Every cloud has a golden lining! California’s three-year 干ばつ 誘発するs new gold 急ぐ in same hills that drew fortune 探検者s in the 1880s

• Low water levels have led to a 小型の gold 急ぐ in the Sierra Nevada 山のふもとの丘s
• Same area that drew fortune 探検者s in the 中央の-1800s
• Gold 急ぐ from December - January saw amateurs dig for 河床 riches
  
• 欠如（する） of water means 鉱夫s try to get to the bedrock where the best gold is

By Jill Reilly

Published: 09:08 BST, 27 March 2014 | Updated: 13:14 BST, 27 March 2014

California’s three-year 干ばつ has 誘発するd a new gold 急ぐ in the same Sierra Nevada 山のふもとの丘s that drew legions of fortune 探検者s from around the world in the 中央の-1800s.

The 乾燥した，日照りの 条件s mean streams and other water pools started to 乾燥した，日照りの up from the 干ばつ, exposing areas that 以前 could not be 調査するd 予定 to the the depth of the water.

The gold 急ぐ from December to January saw amateur prospectors dig for 河床 riches in 位置／汚点／見つけ出すs that have been out of reach for １０年間s.

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'If you have ever tried to scoop a shovel of mud and sand under water, it is nearly impossible,' said Jim Hutchings of the River City Prospectors told Accuweather.

'Having the 'gut' of the stream 乾燥した，日照りの out, gives 鉱夫s 接近 to move 玉石s and 接近 割れ目s and crevices in the 中心 of the stream or at least in what would be the 中心 of the stream during flood 行う／開催する／段階.'

Without water, 鉱夫s can get in and try to get to the bedrock where the best gold will usually be in a 保護するd place there.???

'With the 干ばつ going on, we're able to dig in more 場所s that wouldn't be accessible at later times,' said Tim Amavisca, who wore waterproof 全体にわたるs as he panned in the 耐える River 近づく Colfax with his teenage daughter on a 最近の Friday afternoon.

Amavisca, a 38-year-old from Sacramento who recently left the 軍の, has been prospecting several times a week this winter - a time when it's usually raining and river levels are too high for gold panning.

Leaning over a bed of 激しく揺するs, Amavisca reached into the river and scooped shovelfuls of sand into a plastic bucket. He and his daughter then 注ぐd the sand into a sluice box that's used to 罠（にかける） gold flakes on textured rubber mats.

'If you see a good-sized flake, that's when you get excited,' said Amavisca, as he looked for gold in one of the sluice box trays.

Rudy Price walked along the 乾燥した，日照りの 激しく揺するs of the 耐える River with a shovel and pan, 調査するing the 河床 for good 位置／汚点／見つけ出すs for prospecting.

'I do understand that it's a 劇の 衝撃 on everybody during a 干ばつ that's this 厳しい, but at the same 記念品 I'm taking advantage of it,' said Price, 39, an amateur prospector who lives in the Colfax area.?

One of the worst 干ばつs in California history has 誘発するd the 明言する／公表する and 連邦の 政府s to 厳しく 削減（する） water 供給（する）s to farms and cities.

It's also left rivers and streams at 危険に low levels, imperiling fish and 野性生物.

'You're seeing flows that are either at or 近づく 記録，記録的な／記録する lows,' said Jeff Kitchen, a hydrologist with the U.S. 地質学の 調査する's California Water Science 中心.

'If this 干ばつ were to continue into 未来 years, there could be some 厳しい consequences.'

The 干ばつ has exposed old roads, 橋（渡しをする）s, 鉄道 lines and junked cars that are usually 潜水するd in lakes and 貯蔵所s.

At the Folsom Lake 貯蔵所 , the water's 退却／保養地 明らかにする／漏らすd the 残余s of a Gold 急ぐ 採掘 town called Mormon Island, which was flooded when the dam was built in the 1950s.

In mountain rivers and streams, the 記録，記録的な／記録する-low flows have 暴露するd new chances to earn some extra money.

The warm, 乾燥した，日照りの winter is bringing in many first-time prospectors to 開拓する 採掘 供給（する）s in the Gold 急ぐ-時代 town of Auburn.

The 蓄える／店 sells shovels, buckets, pans, rubber boots, 地図／計画するs and 採掘 調書をとる／予約するs, 同様に as more 前進するd prospecting 器具／備品 such as sluice boxes and gold concentrators.

With good 職業s in short 供給（する） and gold selling for more than $1,300 an ounce, many 地元の 居住（者）s are prospecting to 補足（する） their incomes, said 蓄える／店 経営者／支配人 Heather Willis.

Her father, Frank Sullivan, who opened the 採掘 蓄える／店 nearly 40 years ago, said 商売／仕事 has 増加するd 20 to 25 パーセント because of the 干ばつ. But he's 関心d about the 欠如（する） of rain because he lives in the mountains and worries about forest 解雇する／砲火／射撃s.

'It's 広大な／多数の／重要な for 商売／仕事, but I'd rather see no 干ばつ and a lot of rain,' Sullivan said. Sullivan sold a 4-foot metal sluice box to amateur prospector Trevor Whitehead and his friend.

'The word is definitely out,' Whitehead said. 'We've seen more people prospecting than usual.'

He said water levels at the North Fork of the American River are about 2 feet below normal, which has opened up new areas for gold panning.

'It's more of a hobby,' Whitehead said, 'but 明白に if we 攻撃する，衝突する a nice pocket, then yeah, I would love to make some money.'