More stuff from yesterday ...

In Carlsbad, flash floods rip through the canyons every two to three years, turning the dry, rocky creek beds into small rivers. They average 14 inches of precipitation a year. Mostly in the form of heavy, late summer rains which quickly saturate the thin soils and cause flooding. The floods are usually short-lived but vital to the desert ecosystem. In just a few days there will be no sign of the passing water – wildflowers along the creek and a shade of deeper green about the desert - in a week, even that will fade … until the next rumbling of storm clouds above the canyon.

That explains why there are huge culverts in many places along the roads ... and they are always bone dry ... don't look like they have ever been wet ... but I guess that's not true.