California, in the depths of drought, is pushing for a modest policy initiative that could help deal with the problem of poor rural communities running short of water. In the depth of New Mexico’s 2013 drought, I got really interested in the communities that were, and more importantly were not, running out of water. What …
Continue reading ‘One California policy response to rural water problems’ »
Our big wet May looks to have all but eliminated the possibility of a Lower Colorado River Basin shortage in 2016, and it now looks like a better than 50-50 chance we won’t have one in 2017 either, according to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s monthly outlook, published this afternoon (pdf). A shortage is triggered if …
Continue reading ‘Lower Colorado shortage now unlikely in 2016, maybe not in 2017’ »
Tony Davis asked Arizona officials if they had any actual evidence that California was trying to steal their water. Their official statement: “ADWR is not aware of any California efforts intended to take a portion of Arizona’s water supply directly. However, any changes to Colorado River operations could affect everyone who relies on the River. …
Fiction can provide a useful framework for thinking through alternative approaches to real problems. In that regard, I’m enjoying Paolo Bacigalupi’s new novel The Water Knife. Set in the near future Colorado River Basin, the book makes water management seem genuinely exciting. I’ll avoid spoilers, but try to give some flavor. The opening scene involves the …
Continue reading ‘Water policy innovation in Paolo Bacigalupi’s “The Water Knife”’ »
Oh my, this Rob Kuznia piece in the Washington Post. People will click: RANCHO SANTA FE, CALIF. — Drought or no drought, Steve Yuhas resents the idea that it is somehow shameful to be a water hog. If you can pay for it, he argues, you should get your water. People “should not be forced …
On my way home from Boulder Saturday, I diverted off the interstate and up over a low pass into the San Luis Valley of southern Colorado, where the Rio Grande (or its Mexican name, the Río Bravo) starts its long, frequently interrupted journey to the sea. It’s a broad, flat, high desert valley, 7,500 feet …
Continue reading ‘Water in the desert: San Luis Valley, Colorado’ »
In the fall of 1934, Arizona Gov. Benjamin Moeur dispatched the Arizona National Guard to the banks of the Colorado River near its junction with the Bill Williams to try to block efforts to build what would eventually become Parker Dam. Their fear: that the Colorado River Aqueduct, which would tap into the new reservoir, …
Continue reading ‘Arizona – a century of fear that California wants to steal its water’ »
As Lake Mead drops toward a Lower Colorado River Basin shortage declaration, a group of UC Santa Barbara students have done an excellent analysis (pdf of their summary results) that shows where the real vulnerabilities are. They conclude that Las Vegas and the municipal areas of Central Arizona are on solid ground. Arizona farmers won’t …
Continue reading ‘As Lake Mead drops, who is really vulnerable?’ »
So this is happening Friday afternoon in Boulder, Colo., at the annual University of Colorado Martz Summer Conference of Water Law and Policy Nerds: I’ll talk about social capital and adaptive capacity some, and try to make it clear that I was paying attention to the rest of the conference, but mostly I’ll just …
Continue reading ‘Friday in Boulder, I will be optimistic’ »
Going through files recently, I ran across this fascinating little bit of New Mexico water policy documentary history. It’s from 2011, when the Audubon Society and the Elephant Butte Irrigation District were trying to figure out a way to collaborate on a habitat restoration project on the Lower Rio Grande. The idea was to lease …