UCSB HYDROLOGIST TO DISCUSS PAST AND PRESENT LOCAL DROUGHTS

After two years of below-normal rainfall, are Santa Barbara and the rest of California on the brink of another potentially destructive drought?

Hugo A. Loaiciga, a professor of geography and a hydrologist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, thinks we may be. He will share his thoughts in "Drought: Are We at Risk?" a UCSB Affiliates Science Lite lecture to be given Tuesday, Nov. 19 at 7:30 p.m. in the First Presbyterian Church Fellowship Hall, 51 East Constance Ave. in Santa Barbara.

Tickets are $5 for History Associates and Chancellor's Council members and $8 for the general public. Advance registration is required and can be made by calling the UCSB Office of Community Relations at 893-4388.

According to Loaiciga, the 2002-2003 winter will be crucial.

"I think if it doesn't rain sufficiently in the coming winter, we are going to have some issues to deal with in the coming year," he said.

"Our reservoirs are being depleted."

Loaiciga will also discuss the potential impacts of drought, our drought preparedness, and the state and area's past experiences with drought.

Honored for his studies of droughts and ground-water management by the American Society of Civil Engineers and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Loaiciga earned a Ph.D. in hydrology and water resources at UC Davis. He has been part of the UCSB faculty since 1988 and has published more than 120 articles regarding the interface of humans, the environment, and water resources.