From the OED: war: a. Hostile contention by means of armed forces, carried on between nations, states, or rulers, or between parties in the same nation or state; the employment of armed forces against a foreign power, or against an opposing party in the state. (emphasis added) Going to court – an institution that provides …
My friend and University of New Mexico water nerd colleague Bruce Thomson has found some timely reading for us – The Dam, a novel by Robert Byrne. Bruce is on UNM’s engineering faculty and taught our engineering ethics course for many years. Quoting Bruce: It’s a short novel (244 pages) about a young engineer who …
Continue reading ‘“The Dam” by Robert Byrne – an Oroville ro·man à clef?’ »
While we were all distracted by the chaos at Oroville Dam, the snowpack above Lake Powell on the Colorado River last week climbed above normal for the year. By this measure from the CBRFC, it’s at 57 percent above average for mid-February. It doesn’t usually peak until early April. Based on the latest round of …
Continue reading ‘Colorado River Basin snowpack suggests a good runoff year’ »
The mess at Oroville Dam will have lots of dam safety lessons, but they will take time to learn. One important lesson, though, is staring us in the face: Climate change is projected to yield both more extreme flood risks and greater drought risks. That was Mike Dettinger and colleagues, writing last year in San …
Continue reading ‘Wetter wets, drier dries, and the lessons of Oroville Dam’ »
The Otay Water District, in California’s San Diego County, is working on a deal to buy water from a desalination plant in Mexico: Even as California residents debate whether we are free from the drought, local water agencies are looking for ways to increase their water supply. The Otay Water District is working on a …
Continue reading ‘Another US-Mexico transboundary water collaboration’ »
It is critically important that the new administration reach out to our partners in the Mexican government to seal a new deal on shared water shortages by the 2017 deadline. The agreement will help ensure that adequate water levels are maintained in Lake Mead, thereby protecting the interests of U.S. water users, as well as …
Do not underestimate how important a sewage system is to your humanity; refugees know that their subhuman status as the waste of nations is confirmed by having to live in their own waste. Viet Thanh Nguyen
My new life at the University of New Mexico includes teaching in and overseeing an interdisciplinary graduate program for water resources students (Not too early to apply for next fall!). But what does this word “interdisciplinary” mean? My day thus far: morning phone call with law school faculty member about arcane structure of New Mexico’s …