John McPhee talks with Charles Colver, who comes from a family of citrus growers. What does Charles say about debris flows and citrus groves?

When John McPhee talks with Charles Colver, a member of a citrus growing family, he learns that before houses existed at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains, the area was full of citrus tree groves. Charles recalls that when a debris flow came through and toppled down trees, the debris was left alone. Farmers simply planted new trees. Many saw the debris flows as beneficial because they brought sediment down from the mountains to build up soil on the coastal plains.