The Bureau of Reclamation’s latest 24-month study, out this afternoon (pdf), shows continued improvement on the Colorado River system’s big reservoirs as a result of the hella rainy spring and summer, and therefore a continued reduction in the risk of a Lower Basin shortage declaration. The number to watch is a Lake Mead elevation of …
A new California water/drought news site with former Sacramento Bee water beat reporter Matt Weiser as its managing editor is self-recommending. Here’s matt at Water Deeply on El Niño: Current predictions for the winter ahead suggest El Niño will be a “borderline-strong” event, Null said. It’s true, a strong El Niño, as measured by temperature change …
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Via Sandra Dibble: The United States and Mexico are preparing to sign an agreement to address issues of sediment, trash and polluted stormwater that for years have plagued the Tijuana River watershed. The binding agreement, known as a minute, aims to set up a framework to formally address the issues bilaterally and bring together members …
Crownpoint, New Mexico, is one of those places that makes clear the extent to which water (or its lack) constrains human geography. Lissa and I drove out Friday evening to the monthly Crownpoint Navajo Rug Auction. Crownpoint’s the biggest city on the eastern edge of the Navajo Nation, but at a population of 2,500, it’s …
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We need to create a #WestWaterSyllabus. Mark Hertsgaard at the Daily Beast got a lot of traction this weekend with a piece suggesting this: If You Only Read One Book About the Water Crisis: ‘Cadillac Desert’. If we’re going to have a #WestWaterSyllabus, there’s no question Cadillac Desert has to be on it, but making it the …
Tom Swihart from a couple of years back on “water wars” rhetoric, Florida style: Avoiding water wars in Florida? Easy as watching the tide come in. There have not been and will not be any water “wars” in Florida. We misuse this violent metaphor if we call our rather mild water disputes a “war.”
The latest analysis by a University of California team has concluded (pdf) that agriculture in that state is doing pretty well in the current drought, all things considered: The current drought is causing large economic losses but given innovative responses by farmers and others, those losses have been manageable and California agriculture is positioned to …
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I’ve come to the conclusion that the whole “water flows uphill toward money” thing is not only wrong, but that its wrongness is problematic. It’s one of those intellectual shortcuts that can be dashed off uncritically, and audiences nod knowingly because of course water flows uphill toward money we all know that, and no further analysis is …
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Bruce Finley: Northern Colorado leaders rallied Thursday urging quicker green lights for their “ultimate rain barrel” — a $713 million project that would divert water from the federally protected Cache La Poudre River and store 71 billion gallons in two new reservoirs. Brett Walton: This is like calling tigers “the ultimate kittens”.