snowmelt.

JEFFREY MOUNT: So there's not going to be a lot of places to put water in the near term.

HOK: The southern Sierra received three times the average snowfall this year. The water is coming, say experts. But for people like Kiara Rendon in Allensworth, this once-in-a-generation flood is a slow-moving disaster.

For NPR News, I'm Soreath Hok in Fresno.

1 vibrant   

adj.震颤的，响亮的，充满活力的，精力充沛的，(色彩)鲜明的

参考例句：

• He always uses vibrant colours in his paintings. 他在画中总是使用鲜明的色彩。
• She gave a vibrant performance in the leading role in the school play.她在学校表演中生气盎然地扮演了主角。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 gushing   

adj.迸出的；涌出的；喷出的；过分热情的v.喷，涌( gush的现在分词 )；滔滔不绝地说话

参考例句：

• blood gushing from a wound 从伤口冒出的血
• The young mother was gushing over a baby. 那位年轻的母亲正喋喋不休地和婴儿说话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 frantic   

adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的

参考例句：

• I've had a frantic rush to get my work done.我急急忙忙地赶完工作。
• He made frantic dash for the departing train.他发疯似地冲向正开出的火车。

6 relentless   

adj.残酷的，不留情的，无怜悯心的

参考例句：

• The traffic noise is relentless.交通车辆的噪音一刻也不停止。
• Their training has to be relentless.他们的训练必须是无情的。

7 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

8 reclaim   

v.要求归还，收回；开垦

参考例句：

• I have tried to reclaim my money without success.我没能把钱取回来。
• You must present this ticket when you reclaim your luggage.当你要取回行李时，必须出示这张票子。

9 reclaimed   

adj.再生的；翻造的；收复的；回收的v.开拓( reclaim的过去式和过去分词 )；要求收回；从废料中回收（有用的材料）；挽救

参考例句：

• Many sufferers have been reclaimed from a dependence on alcohol. 许多嗜酒成癖的受害者已经被挽救过来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They reclaimed him from his evil ways. 他们把他从邪恶中挽救出来。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

10 reclaiming   

v.开拓( reclaim的现在分词 )；要求收回；从废料中回收（有用的材料）；挽救

参考例句：

• People here are reclaiming land from the sea. 这儿的人们正在填海拓地。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• How could such a man need reclaiming? 这么一个了不起的人怎么还需要别人拯救呢？ 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

11 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

12 lucrative   

adj.赚钱的，可获利的

参考例句：

• He decided to turn his hobby into a lucrative sideline.他决定把自己的爱好变成赚钱的副业。
• It was not a lucrative profession.那是一个没有多少油水的职业。

13 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

14 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。