We generally don’t think we can do much about the weather. Expert prediction and analysis, such as that from Weather Underground, help us prepare for storms, cold and hot spells, errant jet streams, and the like. But the weather seems to insist on having a will of its own.

On a local level, however, there’s much we can do to affect a number of weather factors—temperature, for example. What makes the temperature difference is water, shade, and ground cover. Nature’s rule is that healthy soils are never bare—asphalt is the equivalent of very bare soil, made worse by its low albedo, i.e., low reflectivity and increased heat absorption. Here’s one place where water comes in: it’s a great temperature buffer. It’s the lack of water that causes day-night temperature extremes in deserts, for example. With abundant and strategic use of soils, plants and biodiversity to capture and cycle water, local temperatures, including heat-island effects in cities, may be significantly moderated.

There is growing evidence that we humans may have far more control over the meteorology above our heads than we think. We can create weather more to our liking—and beneficial for our survival and that of many species—by paying attention to the soils, plants and other living creatures underfoot and all around us.

Isn’t that interesting?  To think that we create the weather around us? We know that  lush trees create micro climates, and that beaver ponds can act as micro climates on the landscape, but I admit I never thought of it in larger terms before.  Or as a function of biodiversity.

Riparian zones (the areas around creeks and rivers) are the lifelines of arid and semi arid regions, and often corridors of great biologic diversity. Recovery of the riparian zone (sedges, rushes, willows) is the first step in restoring floodplain function. Riparian areas can and do respond to changes in grazing in just one or two growing seasons where the water table is available to the riparian plants, even in areas with as little as 9 inches of annual precipitation.

In northeast Nevada, an old, broadened-out gully called Susie Creek (see figure below) changed dramatically within the first few years following the change in grazing management. 15 years into the project, beavers showed up on their own, making a major contribution with their water engineering skills. Even after a four-year drought (2012–2015) in which other ranere having to truck in water, the Susie Creek area still had perennial ponds and streams.

This work was a collaboration among many participants, including federal and state agencies and Maggie Creek Ranch, led by fisheries biologist Carol Evans—who wanted to bring the Lahontan Cutthroat Trout back to Susie Creek—and rancher Jon Griggs, who wanted grass and water for his herd. (See video of Carol and Jon telling their story here). If we can do this in Nevada, we should be able to do it just about anywhere!

Of course water cycles, It changes forms and rises as vapor and returns as rain and dew. So having more available water in the creeks and water tables is going to affect its cycle. It seems so obvious when you think about it. How does it affect the weather when we leave little pockets of water in beaver ponds all across the landscape rather than letting all the rivers run their course to that big ocean.

Did the weather actually change when we trapped out all the beavers? Probably not right away, but a few years after when their dams started to decay and lose their function. I can imagine that the west looked and felt  different 3 years after all the beaver were taken. Of course, no one had time to notice.

Because they were too busy looking for the next gold.