It was dry....(How dry was it???) so dry that...

So dry that they've invented the term "The Perfect Drought." This is Southern California I'm talking about. This from a report by the ABC-TV affiliate in L.A.

Southern California is now in its eighth year of an extended drought. But what would happen if that drought lasted for decades, or even a century? Some experts say the pieces are falling into place for a so-called "perfect drought," and it could have devastating consequences for California.

This was supposed to be the climate change future? What happened to put in into the present? WTF????

2007 will go down on the books as Southern California's driest year in recorded history. Fires raged out of control. Millions of dollars were lost as California crops shrivel in the searing sun. And the Eastern Sierras, where L.A. gets most of its water, marked its second lowest snowpack on record.

Adaptation? Well some farmers are packing it in, that's how they're adapting.

"We didn't plant this time for the first time in 85 years," said Betty Bouris of Bouris Ranches.

The Bouris family has been farming in Riverside County since 1922. This year, the lack of rain forced them to lay off long-time employees and auction off their farming equipment.

"I think it hit home to me when I walked into the parts room that was absolutely stocked, and I went in there and all the shelves are empty because all the parts were sold," said Bouris.

Adaptation? How about instituting more rigid rules for water use?

"If this continues for another year or two like this, we'll have a full-fledged drought and we'll need to take more drastic steps," said David Nahai, president of Department Water and Power (DWP).

Drastic steps, such as a return of the drought busters who roamed the streets of L.A. issuing citations during our last major drought from '87 to '92.

But it's gonna return to "normal" soon, right?

Government forecasters with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have announced they believe another La Nina is on the way. That weather phenomenon is a periodic cooling of surface temperatures in the Pacific that's expected to bring drier-than-normal conditions this fall to an already drought-stricken Southern California.