(NVR) - California's prolonged drought has dried up irrigation supplies for agriculture and forced drastic water cutbacks but it has also created opportunities for prospectors and miners panning, sluicing, chiseling and diving for gold.

The Sacramento Bee reports  Wednesday that across the Mother Lode, gold seekers are wading into formerly deep waterways to harvest flecks from the pea gravel and sediment in crevices that have long been inaccessible. California is in its fourth year of drought.

Long-haul trucker Gary Shaver says he is one of those finding treasures in the receding waters. He prospects for gold 200 to 250 days a year, pulling out about three grams a week.