California readies for treasure hunt as floods wash up ‘Gold Rush 2.0’
by Sharon Udasin - 05/07/23 6:00 AM ET
In the aftermath of an unusually wet winter, Californians are bracing not only for flooded fields and raging rapids, but also for a potential treasure hunt that experts are dubbing “Gold Rush 2.0.”
“It’s one of those 100-years events,” Mark Dayton, a Sacramento Valley metal detector expert, told The Hill.
With one atmospheric river after another this past winter, snowpack on the Golden State’s mountain peaks piled up to unprecedented heights. But as that snow gushes down the hillsides, the fast and furious flow is shuttling other materials along with it.
“When it melts, it comes rushing down at crazy speeds through narrow gorges and canyons, and it’s a torrent of raging water,” Dayton said. “This is even crazier than whitewater.”
The flow cascades like a waterfall from about 5,000 feet to 3,500 feet, at which point it begins “meandering into some of the foothills” and into creeks and streams, Dayton explained.
“What happens is the material is being ripped literally right off the walls of the creeks as they reshape themselves,” he added.
By “material,” Dayton means gold. And he said he anticipates a lot of it this year.
“It’s like a generational flood,” agreed Albert Fausel, the third-generation owner of the local Placerville Hardware Store, which opened in 1852.
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https://thehill.com/policy/equilibrium-sustainability/3990790-california-readies-for-treasure-hunt-as-floods-wash-up-gold-rush-2-0/
